George Sr. uses Gob's bachelor party as an opportunity to set up his accountant in a compromising position so that he can blackmail him. Meanwhile, Michael tries to prove he's a fun guy, and the Funkes reunite their family folk-music band.
Gob's wedding spirals into 53 jokes at 1.95-per-minute velocity, anchored by character chaos and escalating absurdity.
Directed by Lee Shallat Chemel · Written by Mitchell Hurwitz, Richard A. Rosenstock
WAR
130.3
Wins Above Replacement
“Best Man For The Gob” ranks #24 of 84 Arrested Development episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 96.8 — Elite. The episode packs 78 scored jokes at 2.9 per minute, averaging 7.8 on craft and 7.6 on impact, with Michael landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Buster · Gob: Buster has found and apparently drunk the fake blood (corn syrup and red dye) — 'Hey, Brother. Somebody put on his lipstick in the car.' / Buster: 'I love juice!'
Buster Gob Callback Character Comedy Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Gob · George Sr. · Ira Gilligan: Gob: 'She died. She's dead.' / George Sr.: 'It was Gilligan!' / Ira: 'What?' / Gob: 'Gilligan killed the skipper... stripper.'
George Michael: Actually, that part was kinda just for you. I was just worried the whole thing wasn't gonna land unless I included the pride part.
Tobias: Tobias: 'I don't want to blame it all on 9/11, but it certainly didn't help.'
Tobias Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Gob: Gob: 'I might be a father.'
Gob Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch All Jokes — 78 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Michael · Ira Gilligan: Michael meeting with the company accountant named 'Ira Gilligan'
Michael · Ira Gilligan · George Sr.: The thermostat gag: Michael's office is freezing while George Sr.'s office (via satellite/adjacent) is hot — Ira keeps commenting on the temperature instead of the financial crisis
Gob · Ira Gilligan: Gob: 'You're asking Gilligan not to lie?' / Ira: 'Please call me Ira. I don't like Gilligan.' / Gob: 'Who doesn't like Gilligan?'
George Sr.: Is it cold in here? — George Sr. asks about the temperature via satellite immediately after Ira's name complaint is ignored
George Sr. Running Gag Deadpan/Understatement Callback Gob · Michael: Gob: 'I've gotta get rid of her.' / Michael: 'You know, I said two weeks ago that I thought it was a stupid idea. Suddenly Dad says it and it's good advice?'
Gob · Michael: Gob tells Michael to tell his wife he's 'insensitive and unreliable... something about how you can never confront people. You need someone to clean up your messes.' Michael: 'See, that's great. And that's just off the top of your head.'
Tobias: Tobias: 'I don't want to blame it all on 9/11, but it certainly didn't help.'
Tobias Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Narrator · Tobias: Narrator: 'Oh, no.' / Cut to: 'Oh, no was right.' — introducing Dr. Fünke's 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution
Narrator · Tobias: The full band name: 'Dr. Fünke's 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution' — and then the corporate ownership chain revealed by the narrator
Narrator: Zanotab pharmaceutical side effects: 'dry mouth, hair loss, an overly alert feeling, and in some cases may diminish your sex drive'
Narrator Absurdist Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch George Sr. · Michael: George Sr.: 'I don't know. I probably stole it. I mean, if he says it's missing, it is. Unless he stole it. Hey, maybe he stole it.' / Michael: 'He's the one that said it's missing.' / George Sr.: 'Yeah, I probably stole it.'
George Sr. · Michael · Ira Gilligan: The Ira/IRA/Gilligan confusion escalation: George Sr. promises money will be saved in 'I.R.A.s' / Michael corrects 'It's Ira, sir' / George Sr. says 'Will be saved in Iras' / 'What the hell is this, Gilligan?' / 'It's Ira, sir. Please call me...' / 'Gilligan!'
George Sr. · Ira Gilligan · Michael: Gilligan has promised me that all this money will be saved in I.R.A.s. / It's Ira, sir. / Oh, I'm sorry, Gilligan. / Will be saved in 'Iras.'
George Sr. · Michael: George Sr.: 'Take him out for some fishing or something. Fun. Guy fun.' / Michael refuses / George Sr.: 'Oh, that's right. You hated fishing.' / Michael: 'No, I didn't.' / George Sr.: 'No, I'll get Gob. He liked it.' / Michael: 'I liked fishing. Where are you going? I'm fun.'
Lucille · Annyong: Lucille about Annyong's juice box: 'Those are for his soccer team. No sugar for you. You just get more awful.'
Buster · Annyong: Buster hitting on Annyong's juice box and the visual of him desperately eyeing a child's juice box
Buster · Annyong: Hey, Adopted Brother. Do you think I could have a hit of that juice box? [reaction beat — Buster clearly steals the juice box from a child]
Lindsay · Michael: Lindsay: 'Yeah, well, I was wacked on Zanotab the entire time. I thought Zanotab was supposed to make everything a little bit better.' / Michael: 'For 15 minutes. Then it burns when you pee, and your marriage goes to hell.'
George Michael: George Michael: 'So, uh... You know, if you want me on wood block, I can keep perfect time. Some call me the human metronome.'
George Michael: George Michael offers to play wood block and claims to be 'the human metronome' because he's always punctual.
George Michael · Maeby: Maeby: 'Yeah, but I think punctuality is slightly different from rhythm.' / George Michael: 'No, it's not. It's the exact same thing. It's knowing how long things take.'
Maeby: Maeby: 'I'm just doing this because if my parents split up, it's a lot more work for me. When they get along, I get tons more alone time.'
Maeby Character Comedy Dark/Subversive George Michael: George Michael: 'We've been talking here for 28 seconds. Just so you know.'
Tobias · Fan: Fan recognizes Tobias from the band: 'You sang a song about a supplement called Teamocil? I mean, you just nailed me! It was like you knew every side effect I was going through at that time.'
Tobias Fan Setup/Punchline Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Tobias: Tobias: 'The sense of wellness it created in relationships was merely the first sign of complete pituitary shutdown.'
Tobias Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Gob's Wife · George Sr.: Gob's wife: 'You have a terrific voice.' / George Sr. (off-screen or via satellite): 'I smell olives!'
Gob's Wife · Michael: Gob's wife tells Michael 'Are you hitting on me? Gob said that would happen.' — after Michael was trying to convince her Gob is unreliable.
Gob · Michael: Gob: 'Hey, Gob. It's a good thing you're not staying married to this girl. You've got her hating me... at least your version of me, which is actually you.'
Gob Michael Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun ★ Rewatch Callback Gob: Gob: 'I've got the marriage and none of the good parts. It's like, so far it's been all chain and no ball.'
Gob Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy Michael: Michael: 'I guess being your brother and solving all your problems for you doesn't qualify me as your best man.'
Michael Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Gob · Michael: Gob: 'Don't worry. You're still...' / Michael: 'What? Invited?' / Gob: 'No, I was gonna say you're still the guy I want solving my problems, but, yeah... Let me talk to Dad about that invite situation.'
George Sr. · Gob: George Sr.: 'No, no. Your bachelor party's about convincing Gilligan that he's killed a stripper, getting him out of town so he can't testify, and making sure that people think that he took the money.'
George Sr.: George Sr.: 'That's why I want you to use this stripper — a narcoleptic, believe it or not. A friend of mine at the yacht club, he used her for his bachelor party. We wanted you to have the first piece!'
George Sr.: That's why I want you to use this stripper... a narcoleptic, believe it or not. A friend of mine at the yacht club, he used her for his bachelor party. / We wanted you to have the first piece!
George Sr.: George Sr. demonstrates the fake death plan with sound effects: 'He comes to. Eee! Blood! Aaah! He freaks out.'
Lindsay · Tobias: Lindsay accidentally takes Euphorazine instead of Zanotab; Tobias: 'We are pushers, not takers.'
Tobias: Tobias: 'Let's take it from loose stool! One, two and a...' then stops to confront Lindsay about Euphorazine
Tobias Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Tobias · Lindsay · George Michael: What is that noise? / We don't need the wood block. / No, I just thought I would join in on the fun.
Michael · George Michael: Michael's pitch for the fishing trip: 'We get to stay at a hotel, get up at 4:00 a.m., slap on the old seasick patch. We're gonna get out there on the choppy ocean. We're gonna catch ourselves a little lunch.' / George Michael: 'Oh, we get to eat it?' / Michael: 'After we gut it.'
Michael · George Michael: We get to stay at a hotel, get up at 4:00 a.m., slap on the old seasick patch. / We're gonna get out there on the choppy ocean. We're gonna catch ourselves a little lunch. / Oh, we get to eat it? / After we gut it.
Lucille · Buster: Lucille spelling out J-U-l-C-E / Buster: 'I can spell, Mom. You spelled juice.' / Lucille: 'Oh, you're so brilliant. Let's see you find it.'
Lucille: Lucille: 'Besides, I'm going to Annyong's soccer award ceremony... And I don't need the other soccer moms knowing how old my first batch of kids are.'
Lucille Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Lucille · Annyong: Lucille: '— Annyong's...' / Annyong: 'Annyong.' / Lucille: 'Would somebody please tell this insufferable child to... God!'
Michael · George Michael · Gob · Buster: Michael: 'Not everything is strippers and booze and buckets of blood.' / George Michael: 'Why do you guys have buckets of blood?' / Gob: 'It's not real blood. It's corn syrup and red dye.' / Buster: 'Juice.' / Gob: 'We have unlimited juice? This party is gonna be off the hook.'
Maeby: Maeby reads the new Euphorazine side effects list and reacts to 'Delayed irritability': 'What do they mean by delayed?' — then immediately snaps: 'It means it comes later! This is ridiculous! Why do we even have to do this?'
Maeby Setup/Punchline Physical/Slapstick ★ Rewatch Callback Lindsay: Lindsay: 'I'm tired of trying to find happiness through lies and self-medicating.' / [immediately goes to the bar]
Convention Organizer · Tobias: Wellness convention organizer to Tobias: 'You think you can handle it alone? 'Cause if you don't perform, we don't validate.'
Michael · George Michael: Michael to George Michael: 'They think they're having fun, Son, but it's not lasting fun. It is fleeting fun, like a bachelor party. What we got here is lasting fun.'
Michael · George Michael · Pool Guests: Good night, Son. / Good night, Dad. / Marco! / Polo! / Marco! / Polo! / Marco!
Bachelor Party Guests · Michael · George Michael: Marco Polo game being played at the bachelor party pool, overheard by Michael and George Michael in their hotel room at bedtime
George Michael: George Michael's elaborate excuse to go check on Maeby's band: 'I have a pretty finely tuned internal clock... which is why I'm actually such a good natural percussionist... I'm just worried I'm not gonna be able to fall asleep for another two hours and 45 minutes.'
Michael · George Michael: Michael's manipulation: 'I'd hate to miss it, because I was too proud.' / George Michael: 'Wait a minute. Too proud? What does this have to do with too proud?' / Michael: 'Actually, that part was kinda just for you. I was just worried the whole thing wasn't gonna land unless I included the pride part.'
George Michael: Actually, that part was kinda just for you. I was just worried the whole thing wasn't gonna land unless I included the pride part.
Narrator · Gob: 'Who called the cops?' / Narrator: 'And with the aid of some helpful gays.'
Gob · George Sr.: Gob: 'You told me to hire people to look like my friends. They're Hot Cops. They're entertainers. Although I specifically asked them not to come dressed as cops.' / George Sr.: 'You better change now... Butch, guys. I want it butch.'
Buster · Gob: Buster has found and apparently drunk the fake blood (corn syrup and red dye) — 'Hey, Brother. Somebody put on his lipstick in the car.' / Buster: 'I love juice!'
Buster Gob Callback Character Comedy Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Tobias: Tobias: 'I must say I feel a bit like a Mary... without a Peter and a Paul, but I suppose it's worth a shot.'
Tobias Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Tobias · Fan: 'Teamocil is no longer available. Please try either Grouphug, Bondat or consult your own Wellness Guide.' / Teamocil!
Tobias Fan Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Narrator: Narrator: 'You're out of the band.' — after the Teamocil sign flashes during Tobias's performance
Narrator Meta/Self-Referential Deadpan/Understatement Ira Gilligan: Ira: 'It's Ira, and I'm fine.' — in response to being greeted at the party, still objecting to the Gilligan name while trying to seem unbothered
Buster: Buster discovered the narcoleptic stripper inside a birthday cake in the next room and apparently triggered her narcolepsy — visual of Buster with what looks like blood around his mouth after having drunk the fake blood earlier
Buster Visual Gag Physical/Slapstick ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael arrives at the bachelor party: 'I'm here to support him, like all these, uh, hot men and Ira.'
Michael Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy George Sr. · Michael: Well, you're not gonna stay. I mean, this isn't your kind of scene. / Dad, please, stay out of it, all right? I'm here for Gob. Now, where are the strippers?
George Sr. · Michael: George Sr.: 'Well, you're not gonna stay. I mean, this isn't your kind of scene.' / Michael: 'Dad, please, stay out of it, all right? I'm here for Gob. Now, where are the strippers?'
Michael: Michael discovers the back room and sees what appears to be a dead body / stripper: 'Huh? Huh? Huh? I can handle a back room.' — then sees the stripper and immediately says 'I'm calling the cops.'
Michael Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Callback Gob · George Sr. · Ira Gilligan: Gob: 'She died. She's dead.' / George Sr.: 'It was Gilligan!' / Ira: 'What?' / Gob: 'Gilligan killed the skipper... stripper.'
Gob · Ira Gilligan: Gob: 'Ira, take my honeymoon tickets. Get out of the country. Save yourself.' / Ira: 'I'm not drunk. Bix made me the designated driver.'
Narrator · Narcoleptic Stripper · Buster: The narcoleptic stripper wakes up, sees Buster with red around his mouth, and thinks she killed him for groping her. Narrator: 'Not again.'
Ira Gilligan: Well, the hell with you, sir. Bix, we're leaving. / I'm testifying.
Michael · Gob · George Sr.: Michael gestures for Gob to punch George Sr. / George Sr.: 'Oh, no. No, no. Don't you dare, mister.' / Gob punches him.
George Sr.: Even if it was my idea, which it wasn't, Gob screwed it up, which he did and always does.
Gob: Gob: 'I might be a father.'
Gob Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Gob · Michael: Gob: 'You're the best man. You're my best man.' / Michael: 'Not if I have an actual ceremony, 'cause Dad would kill me, but...'
Gob · Michael: You're the best man. You're my best man. / Not if I have an actual ceremony, 'cause Dad would kill me, but...
Gob's Wife · Gob · Michael: Gob's wife bursts in: 'Gob, I want out. I'm in love with your brother.' — then corrects: 'In-law. Tobias. Sorry. I should have finished that thought.'
Gob's Wife · Gob · Michael · Tobias: Gob's wife: 'Gob, I want out. I'm in love with your brother.' / Gob to Michael: 'You did it again, you son of a bitch!' / Michael: 'No, no! She's...' / Gob: 'In-law. Tobias. Sorry. I should have finished that thought.'
Lucille · Gob · George Sr.: 'On the next Arrested Development...' / Lucille: 'Oh my god. I killed Michael.' / Gob: 'Yeah, but on the plus side, you got punched in the face.'
Narrator · Ira Gilligan: 'And Gilligan... fulfills his destiny.' — cut to Ira on a desert island (implied), phone ringing, narrator: 'Let it ring.'
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