Lucille abducts George Michael for a mother-son dance, Buster adjusts to having a hook for a hand and Gob reunites with his estranged wife. Also, Tobias stars as George Sr. in a biopic about the Bluth family, which causes Lindsay to become more attracted to him.
Motherboy pageant spawns 58 jokes in 58 minutes—character-driven chaos at near-perfect density.
Directed by Joe Russo · Written by Mitchell Hurwitz, Jim Vallely
WAR
152.9
Wins Above Replacement
“Motherboy Xxx” ranks #32 of 84 Arrested Development episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 95.9 — Elite. The episode packs 98 scored jokes at 3.4 per minute, averaging 7.7 on craft and 7.5 on impact, with Buster landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Buster: Buster: '...And yet, anything goes at bath time.' [Chuckles]
Buster Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Maeby · Buster · Narrator: Maeby tells a campfire horror story: 'Knock, scrape. The only thing more terrifying than the escaped lunatic's hook was his twisted call!' / Buster appears: 'Hey, campers.' / Kids scream. / 'I'm a monster!'
Narrator: 'As one entered sexual maturity, and the other one left it, it became harder to win.'
Narrator Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Lindsay · Michael · Lucille: Lindsay: 'I'm so glad there wasn't one of those for daddies and daughters.' / Michael: 'Of course they have father-daughter dances.' / Lindsay: 'They do? He never took me?' / Lucille: 'It was before we did your nose. Toodle-oo.'
Michael · Gob · Narrator: 'That would be disgusting if you'd actually slept with her, but I don't think you did.' / 'I did! And it was disgusting.' / Narrator: 'They didn't, but it would have been.'
All Jokes — 98 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Lucille · Michael · Narrator: Lucille is already dressed, made up and waiting for Michael at an ungodly hour — narrator notes 'which put her wake-up time in the 3:00, 3:30 area'
Narrator: 'As one entered sexual maturity, and the other one left it, it became harder to win.'
Narrator Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Lucille · Michael: 'I'm so hot.' / 'If you were hot, Mother, we would win.'
Lucille: 'It's not just Motherboy. It's Motherboy XXX!'
Lucille Setup/Punchline Irony/Sarcasm Michael · Lucille · Narrator: Michael: 'That could have something to do with the fact that a seal ate his hand.' / Lucille: 'I don't know what it is.' / Michael: 'I think that's what it is.' / Lucille: 'Who knows?' / Narrator: 'It was that.'
Buster: Buster seeing reminders of the accident everywhere — gasping and screaming at innocuous objects — visual gag montage
Buster Visual Gag Running Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Buster: Buster: 'Mother, I can't sleep. I may not be able to go to dance practice today.'
Buster Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Michael: 'I mean, look how he zips now.'
Michael Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Callback Narrator · George Sr. · Bluth Children: The Bluth children had been uneasy about missing limbs since their father used a one-armed man to teach them lessons. ['That's why you don't yell.'] / [All Whimpering]
Lindsay · Michael · Lucille: Lindsay: 'I'm so glad there wasn't one of those for daddies and daughters.' / Michael: 'Of course they have father-daughter dances.' / Lindsay: 'They do? He never took me?' / Lucille: 'It was before we did your nose. Toodle-oo.'
Michael · Lindsay: 'You're up awful early.' / 'Well, my marriage is falling apart. Tobias is back with Carl.'
Tobias · Narrator: Tobias's vanity plate for being cast as 'Frightened Inmate Number Two' — and the narrator notes 'this wasn't the first time'
George Sr. · Narrator: George Sr. is secretly living in the attic — narrator reveals this while George Sr. tries to be friendly to passing family members: 'Nellie. Now — who wants to take their top off?'
George Sr.: 'Hey, there's booze in this.' (about the 'Promise Land' canteen Ann has given George Michael)
George Sr.: 'That's the Promise Land that Ann's taking you to? You're gonna need this more than Polly here.'
George Sr.: 'I had to take all pumps out of here a long time ago.'
George Sr.: George Sr. preaches against fidelity and pledging yourself to a woman: 'I wine 'em and dine 'em, but I don't let 'em tell me what to do. I don't... let 'em tell me... what to do.'
George Sr.: 'Okay, I should've never taken the pumps out of here.'
George Sr. Callback Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Michael: Michael says 'I respect my son's choices' and immediately follows with 'George Michael, I don't think you should be going on this Promise Land thing.'
Michael Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy George Michael · Michael · Maeby · Narrator: George Michael: 'What? Why? Because I'd miss school?' / Michael: 'No.' / George Michael: 'You get to miss school for that?' / Narrator: 'And that's when Maeby decided to become a devout Christian.'
Maeby · Michael: Maeby: 'Do you guys know where I could get one of those gold necklaces with the "T" on it?' / Michael: 'That's a cross.' / Maeby: 'Across from where?'
Gob · Narrator: Gob had once gotten married on a dare — a fact he'd only remembered when he was served with divorce papers.
Gob Narrator Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Callback Gob · Michael: 'What about her cans? She have big cans?' / 'You don't remember her at all?' / 'It was one night of wild passion.' / 'And yet you didn't notice her body.' / 'I like to look in the mirror.'
Michael · Gob · Narrator: 'That would be disgusting if you'd actually slept with her, but I don't think you did.' / 'I did! And it was disgusting.' / Narrator: 'They didn't, but it would have been.'
Gob: 'And that's not even including Buster's Swatch.'
Gob Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Barry: Barry: 'The seal? Must've had a tracking device on it. Someone tracked it all the way to a dock in Dana Point.'
Barry Character Comedy Absurdist Gob: 'At the very least, we can get Buster's Swatch back, right? Up top. No?'
Gob Callback Character Comedy Callback Carl Weathers · Tobias: Carl Weathers to Tobias at Burger King: 'Thanks for meeting me down here at Burger King. I'm tryin' to get them to underwrite a new TV project I'm workin' on. Get some money in exchange for settin' a scene here in Burger King. As long as you don't draw attention to it.'
Tobias · Carl Weathers: Tobias: 'I could not betray my family like that.' / Carl: 'Come on, man. I've got every part cast except for George Sr.' / Tobias: 'I want that part.' / Carl: 'Then sign over the rights.'
Carl Weathers · Narrator: Carl Weathers: 'Did you know that you can get a refill on any drink you want here, and it's free?' / [Laughs] / Narrator [chuckling]: 'It sure is.'
George Michael · Buster: George Michael playing checkers with Buster — 'King me.' / [Gasps] / 'Oh, God! I keep forgetting about this.'
Lucille · Buster · George Michael: George Michael asks if Buster offered a bowl of soup; Lucille asks 'Can it open a can?' — referring to Buster's hook — and both Buster and Lucille react with horror: 'Oh, God!'
Lucille: 'Aren't you the sweetest thing, spending some time with what's left of your uncle.'
Lucille Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Lucille: 'Aren't you the sweetest thing, spending some time with what's left of your uncle.'
Lucille Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Callback George Michael · Lucille · Narrator: George Michael dressed in a sailor suit by Lucille — who claimed they were going to the Promise Land — being taken to Motherboy instead
Narrator: Narrator: 'No, he was going south.' / [pause] / 'South to Motherboy.'
Narrator Deadpan/Understatement Misdirection Gob · Michael · Buster: Buster arrives at the dock by crashing through the car window — Gob: 'Or we could make sure it's the right seal first? I mean, why get his hopes up?'
Buster · Michael · Gob: Buster enters with his hook: 'I really hate this stupid hook. But I certainly can't walk around like this.' / Michael/Gob: 'Why not? / Very handsome.'
Gob: Gob says there's no room for Buster in the car: 'There's not enough room for you and me and the stump and the thing- stuff. Barry!'
Gob Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Tobias · George Sr.: Tobias practicing his George Sr. voice in the attic: '[Low] I'm George Sr.' / George Sr. appears: 'That's not my voice.'
George Sr.: George Sr.: 'I'm havin' a [bleep] tea party. What does it look like? I live here.'
George Sr.: George Sr.: 'Stop licking my hand, you horse's ass.' [to the parrot]
George Sr. · Tobias: George Sr.'s condition for Tobias playing him: 'If you play me, you gotta play me like a man and not some mincing little Polly or Nellie.' / 'I get those names confused. Apologies. Apologies all around.'
Buster: Buster: 'I would love to be able to say "Look what I've had reattached while you and George Michael were off to Motherboy."'
Buster Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Buster: 'He couldn't wait to swoop in and throw on that sailor suit, because he's not damaged goods.'
Buster Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Barry · Gob: Barry reveals the tracking device led to a shark, not the seal — 'the shark must've bitten off the part of the seal with the tracking device on it' — and Gob observes: 'So the seal lost his hand too.'
Barry Gob Absurdist Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Callback Barry: 'Yeah, poor guy's probably out there without a flipper, swimming around in a circle, freaking out his whole family.'
Barry Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Barry · Gob · Michael: 'That tracking device tells me he was raised in captivity. There's no way he stood a chance out in the real world.' / 'See that? He was a victim too.' / 'You both were too sheltered to learn how to protect yourselves.'
Gob: Gob: 'And I've got to staple this to a seal. And I've skipped breakfast, so I'm off to Burger King.'
Gob Absurdist Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Lucille: Lucille arrives at the hotel and sees someone else in the exact same color outfit: 'Oh — [bleep] me. The exact same color.' / 'What are the odds?'
Lucille Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Lucille · George Michael: 'You think enough time has passed to do Sonny and Cher?' / 'We're here for Motherboy.' / 'And you do realize this is not the band.'
Lucille: The room is put under the name 'Karmopolis.'
Lucille Character Comedy Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Tobias · Lindsay: Tobias (as George Sr.) slaps a jar out of Lindsay's hand: 'You don't need the calories.'
Lindsay · Ann: Lindsay whispering to herself: 'This isn't working.' / Then to Ann: 'Is it my imagination, or is he more commanding and mannish? It's like — I don't know. Maybe I do want to be with him.'
Lindsay Ann Cringe/Discomfort Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Ann · Lindsay: Ann advises Lindsay to go to Tobias: 'For as it is written, you shall be with whom you have formed a more perfect union with under God.' / Lindsay: '[Laughs] She's right.'
Tobias: Tobias (still in George Sr. mode) rejects Lindsay: 'This isn't working.' / 'I'm sorry. You've got the wrong Motherboy.'
Tobias Wordplay/Pun Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Buster: Michael asks if Lucille Bluth checked in; the desk clerk says no — Michael: 'She knows you're after her.' / Buster: 'She does?'
Michael · Buster · Random Boy: Michael and Buster mistake another mother-son pair in matching outfits and try to rescue the boy: 'Take me with you! No, please! Please!' / 'It's the wrong child.'
Buster: Buster explains Lucille's changing behavior: 'Whenever she changed clothes, she made me wait on the balcony until zip-up.' / 'And yet, anything goes at bath time.'
Buster Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Buster: Buster: '...And yet, anything goes at bath time.' [Chuckles]
Buster Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Barry: Barry to Gob: 'Your job is to convince that "wife" of yours...' — he uses air quotes around 'wife'
Barry Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Gob: Gob: 'She has a name, Barry. You don't happen to know what it is by the way, do you?'
Gob Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Barry: Barry: 'That's why I want to settle. I'm not super prepared.'
Barry Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Gob · Narrator: Gob: 'Well, we did have sex. And I'm not a great liar.' / Narrator: 'Both things he just said were lies.'
Gob Narrator Irony/Sarcasm Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Barry · Gob: Barry: 'And you don't want to go in front of that judge. I caught him in a drag club.' / Gob: 'What were you doin' there?' / Barry: 'Wow. You should be the lawyer.'
Michael · Narrator: Michael spots a 'very bored-looking little Sonny Bono on that balcony' — meaning George Michael in the sailor suit variant.
Buster · Michael: Buster: 'I have an idea. It is time I used something I trained for in army, but I never got a chance to do.' / Michael: 'You cannot zip-line over there!'
Buster: 'Either I zip down or he zips up! And that is a mighty long zipper on Mother's Cher jumpsuit. You have to get on your knees to start it.'
Buster Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Buster · Lucille: Buster zip-lines across the hotel gap, screaming — crashes — and Lucille immediately calls 'Zip me up.' from offscreen
Dave Attell (character) · Tobias: 'Then what the hell am I wearin' these for? Look at that.' / [Tobias appears to be wearing cutoffs under his pants] / Tobias: 'It's a thing. There's dozens of us.'
Dave Attell (character): 'If that man's straight, then I am sober.'
Gob · Gob's Wife: 'Hi. Um, I'm waiting for "Gawb" Bluth.' / 'I'm Gob Bluth. My wife send you?' / 'I'm your wife.' / 'I knew that.' / 'Nice to see you again, Usarmy.'
Tobias: Tobias: 'Did I get lines? God! They told me I was just jumping onto a moving stair car.'
Tobias Character Comedy Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Gob: 'You lost a lot of weight in Iraq, especially up in the northern region.'
Gob Character Comedy Absurdist Gob: Gob: 'You lost a lot of weight in Iraq, especially up in the northern region.'
Gob Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Gob · Gob's Wife: Gob: 'As far as I'm concerned, we were never even married.' / Wife: 'Maybe I'll just say that we never sealed the deal.' / Gob: 'You're willing to admit that?' / Wife: 'Lie about it? Yes.'
Gob's Wife · Gob: 'Wow. I mis-underestimated you. You've got some courage. Makes me wonder what I'm missing.' / Gob: 'You mean, other than your cans?' / Wife: 'No. They're still here.'
Gob · Wife: Gob: 'You mean, other than your cans?' / Wife: 'No. They're still here.'
Gob Wife Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Callback Narrator: Narrator: 'And so Gob set about consummating the marriage he'd finally agreed to claim he hadn't.'
Narrator Irony/Sarcasm Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Lucille · Narrator: 'And back at Motherboy XXX, Lucille was finding her new partner an asset.' / Lucille to the judges: 'Is this your son?' / Lucille: 'No, I'm his grandmother. He's an orphan.'
George Michael: George Michael: 'I'm not an orphan. I have a dad.'
Lucille: Lucille to George Michael after the judges leave: 'Well, that little bit of honesty helped nothing. You'd better bring it to the waltz, young man.'
Lucille Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Buster: Buster: 'Gypsies.' [seeing Lucille and George Michael in gypsy costumes]
Buster Character Comedy Reaction Beat Michael · Buster · Narrator: Michael: 'I create a diversion, and you grab George Michael and go. We need a name.' / Buster: 'Maybe "Operation Hot Mother."' / Narrator: 'No, let's try to top that.' / Narrator: 'They never did.'
Buster · MC: Buster gets his hook caught on a sandbag during Operation Hot Mother and is hoisted into the air, whimpering, while the Motherboy announcer covers: 'Our curtain seems to be stuck. We're going to do some freestyle waltzing while we get it fixed.'
Buster MC Physical/Slapstick Escalation ★ Rewatch George Michael: George Michael to Michael: 'They haven't served dinner yet.'
Emcee: 'All right, Motherboys. Our curtain seems to be stuck. We're going to do some freestyle waltzing while we get it fixed.'
Emcee Deadpan/Understatement Absurdist Michael · Buster: Michael to Buster: 'I thought that you would be a little different, but you're not. I was wrong, okay? I'm sorry. You know, you're as good a brother as you ever were.'
Buster: Buster, moved: '[Groaning] Thank you.' / 'I am no different. I am the same old Motherboy.'
Buster Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Buster: Buster announces: 'Boys' choice? That is, if you're not embarrassed to take my hook.'
Buster Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Buster · George Michael: Buster: 'Boys' choice? That is, if you're not embarrassed to take my hook.' — leading George Michael in a waltz
Michael: 'I'm Peter Pan, and you're Captain Hook. We'll pretend it's a costume. Let's dance.'
Michael Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Michael · Buster · George Michael · Narrator: Michael, Buster, and George Michael arrive at the Promise Land — Buster holds a 'Saddest' trophy
Michael · Buster: Michael: 'That was a very competitive category.' / Buster: 'Oh, don't I know it.'
Buster: Buster can't get out of the car: 'I can't get out, actually.'
Buster Physical/Slapstick Character Comedy Callback Lindsay · Tobias: 'On the next Arrested Development' tag: Lindsay: 'I have never been more attracted to you.' / Tobias: 'Wow. The service sent you over fast.' / Lindsay: 'Oh, God. I'm so sorry. I'm in the wrong trailer.'
Gob · Barry · Judge: Gob's 'lucky break' in the 'on the next': Judge looks at compromising photo and says 'There's no way to tell who this man is.' / Then Gob: 'That's me, Your Honor. I — [bleep] my wife.' / Barry: 'We really lost this case.'
Maeby · Buster · Narrator: Maeby tells a campfire horror story: 'Knock, scrape. The only thing more terrifying than the escaped lunatic's hook was his twisted call!' / Buster appears: 'Hey, campers.' / Kids scream. / 'I'm a monster!'
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