The family plans their annual fund raiser, and they actually have a cause this time. Tobias is ailing due to his transplanted hair plugs, which appear to be rejecting him. Lindsay uses the illness as her ticket back into high society, and Michael learns of the prison warden's true intentions with his mother after reading the warden's screenplay.
Prison subplot hits 86 with 2.56 jokes per minute—peak Arrested chaos density.
Directed by Robert Berlinger · Written by Karey Dornetto
WAR
172.8
Wins Above Replacement
“Prison Break In” ranks #13 of 84 Arrested Development episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 98.1 — Elite. The episode packs 106 scored jokes at 3.8 per minute, averaging 7.7 on craft and 7.5 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
Lucille: I want to cry so bad. But I don't think I can spare the moisture.
Lucille Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Buster · Lucille: She has a name, Mother. / And it's 'Mother.'
Michael · Gob · Narrator: Wish I knew the layout of this place. / Way ahead of you, Michael. Drew a map of it on my stomach. It's upside down, so it might be a little awkward. / It was awkward.
Buster: Oh, then why do we care?
Buster Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Michael · Gob: Come on, Gob, you were gonna break out of this place once, I know you can help me break in. / It's not a Jamba Juice, Michael.
All Jokes — 106 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Michael · Lucille: You look pretty, Mom. / What do you need?
Lucille: Going on all those dates with Rita. Or should I say... 'play dates.'
Lucille Dark/Subversive Irony/Sarcasm Callback Narrator · Michael: Michael had been so devastated by their breakup that he'd even broken out the old guitar.
Lucille · Michael: Maybe you should talk to someone. / Like my mom? / I don't know, does she play guitar?
Lucille · Michael: And how about that little piece of tail on her? Cute! / I've opened a door here that I regret.
Buster · Lucille: She has a name, Mother. / And it's 'Mother.'
Buster · Narrator: Stay in this box that Uncle/Father Oscar left behind. / In fact, it was a box of Oscar's legally obtained medical marijuana.
Oscar · Buster: Oh, good, you've already got grass. / Primo bud. Real sticky weed. / Although I was getting a little worried because she was moving really slowly last week. And then she stopped.
Narrator · Bluth family members: 'Herpes.' 'Shrinkage.' / Somebody saw Seinfeld last night.
Narrator: 'Neck flap.' / 'Ovarian cancer.' Gee, I wonder who that was.
Narrator Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Lucille: Well, I'll be honest, I haven't heard anything that beats herpes.
Lucille Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Narrator: The Bluths ended up raising over $25,000 to fight 'TBA.' / And then—and here's the really horrible part—they did it again the following year.
Narrator Escalation Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Narrator: Keep fighting, little guy. With your support of the Bluth Foundation, we'll live in a galaxy where 'TBA' does not exist.
Narrator Irony/Sarcasm Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Lucille: The guy who ran Dad's prison? He's here now installing cameras because of all your father's escape attempts.
George Sr. · Narrator: Uh, yeah, looks like I won't be going anywhere for a little while. What do I care, huh? I have a beautiful wife, I have a wonderful hobby. Hah— look at me, I'm having the time of my life! / His hobby was making papier-mâché copies of his own head.
George Sr. · Warden Gentles: Oh, before I forget, do you know if these cameras are hi-def? / I certainly hope so. It'll help me better understand George Bluth, the main character of the latest and, I pray, final draft of my screenplay, New Warden.
Warden Gentles: I promised myself I wasn't going to become one of those people who were always going on about their screenplays. So, I'll just say I put together a staged reading with some fabulous young actors, and it was very well received.
Narrator · Child actors: Warden Gentles had convinced his granddaughters' teacher to mount New Warden as a school play. / 'I understand I've been causing problems. Nobody sells any coke in this pen without daddy getting a taste.' / 'Beat him with a pillowcase full of batteries.'
George Sr.: Are they color or black and white?
George Sr. Reaction Beat Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Lindsay · Narrator: Oh, right. Uh, he spoke at my school for a 'Startled Straight' assembly. / Actually, she'd met with him in the hopes of using his prison as a location for a film.
Warden Gentles: I think you will find the dessert both engrossing and high grossing.
Lucille: I forgot— we have a real disease. I chose it. G.V.H.: Graft Versus Host. It's new, it's fatal, and guess who's got it?
Lucille Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive Doctor / Narrator: You've heard of bodies rejecting transplants? Well, in this case, your transplanted hair is rejecting your body.
Lucille · Doctor: Can you think of any benefits? / Benefits? No. He'll die. / Oh, yeah, no, I get that. But have there ever been any fund-raisers?
Lucille: A husband with the headlining disease. Everyone's going to want to talk to me.
Lucille Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Lucille: Did you see the attention Superman's wife got?
Lucille Dark/Subversive Observational Tobias · Gob: Oh, she's right. This is going to be great for me, because I'm going to star in the video Gob's making for the gala. / Oh, yeah, it'll be very uplifting.
Tobias Gob Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Tobias · Gob: Oh! Oh! This is going to hurt! / You know what? We're going to need this from another angle. / And you sure you're okay? / Oh, probably. I can't feel anything. / How's my hair?
Gob: It's fine. It's sucking the life out of you, Tobias.
Gob Deadpan/Understatement Dark/Subversive Lindsay · Michael · Gob: Warden Gentiles likes her? / Likes her what? / No, I mean, likes her. Like, is attracted to her. / Who's the 'her' in that sentence? / Mom. Warden Gentles likes Mom. / 'Her?'
Gob: I'm afraid I'm with Michael on this. The guy runs a prison, he can have any piece of ass he wants.
Gob Character Comedy Absurdist Michael: I don't want Mom mixed up with the sort of creep that would have her as a fetish.
Michael Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Michael: Hey, I don't need to take my mom to a gala, okay? Only losers go to those things with their parents, I'm going with my son.
Michael Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy George Michael · Narrator: Oh, I may skip that, I don't like galas. / Actually, he loved galas, all kids do.
Tobias · George Michael: Come on, don't leave your Uncle Teabag hanging. / Please don't call yourself that.
Narrator · George Michael: What he was having trouble with was looking directly at his dying uncle.
Michael · Gob: I can't stand by and watch Mom get hurt. I have to get down there. / This is heartbreaking. / Got to get this for the video.
Gob: Hey, George Michael, you want to put your head down there by his drainage shunt.
Gob Cringe/Discomfort Dark/Subversive Buster · Oscar: Uncle/Father Oscar? What are you doing here? / Well, you know me. I could never leave a little bud behind.
Buster Oscar Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Buster: My turtle was living in it before he ate all the grass and died.
Buster Callback Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Callback Oscar · Buster: He ate all the grass? / Yeah. / Well, it's been great catching up.
Maeby · George Michael: You're a reader. How'd you like to read something fun that we could talk about on the way to the prison gala? / Well, this might change your mind. / Is that a screenplay?
Prison guard: You can't park there! No stair car parking!
Lucille: Oh, One Eye's a wonderful chef. I've had to go to his parole hearings twice, and lie through my teeth to keep him here.
Lucille Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Warden Gentles: It's perfectly innocent. / But I can see how, if our roles were reversed, I might have you beaten with a pillowcase full of batteries.
Warden Gentles: I don't know why I always assume everyone's read my screenplay.
Lucille · Michael: That man is being wonderful to us. / And that doesn't concern you, Mother? For all you know, he could be trying to seduce you. / Oh, Michael, you're crazy. I certainly hope so. / I'm trying to seduce him.
Michael · Lucille · Lindsay: Who's the 'I' in that sentence? / Me. / You? / Her.
Michael · Gob · Lindsay: Mom wants to sleep with the warden. / What? Oh, God! / Great. / Great? / The man is old enough to be her contemporary, Lindsay.
Michael: Plus, she's married, okay? She can't be writhing around underneath...
Michael Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Gob · Michael: No, I don't have a sense of propriety, my God. / Gob, we've had this conversation. / When? / The last time you ended up seeing Mom and Dad go at it.
Gob Michael Dark/Subversive Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Gob · Narrator: But, thankfully, he'd found a way to forget that. / I've got a thing of pills in my pocket. I don't suppose I could convince you to grab me one? / Luckily, that worked, too.
Gob Narrator Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Lindsay · Michael: Well, how about when she was sleeping with Uncle Oscar? / The guy looks just like Dad. I don't know, he's family. It seemed very natural they'd be together.
George Sr.: Ooh, what-what... what is natural? / Is there new legislation on this now?
Narrator · George Michael: George Michael was concerned about family love after reading Maeby's script, which he took as a subtle message to him from his cousin. / 'Anything can happen when two people share a cell, cuz.'
Lindsay · George Michael: George Michael, what I want you to do is run upstairs and run a nice bath for Uncle Tobias, and I want you to help him get in the tub. Can you do that for me? / And don't make the water too hot—the scabs come right off.
George Sr.: Oh, it's on 'standby'! / Got another one in you?
George Sr. Visual Gag Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Oscar: Say, you don't have any Sweet Freedom or Tropical Leaves, or any of the Hawaiian blends, do you?
Oscar Character Comedy Absurdist Buster: Oh, get in the cage and hide behind the mirror, it'll look empty.
Buster Callback Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Narrator: Oscar never got a chance to hide behind the mirror. Although, it wasn't the first time he'd been knocked out by a powerful lid.
Narrator Deadpan/Understatement Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Michael · Buster: I got some bad news about Mom. She's planning on spending the night with another man. / Gob? / No, not another brother.
Buster: Oh, then why do we care?
Buster Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Michael · George Sr.: Dad, I've got some bad news about Mom and Warden Gentles... dating. / Better sit down. / Okay, what's the news? / They're dating. / Oh, yeah, because she's my wife. Oh, yeah, damn it.
George Sr. · Michael: Besides, it's only dinner in the office. It's not Le Cirque. / How'd you know it was in his office?
Michael: She's working the warden. You're making fake heads. You're planning an escape.
Michael Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback George Sr.: How dare you. I ought to shave your head and make you sit under that camera all night, mister.
George Sr. Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Callback Lucille · George Sr.: P-2-2-5-2. / Howdy doody, that's it. / Now you get back here so you can smuggle me out past the guards before Michael starts blabbing.
Lucille: You want to get away from me so bad, you're free. But I'm free, too, baby. I'm staying in the conjugal trailer with the warden tonight.
Lucille Setup/Punchline Character Comedy George Sr.: Him? (George Sr.'s reaction to finding out about the warden)
Gob · Michael: Honey, the car is here. / Hey. Do you need a ride? You'll have to lie down.
Michael · Lindsay: Mom was just using that warden to try to get Dad out. She's not trying to seduce him at all. / Oh, no, she is. She's spending the night with him. She just called to ask me to bring her a tube of vag... ...table paste. Hi, George Michael.
Narrator: And Michael himself was feeling a little like the host that the grafting family was rejecting.
Narrator Wordplay/Pun Meta/Self-Referential ★ Rewatch Callback Michael · Narrator: I'll just stay here and read. / But this, too, would prove challenging, as the family had no books. / Other than those.
Lucille · Warden Gentles: You were just using me to get even with the man who broke out of your prison? / That escape cost me my promotion. And you'll pay for the loss of $2,300 a year.
Warden Gentles: Enjoy the chlamydia, Lucille. / Take this newly-diseased woman to the hole.
Lucille: I wish I'd read The Man Inside Me.
Lucille Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback George Sr. · Narrator: So he searched through Gob's magic stuff to find something that might. / Well, that was a freebie.
Gob · Narrator: Yeah, Dad made me move my stuff out of Buster's room. / But only after hiding himself in the cage to get past the cops at the door.
Michael · Gob: Come on, Gob, you were gonna break out of this place once, I know you can help me break in. / It's not a Jamba Juice, Michael.
Michael: Shouldn't be that hard to break into.
Michael Deadpan/Understatement Irony/Sarcasm Buster: Hey, Father/Uncle Dad.
Buster Running Gag Character Comedy Callback Gob: It's a jetpack, Michael. What could possibly go wrong?
Gob Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Michael · Gob · Narrator: Now just make sure you tell me before you hit any buttons. / Good. Now we know what the strap was for. / Okay. Under the crotch. / Need a new plan. Yeah.
Michael · Gob · Narrator: Wish I knew the layout of this place. / Way ahead of you, Michael. Drew a map of it on my stomach. It's upside down, so it might be a little awkward. / It was awkward.
Gob: I drew us. I think we're, like, right there.
Gob Absurdist Visual Gag Callback Guard · Narrator: Hey, guys. / If you're gonna party, you want to bring it inside? / That was a freebie.
Gob: Well, the new facility isn't so bad, huh? It's a lot like school, only it's air-conditioned.
Gob Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy George Michael · Maeby · Narrator: 'Because anything can happen when two people share a cell, cuz.' / It's a line from New Warden. / Oh. Oh! Okay, yeah. / I don't know what I was worried about. / That would be the happiest moment George Michael would ever experience in his life.
Maeby · George Michael: 'Because anything can happen when two people share a cell, cuz.' / It's a line from New Warden. / Oh. Oh! Okay, yeah.
Warden Gentles: And I don't think there's going to be an 'I'm Oscar' website this time. / I think this time I'll do a podcast.
Gob · Michael: Graft versus Host. / Sounds like a tennis match between Steffi Graf and Happy Days star Donny Host. / It's Most. / But it's far deadlier.
Gob: Hello, I'm Gob Bluth. As a magician, I can make a lot of things disappear. / There are some things I can't make disappear. / No, not that candy ball machine.
Gob Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Gob: When Toby first came into the family, none of us much wanted him around. / But that's because we couldn't see what was on the inside. / But lately, that's all we've been able to see.
Gob Dark/Subversive Wordplay/Pun ★ Rewatch Gob · Tobias: But what was Tobias to do? Have his hair plugs removed? / The doctor says I'd be completely healed if I were to do that.
Gala guests · Tobias: He just needs his hair plugs out?! / Doctor says that's the cure. / There's a cure?! / No way. That horse hair is my ticket back into society.
Gala guest: We're giving money for this guy to keep his hair transplants?! / I'd rather give to T.B.A.! This is bull (bleep)!
Narrator: And just as the prisoners had proven they could throw a gala as well as the rich, so the rich proved they could throw a riot just as well as the prisoners.
Lucille: I want to cry so bad. But I don't think I can spare the moisture.
Lucille Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Lucille · Michael: Did you like the chlamydia thing? I gave him that. / You gave him chlamydia? / He had crabs, and I said, 'You're gonna get laughs.'
Michael · George Sr.: If Dad doesn't care, there's no real threat. And, I guess, just knock yourself out. / Where's Gentles?! I'll kill him!
Warden Gentles · Michael: Sorry about the wait. George? / If you're here, who do we have in the delousing tank? / I'm guessing Oscar.
Warden Gentles · George Sr. · Lucille: I cannot take another $2,300 hit. / I'll tell you what. You let Oscar out, and you give us an hour in here, and... we'll call it even. / Please, Ward? / I can't say no to the woman who gave me chlamydia.
George Sr. · Lucille: We ready to have some fun? / I'm so glad I didn't cry. / That I didn't need to hear.
Narrator · George Michael · Maeby: George Michael gets closer to his family. / That was close, huh, Maeby? / Oh, she's in the next cell. / Looks like we're gonna be sharing a cell all night, cuz. / George Michael experiences his unhappiest moment ever.
Narrator · Buster: Buster tries to forget his recent losses by breaking out the old guitar.
Narrator · Gob: And Gob finally faces a phobia he'd faced before. / No! Not here! / Wait. I've seen this before. / Oh, God, I've seen this before!
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