Surprises greet Michael at the penthouse and Sudden Valley. George-Michael confides in Maeby, who's trying to avoid Sudden Valley.
Season 5 restarts with 83-point character comedy: nearly 90 jokes across 53 minutes.
Directed by Troy Miller · Written by Mitchell Hurwitz, Jim Vallely
WAR
61.2
Wins Above Replacement
“Family Leave” ranks #35 of 84 Arrested Development episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 83.0 — Elite. The episode packs 53 scored jokes at 1.7 per minute, averaging 7.3 on craft and 7.0 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
Lindsay · Driver: Soy americano. Hmm. That does sound good. Ask him for two.
Lucille: That little bald one there with the fringed cut-offs who... Yay! Oh. It's you.
Lucille Visual Gag Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch George Michael · Michael · Narrator: Hey. What are you doing here? And almost immediately found himself helplessly doing the opposite. I'm dating Rebel Alley.
Michael: It's A-N-U-S and then for some reason T-A-R-T. 'A new start.' If you saw it written out, I don't think that you would...
Michael Visual Gag Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Buster: No, I just took the skin off. It's in the dryer.
Buster Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Callback All Jokes — 53 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Narrator: While at a tech company famous for providing access to any information, except for its own name
Instructor · Michael: This class is geared more to self-defense for the family, not... Not from the family.
Narrator: Whose vertigo made it hard for her to stay on her own feet
Michael · Narrator: At the worst possible time. That's not a great sign.
George Michael: George Mi... Harris
George Michael: Maeby, we can't afford this. And my software isn't even rea... dy.
Michael: She was raised by a different mother than Ron's other kids. It's just a whole different thing over there.
Michael Character Comedy Observational Narrator: That one's hard to explain.
Michael · Narrator: I'm gonna have sex with you, for money. That perhaps overestimated his value, at least according to the latest Balboa Bachelor Auction totals.
Real Estate Agent: Some of the neighbors are not to be desired. Oh! One got in.
Michael · Narrator: Boy, you guys don't miss a day. Michael had missed two.
Michael · Young George Michael: Are you okay? Yes, I'm okay. I've wanted to ask you that underwater.
Narrator: Ironically, it was this final threat that did young George Michael in.
Michael: George Michael? George Michael? Hey, pal. Here we go.
Michael Visual Gag Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Young George Michael · Michael: I thought it was a restaurant by the pool. Why did you think I said, 'Watch out for the crabs'? Why did you think I said, 'I always get a hamburger'?
Buster · Michael: Am I that much of a monster, Michael? Even to you? No, not at all, I just wasn't expecting, uh, you know, a man to be sitting in a Scuba Jr., leaping out at me up in the attic, that's all.
Buster: No, I just took the skin off. It's in the dryer.
Buster Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Callback Michael: No, pal, we were gonna use this scuba gear for scuba diving. Underwater. Not to hang out in a poison cloud.
Michael Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Buster: We used to want to play dress-up. Her as Jackie O., me as John-John... But we... No, I guess we did get to do that a couple of times. ♪ Motherboy... ♪
Buster Cringe/Discomfort Running Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Buster: Pick a lane, Michael! You can't say I can't be here and say you're not looking after me. Pick a lane, Michael!
Buster Character Comedy Escalation Michael: Hope I never do that to my own, uh... um... Mom. Son. Ah. Oh, right. Hope I never do that to my son.
Michael Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Buster · Michael: Pick a lane, Michael. Pick a lane, Buster. No, you pick a lane! Come on. Ow, ow, ow. I picked a lane!
George Michael · Michael · Narrator: Hey. What are you doing here? And almost immediately found himself helplessly doing the opposite. I'm dating Rebel Alley.
Narrator: Like when you punch your dad.
Narrator Deadpan/Understatement Dark/Subversive Narrator: Like when you punch your dad.
Narrator Visual Gag Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Michael · George Michael: Ciao. Bella.
Michael: Boy. It's like the Weimar Republic in that place.
Michael Character Comedy Observational Maeby: I'm doing a scrub-down. Nobody can know I was here, having a little smooch with my boyfriend.
Maeby Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Maeby's boyfriend · Narrator: While she believed that he was an undercover cop posing as a teenager. A señor? I'm 17. Ha! He turned actually out... to be a teenager, posing as an undercover cop, posing as a teenager.
Maeby: Just panties, leggings, corsets, the sex knobs, and one of those double-headed bondage things with the curly choke leash. That's probably a landline.
Maeby Misdirection Visual Gag ★ Rewatch George Michael: You drive her car. How do you still not know who that is?
Maeby: You're burning bridges all over the place.
Maeby: Well, for starters, you could post it on Dadfights.
Maeby Absurdist Dark/Subversive George Michael · Maeby: It's just, like, a bunch of guys punching their dads, or...? Yeah, well, you're supposed to say, 'Guess what, Dad,' but some dads were catching on, and they were just whaling on their kids. You can watch those clips on That'sWhatSon.
Maeby · George Michael: Forget, but never forgive. You think she meant to say it that way?
Maeby · George Michael: They should take the rapists and murderers and put them all together on an island... and the murderers can be raped, the rapists can be murdered... until you only have either two rapists or one murderer. One raped murderer but who cares about him?
Michael · Officer: Isn't today Cinco? Today's the sixth.
Michael · Lieutenant Toddler: But they just don't pay fair. I do okay. Hmm? Yeah, I'm sure you do. But, you know, you probably... you haven't had to pay for a meal in years, though. Huh?
Michael · Lieutenant Toddler: It's the way that I say goodbye. Um... because you never know, um... if you're never gonna see someone again. You should know that. You see people actually die. I've seen one person die. A postman.
George Sr.: I don't allow men in my apartment without my husband present.
Gob: What do you call it? Um... What do you call it? Brains. Long-term brains.
Gob Character Comedy Absurdist Gob: Here? I'm just getting some boner pills... and this guys says I don't need them. He knows from boner...
Gob Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy George Sr. · Gob: Mexico won't be able to walk for a week. Two full weeks!
George Sr. · Gob: Mexico won't be able to walk for a week. Two full weeks!
Michael: Of course, I'm holding a wig that is made of red hair. So that's those two and the wig, I think that's got it. And my sister has recently gotten the red hair. But she's nuts, so...
Michael: Of course, I'm holding a wig that is made of red hair. So that's those two and the wig, I think that's got it.
Michael Visual Gag Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Michael: It's A-N-U-S and then for some reason T-A-R-T. 'A new start.' If you saw it written out, I don't think that you would...
Michael Visual Gag Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Lieutenant Toddler: Let me try this one on you. A-N-A-L-R-A-P...
Lindsay: Oh, they have one.
Lindsay · Driver: How do you say 'I'm American' in Mexican? Soy americano. Hmm. That does sound good. Ask him for two.
Lindsay · Driver: Soy americano. Hmm. That does sound good. Ask him for two.
Lucille · Tobias: That little bald one there with the fringed cut-offs who... Yay! Oh,. It's you.
Lucille: That little bald one there with the fringed cut-offs who... Yay! Oh. It's you.
Lucille Visual Gag Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Top Episodes — Arrested Development