Warning: this could be considered spoiler-adjacent for Arrested Development Season 4 (2013).
I could fill this space here explaining what a big Arrested Development fan I am, and how happy I am that the show is back, Bob Loblaw…but let’s just get to the gags. COME ON!
All-new jokes
To qualify, the gag must be repeated in more than one episode, and must not have occurred in the first three seasons. (Though some are spin-offs of old memes.) I’m starting to mark which episodes they recur in, but that’s still incomplete. Feel free to help out in the comments and I’ll add citations as they come.
Also let me know if any of these don’t belong. I have a couple question marks, where I’m not sure if I actually heard the thing, or not positive it spans multiple episodes. And is that a fair criteria, do you think? Can a “running gag” just run in one episode? You tell me.
I may fill this list out with more exposition sometime, but for now, it’s just a list–inspired by The Verge’s David Pierce’s insane suggestion that “the show introduces basically no new running jokes or motifs”. We may have to vote you out of the dorm room, The Verge’s David Pierce!
A new start (ep 5) / ANUSTART (ep 3, 5, 11) / Anus Tart (ep 3, 5, 8)
Tobias, looking to shed his old sexually-ambiguous ways, endeavors to make a new start. In classic Tobias tradition (ironically), he of course has to get a new license plate to mark the occasion. Like you do.
(against the, tear down the, put up the) wall (ep 8, many others)
We’ve got to get him against the wall! Tear down this wall! Put up this wall! And so on.
prayer hands (Michael in 1, George in 2, Lindsay in 3, GOB in 7)
Prayer hands could be considered a spin-off of Lucille’s praying from S2 ep 12…but this time around, it’s more about the pose than the praying. It only connects with praying coincidentally, as part of GOB’s showmanship.
stimmie (1, 3, 7)
Still not clear if there’s another level to this, but everybody’s trying to get a little stimmie (or stimmy?) And why not? At least that way you’ll have it.
that way you(we)’ll have it
Tobias and Lindsay engage in a hilarious game of one-up-manship with the help of Ed Helms’s real estate agent Carr, as they plot their search for a new home. It comes up again later in the season, I think.
Mother B, Father B, Michael B
There are a lot of Bs in season four.
Wait a minute. BEES?!? (I just got that right now.)
the best ___ on the mountain (?) (bag, coat/jacket in ep 3)
Maybe I just want this gag to have run into another episode. Even if it doesn’t, it makes a good set of appearances in the episode its in.
Method (One)
You know–the acting clinic? The MethodOne Clinic? It’s so freeing! And also free! Plus there is coffee, and they let you smoke.
maca root (ep 2)
This is another one I might just be wishing jumped into another episode. Let me know. Also let me know, did you see that shining ostrich man speaking to us just now?
____about (chatabout, rapabout, walkabout?)
“coooincidence” (ep 3)
Halliburton Teen (ep 2, ep 3)
Fakeblock (ep 11, ep 12, ep 13) / Faceblock (ep 1) / face blindness (ep 3, 8, 9) / block software (ep 1)
ostrich (1, 2, 3, 5, 11, 12, 14) / in ref to Google car (ep 4)
smoking loophole (ep 2)
(a) red hair(ing) / hair-ess (ep 12) / (George) Maharis (ep 12, 13, 15)
(not) tipping black people (ep 1, ep 7, ep 12)
Dr. Seuss (Grinch ep 1, Cat/hat ep 3, Krinch? ep 4)
“gentlemen, start your engines.” (Michael in 1 and 8, GM in 13)
John Beard doing degrading news segments and then quitting (ep 2 morning show, ep 3 bailing on his mortgage, ep 7 airport TV, ep 13 gas pump screen (as “former non-fuel anchor”))
do a [something] search (ep 4, ep 12)
“Take to the sea!” (young Barry in 2, Barry in 13)
a hot mess (Michael in 1, Oscar in 2, Lucille and Buster in 10, 14)
go away, Getaway, get away (ep 5, ep 7, ep 9, ep 11, ep 14)
unpacked suitcase (ep 1, 15)
Twin Club (ep 1, 15)
sweat and squeeze (ep 2)
“Same!” (ep 11)
“Hello darkness, my old friend…” (a.k.a. “The Sound of Silence”) (GOB ep 7 and 15, Tony Wonder ep 11, Mongol leader and Michael ep 15)
(registered) sex offender(s) (ep 9, ep 11, ep 12)
noodle stab (ep 10, earlier ep)
P-hound (ep 1, 12, 14, 15) (also see: PHND on corkboard)
(I thought this was used other than in reference to the actual character at some point, but I may be wrong. In which case, it’s not really a “gag”. TBD)
old gags revived / refashioned
I’ve actually decided to skip this for now, because there are sooooo many threads (and characters) from the past that get rekindled. It’s too much work. But feel free to add them in the comments and I’ll gather them together if it starts to add up.
“this seaward matriarch” (c-word)
loose seal (on the wall during the Trial of Captain hook)
the stair car vs. banners (ep 1)
“no talking” (once you’re voted out) (ep 1, 15)
Charlie Brown slumped shoulders walk (Michael ep 1 & 13, Buster in 14)
“We have the best f***ing attorney!” / “I have the worst f***ing shaman.”
“Them?” (ep 4) / “Her?” / Egg / Mouth / Who? / Hair? (ep 7) / “I wouldn’t put all my anns in that basket.” (ep 13)
“You’re the father.” (Ron to Michael ep 4)
Mr. F (ep 9, 15)