The Bluths are just about as disjointed as one could possibly imagine for a family. The group of them can make you think differently about even your folks within just a few episodes! Now that Netflix is bringing out Season Five (YESSS!), we thought we’d dip into some lesser known Arrested Development facts:
1.The Office fans may find it interesting that Rainn Wilson almost beat out Will Arnett for the role of Gob. Can you imagine his portrayal of the impetuous magic-obsessed Bluth brother?
2. It was never actually intended that executive producer Ron Howard would be the narrator of the entire series, episode-to-episode. He was there to do just the pilot but the tone was so perfect that they asked him to stay on.
3. Gymnophobia is a real affliction. What is that? Well, Tobias considers himself a Nevernude. Gymnophobia is the fear of nudity!
(20th Century Fox, Netflix)
4. Speaking of Tobias Fünke, David Cross had actually been sought out the role of Buster Bluth but he felt he enjoyed the role of Tobias, the once-doctor-turned-wannabe-actor husband, far more.
5. Jason Bateman once described the show, during an interview featurette on the DVD set for the first season, as if The Royal Tennenbaums was filmed like “COPS.”
6. You may think it was Bateman, playing the responsible brother who has to try and keep his family from destruction, that was cast first. In fact, it was Ali Shawkat, who plays his niece Maeby, that first joined the ensemble.
(20th Century Fox, Netflix)
7. Gob isn’t his actual name, as it stands. Our favorite failed magician’s full name is George Oscar Bluth, shortened into Gob. (Just doing pronounce it as a hard G…)
8. Michael Cera, everyone’s second-favorite George Michael, was having issues with his Canadian visa during the filming of the pilot and had to rush to Mexico to work it out in the midst of shooting. They even had a possible replacement actor just in case Cera ended up getting deported back to Canada.
9. The scenes you’re used to seeing at the end of an episode, hinting at what you’d see in the next one, more often than not would not be seen or referenced even in the next episode. They were just playful and were just mostly extra scenes to tease the audience.
(20th Century Fox, Netflix)
10. There is real life inspiration behind the Bluth Banana Stand since Mitch Hurwitz and his own brother (interestingly enough named Michael) had a family cookie stand that still exists to this day! Go check out The Chipyard and get a taste of where this show’s family business inspiration came from! Let’s just assume they didn’t pack money into the walls.
