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Best Man for the Gob

"Best Man for the Gob"
Directors: Lee Shallat-Chemel — Writer: Mitchell Hurwitz & Richard Rosenstock — Aired: April 4, 2004 — Icon-image      


"Best Man for the Gob" is the nineteenth episode of Arrested Development's first season.

George Sr. uses G.O.B.'s bachelor party as an opportunity to set up his accountant in a compromising position so that he can blackmail him. Meanwhile, Michael tries to prove he's a fun guy, and the Fünke's reunite their family folk-music band.

Synopsis[]

The party[]

Michael and Bluth Company accountan Ira Gilligan meet in the frigid and hot Bluth Company offices about missing funds. G.O.B. arrives and calls Ira "Gilligan", which he hates. Alone, Michael tells G.O.B. he is going to throw him a bachelor partyas his Best Man but G.O.B. reveals he is going to get a divorce and asks Michael to help convince his wife to dump him. Michael meets with George about the missing funds and Ira and George tells Michael to show Ira some fun to get him on the family's good side. George then supposes he should ask G.O.B. to do it since Michael "isn't fun".

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (02)

The next day at Lucille's cocktail party for G.O.B.'s wife, G.O.B. has changed his mind after talking to George and is going to stay married and have a bachelor party with their father as Best Man. This upsets Michael so he decides to take his son and have "real fun" on a fishing trip. George, meanwhile, gives G.O.B. orders on how to use a narcoleptic stripper to scare Ira into fleeing the country. On Lucille's behest, G.O.B. brings Buster along to his party which is otherwise attended exclusively by Hot Cops. Buster drinks all the red corn syrup, thinking it is juice, and starts to eat the giant cake holding the narcoleptic stripper. The stripper punches him through the cake, and they both pass out.

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (44)

George Michael and Michael attempt to get an early night for their 4am wake up call to go fishing but George Michael blatantly guilt trips his father into going to the bachelor party so George Michael can go see the Fünke band. At the party, G.O.B. is trying to get Ira to drink when Michael discovers the stripper and Buster. G.O.B. pulls the ripcord and flubs the set up and fails to convince Ira that he has killed a stripper and must flee the country. Ira storms out, swearing he'll testify against the family. Michael convinces G.O.B. to turn the TV which is teleconferencing George in from prison off. G.O.B. works up the courage, powers it off, and thanks his brother for being there for him.

At that moment, G.O.B.'s wife enters the hotel room and reveals that she is in love with his brother. G.O.B. socks Michael in the face but his wife reveals she meant "-in-law". and is leaving to be with Tobias.

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (65)

The band[]

In an attempt to rekindle their magic from the mid-1990s, Tobias attempts to get Lindsay and Maeby back together for Dr. Fünke's 100% Natural Good-Time Family Band Solution, a band underwritten by the Natural Life Food Company. During practice, Lindsay is miserable and attempts to recreate her own happiness from the 1990s, which mainly came from the psychiatric drug Teamocil. George Michael attempts to join the band on woodblock because he claims to have perfect rhythm but Tobias refuses to let him join.

At the Wellness Convention Lindsay storms away from the stage before the show. Maeby, who was only participating so her parents would otherwise leave her alone, left the convention as well. Performing solo, G.O.B.'s wife, a longtime Family Band Solution fan, walks through the crowd playing a harpsichord and is also joined by George Michael on woodblock on stage. The song wraps and Tobias fires George Michael from the band.

Appearances[]

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (34)

Amy Poehler as G.O.B.'s wife

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (70)

Michael Hitchcock as Ira Gilligan

Recurring
Guest
  • Michael Hitchcock as Ira Gilligan
  • Lauren Bowles as Stripper
  • Andrew Hill Newman as Drug representative
  • Luciano Giancarlo as Bix
  • Danielle Cipolla as Young Maeby
  • Dan Horton as Marcus

Recurring themes[]

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (12)
1x19 Best Man for the Gob (21)

"Gilligan!"

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (76)

References[]

  • Allyn-Crane - Dr. Fünke’s 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution was underwritten by the Natural Life Food Company, a division of ChemGrow, an Allyn-Crane Acquisition, and part of the Squimm Group. Allyn-Crane is the surname of an Arrested Development fan that sent cookies to the writers. They sent her a nice thank you and a copy of this episode’s script.
  • Gilligan's Island, the TV sitcom, is referenced numerous times in this episode.
    • George, Sr. yells "Gilligan!" in the same manner as the Skipper from Gilligan’s Island.
    • G.O.B. accidentally says "Gilligan killed the Skipper," instead of "Gilligan killed the stripper."
    • Ira Gilligan is dressed as Gilligan from Gilligan’s Island in the "on the next Arrested Development" scene and has abscounded to an island.
  • Marco Polo - Pool guests can be heard playing Marco Polo at the hotel.

Callbacks/running jokes[]

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (50)
1x19 Best Man for the Gob (27)
1x19 Best Man for the Gob (69)
1x19 Best Man for the Gob (58)

Hot Cops

  • Bed - Michael and George Michael's sleeping arrangement at the hotel mirrors that in "Pilot". It would later be mirrored again in Season 3's "The Cabin Show" and "Development Arrested".
  • Cartography - Lupe is seen wearing a "Stanford Institute of Cartography" sweatshirt at the party. In the pilot episode, it was established that Buster had taken "$80,000 worth of cartography lessons" in his scholarly pursuits.
  • Cloudmir - The bar at G.O.B.’s bachelor party includes a bottle of Cloudmir vodka.
  • Hermano - G.O.B. refers to Michael as his "hermano", a word he learned means "brother" in Spanish thanks to the mix-up with Marta.
  • "Hey" - Buster greets Annyong with "Hey, adopted brother."
  • Punched - G.O.B.'s comment to Buster, "Yeah, but on the plus side, you got punched in the face." during the "On the next Arrested Development..." segment refers to "Beef Consommé", when Buster asks G.O.B. and Michael to punch him in the face as he tried to join their fight.
  • Is Tobias gay? - More jokes are made at Tobias' questionable sexuality.
    • While alone on stage Tobias says he feels "a bit like a Mary without a Peter and a Paul."
    • Tobias wears a woman’s coat.
    • When Lindsay argues to take zanotab Tobias says "This family is not about to start using. We are pushers, not takers"
  • Hot Cops - G.O.B. doesn't have any friends to invite to the bachelor party and instead hires his colleagues from the Hot Cops to pose as party goer. They arrive as cops, first seen in "Pier Pressure". G.O.B.'s lack of friends is later made fun of in "¡Amigos!".
  • Juice - Buster's obsession with juice is first mentioned and seen in this episode. He later finds a "giant juice box" (boxed wine) in "Spring Breakout".

Hidden/background jokes[]

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (49)
1x19 Best Man for the Gob (04)
  • The demonstrations scheduled at the wellness convention are the "Erector Seminar (7-9 p.m. Friday)" and "Magnet or Magnot? (Saturday)."
  • The products on the sign at the wellness convention are "Placebojolt," "Erector," "SwallowGold," "Adrenoblast," "Groupug," "The Magnet Suit," "Euphorizine," "Bond," "The Magnot Suit," and "Dog Tease."
  • Tobias wears a coat first seen on a female employee of the Bluth Company.
  • At the beginning of Lucille's cocktail party, Buster is hiding behind a doorpost, like a true Milford man.

Foreshadowing/Future References[]

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (24)
1x19 Best Man for the Gob (43)
  • Adoption - Lucille tells G.O.B.'s wife, "I have always wanted a daughter." We find out in the series finale that Lindsay is, in fact, adopted.
  • Buster's Hand - Upon mistaking the fake blood for juice (it was actually corn syrup and red dye), Buster exclaims "This party's gonna be off the hook." He gets a hook to replace his lost hand in "Hand to God".
  • G.O.B.'s son - G.O.B. states that he "might be" a father, something which is revealed to be true in "The Immaculate Election".
  • Soccer - This is the first episode to mention Annyong's soccer team, which would later factor into the storyline of "Not Without My Daughter". The juice Annyong was drinking was for the soccer team.

Quotes[]

→ See more quotes from "Best Man for the Gob" at Transcript of Best Man for the Gob.

Notes[]

1x19 Best Man for the Gob (01)
  • The title uses “G.O.B.” and ”job” as homophones.
  • Michael Hitchcock makes his only appearance on the show as Ira Gilligan, the Bluth Company's accountant. He joins Jane Lynch and John Michael Higgins as the third member of Christopher Guest's mockumentary ensemble to make a cameo on the show.
  • This episode is rated TV-PG-LV.

Images[]

→ See more images from "Best Man for the Gob" at Category:Images from Best Man for the Gob.
SEASON ONE EPISODES

1. "Pilot"
2. "Top Banana"
3. "Bringing Up Buster"
4. "Key Decisions"
5. "Charity Drive"
6. "Visiting Ours"
7. "In God We Trust"
8. "My Mother, the Car"

  9. "Storming the Castle"
10. "Pier Pressure"
11. "Public Relations"
12. "Marta Complex"
13. "Beef Consommé"
14. "Shock and Aww"
15. "Staff Infection"
16. "Altar Egos"

17. "Justice Is Blind"
18. "Missing Kitty"
19. "Best Man for the Gob"
20. "Whistler's Mother"
21. "Not Without My Daughter"
22. "Let 'Em Eat Cake"

Season OneSeason TwoSeason ThreeSeason FourSeason Five
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