The BEST episodes of Arrested Development
Every episode of Arrested Development ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Arrested Development!
Level-headed son Michael Bluth takes over family affairs after his father is imprisoned. But the rest of his spoiled, dysfunctional family are making his job unbearable.
#1 - Development Arrested
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/10/2006
After returning home from Iraq, George Sr. is finally cleared of all charges, and Michael is relieved to be the head of a successful company for a change. The real brains behind the madness is revealed, and just as the family begins to celebrate their victory, a whole new set of problems emerge.
#2 - Exit Strategy
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/10/2006
Gob goes to Iraq to perform his Christian magic act on the USO tour and ends up incarcerated. Michael learns George, Sr. sent Gob to Iraq to burn down the model home he built there, so Michael and Buster fly to Iraq to spring their brother from prison.
#3 - Meat the Veals
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/3/2005
George Sr. tries to find a way to attend an anniversary dinner for Lucille while Michael deliberately offends Ann's devout Christian parents. Tobias goes overboard performing his "Mrs. Featherbottom" persona.
#4 - Mr. F
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/7/2005
Michael must deal with a huge mole problem in order to salvage a major real estate deal with Japanese investors. In an effort to help Michael, Gob and Buster team up with George Sr.'s surrogate, Larry, to devise a plan and save the deal, but their plan falls apart in a big way. Meanwhile, Tobias mistakes a CIA agent for a CAA agent and inadvertently betrays the family, and Michael makes Rita a proposal she can't refuse. Frankie Muniz makes a cameo as himself.
#5 - Making a Stand
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/19/2005
Michael is tired of his father always having Gob compete with him, so Michael gets Gob his own banana stand franchise, only to find that Gob has set it up 20 feet from the old one. After the two compete, they decide to teach their father an elaborate lesson, and Buster refuses to use his handicap to scare kids. Meanwhile, Maeby uses Lucille's surgery in a horror film.
#6 - Good Grief
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/5/2004
Lucille hires a bounty hunter, Ice, to find George Sr., who may be closer than everyone thinks. Gob tries to pull off an elaborate illusion, Maeby tries to set Lindsay up with Ice, and Michael tries to mend George Michael's broken relationship.
#7 - Afternoon Delight
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/19/2004
Gob stages mass firings after being inadvertently roasted at the Bluth Company Christmas party. Michael is forced to rebuild the Banana Stand, and Buster plays hooky from the Army at an arcade game.
#8 - Pier Pressure
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/11/2004
Buster realizes that medical marijuana will help cure Lucille 2's vertigo, and pays George Michael to get it for him from Gob. Lindsay sends Maeby to spend a day with Lucille to punish her for bad grades. Michael thinks George Michael is on drugs and attempts to teach him a lesson.
#9 - Righteous Brothers
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/17/2005
Gob hides George Sr. while the model home's plumbing is checked; George Michael helps Ann protest Maeby's new movie; Tobias takes a liking to Kitty after Michael asks him to keep an eye on her.
#10 - The Ocean Walker
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/5/2005
After Michael announces he's marrying Rita, George Sr. worries that she's after the family's money. But when Rita's Uncle Trevor tries to stop the wedding by revealing some surprising information about Rita, Michael must decide if he wants to walk down the aisle.
#11 - Altar Egos
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/17/2004
Michael attempts to have a one-night stand with an attorney whom he doesn't know is not only blind, but the prosecutor who is trying to put his father in jail. Also, Gob gets married on a dare, Maeby pretends to be a girl with a made up disease, and George Sr.'s admirer turns out to be an undercover SEC agent who has truly fallen for him.
#12 - Beef Consomme
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/15/2004
After learning that Marta has feelings for him, Michael goes to her and they decide to get permission from Gob before taking things to the next level. Meanwhile, Lindsay and Tobias finally get to the heart of his "never-nude" problem and George Sr. faces his first hearing.
#13 - Señoritis
Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/26/2013
Maeby moves out on her own and reconnects with her cousin George-Michael.
#14 - A New Attitude
Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/26/2013
Gob accepts a job from his brother, but is distracted by a scheme of his own.
#15 - Missing Kitty
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/28/2004
Gob attempts to make good on his promise to make the family yacht disappear. Meanwhile, Lindsay and Maeby try to track down Lindsay's grandmother, Tobias seeks George Sr.'s respect, and Michael attempts to fire Kitty, who claims to have information that could bring down the company.
#16 - Let 'Em Eat Cake
Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/6/2004
In the first season finale, George Sr. has a heart attack, and Maeby is jealous when George Michael likes another girl. Meanwhile, Lindsay decides to leave Tobias until a book he wrote a long time ago becomes a gay bestseller, and Buster and Annyong compete over women.
#17 - The Immaculate Election
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/20/2005
George Michael runs for student body president, which Gob manages to ruin. Buster has an affair with Lupe, who is being sought after by Lindsay and Tobias attempts to move out of the model home, then develops a new persona when he regrets his decision.
#18 - Forget Me Now
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/3/2005
George Sr. is placed under house arrest by the family's new attorney Bob Loblaw, and finds that it's not exactly a walk in the park. Michael sets up his first date with Rita, but Rita has an unfortunate encounter with the family beforehand.
#19 - Family Ties
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/10/2006
In an effort to get to the bottom of things, Michael tracks Nellie down and hires her as a consultant for the Bluth Co. Unfortunately, Michael discovers Nellie's hands-on approach is more than he bargained for.
#20 - Shock and Aww
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/7/2004
Michael falls for his George Michael's ethics teacher, whom his son also has a crush on. Meanwhile, Lucille adopts a 14-year old Korean boy, and George Sr.'s "Caged Wisdom" tapes have given him a new admirer.
#21 - Justice Is Blind
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/21/2004
Gob steals a file on the government's case against the Bluth Company that Maggie had given to Michael. Tobias is sent to Maggie's house to get evidence, George Michael tries to prove Maeby's fraud, and Lindsay fights to remove the Ten Commandments from the courthouse lawn.
#22 - Fakin' It
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/10/2006
George, Sr. hires a new attorney who asks the Bluths to participate in a mock trial to help prepare them for the real thing. The attorney gets actor Judge Reinhold to preside over the mock case. Meanwhile, Buster fakes a coma to get out of testifying, and George Michael and Maeby participate in a mock wedding to entertain hospital patients. Back at the office, Michael discovers that he may have a long-lost sister named Nellie Bluth.
#23 - The One Where Michael Leaves
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/7/2004
Michael and George Michael leave for Phoenix but go back to ensure the family misses them. Lindsay wants to have an open marriage, which causes Tobias to try to join the Blue Man Group under the impression that they are a support group for depressed men. Lucille signs Buster up for the army after being goaded by a Michael Moore lookalike. Gob becomes president of the Bluth Company.
#24 - Sword of Destiny
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/27/2005
Gob and Buster team up for some magic tricks with the help of Buster's fake hand, but when Tony Wonder, a rival magician, starts to mentor them, somebody gets the finger. Meanwhile, Michael is forced to delegate some work when he's hospitalized and Lindsay teaches George Michael how to drive using the staircar.
#25 - Not Without My Daughter
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/25/2004
Michael takes Maeby to work with him on Take Your Daughter to Work Day. After being slighted by Michael, Tobias, George-Michael and Gob all go to the mall to prove that they are just manly. Oscar takes Lucille and Buster to Annyong's soceer game.