Arrested Development 3/27/05
 

"The Sword of Destiny", Episode #217.


Producer(s): Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, David Nevins, Mitchell Hurwitz.

Original Airdate: March 27, 2005.

How dare they cut down the order from 22 to 18!

Loved the "Doh!" by Dr. Stein (voice of Homer Simpson, Dan Castellaneta).

NOW i get the joke!


hilarious episode.

It took me a couple minutes to get that joke. It wasn't until George Sr. commented on it that I realized it was referencing Fox. :)

What about the other jab at Fox, with the Family Guy ad popping up on Tony Wonder's website? The exact same thing happens during broadcasts.

Man, this show has better (and subtler) insults towards Fox than the Simpsons ever did, probably because they actually have a reason to.

I missed the 22 to 18 joke but caught the Family Guy reference right away. Great episode.

Cable out. Missed the Michigan State game AND Arrested Development. :(

Came back on just in time for Deadwood. :)

I loved the shot of Tobias placing the MiniDV tape into a VHS VCR.

Great episode, having Homer Simpson himself there as well as the episode cut reference.

That totally went over my head. :lol:

The Family Guy pop-up on Wonder's website had me rolling.

I too missed the '22 to 18' reference. I caught the 'Doh!' by Dr. Stein though. Good stuff! :up:

The end was great with George Sr using the same tape with George Michael's star wars footage on it:lol:

It must be some kind of new terrorist training video....That kid is good.... :lol:

Wow, I caught the 22 to 18 reference immediately, and was laughing so hard I had to pause tivo before resuming

You cut off my ******* fingers!
(Audience applauds)

rotfl

Tony Wonder's website isn't up? Damn.

D

is it just me, or is Tobias' moustache getting bigger?

Yeah, I noticed that too. But then I realized he shaved off his real one to play Mrs Featherbottom, they showed him "suiting up" later in the episode, so I guess it's just a bad fake. Funny though.

"Dr. Frank Stein"
...switching fingers, shortening calf muscles...I'm not a big fan of name puns, but the ones on this show always kill me.

Boo-ya!

Great episode; Great show! I feel sorry for people who haven't taken the time to get into this - they really do "reward" the fans with subtle stuff. 22 to 18 was classic, as was the "Family Guy" pop-up.

from the article about wonder

Ben Stiller wasn't that great, but it was still a funny episode. This along with Scrubs are the only shows that continually bring the funny, still around.

And can someone explain the 22 to 18 to me. Probably won't get it even after the explanation.

AR hasn't been getting such good ratings. In an attempt to get the show renewed for another season, Fox cut the season from 22 episodes to 18, so they don't compete with shows in May sweeps.

What I don't get about that joke is, aren't sitcoms filmed a little earlier than two weeks before air date? The cutback was not that long ago. Did they reshoot scenes just to add that in? That would surprise me. At the same time, I don't see how they could have done it any other way.

Also, when Wonder stubbed his toe, and Buster said something like "That was disappointing, I was hoping for a graham cracker," the look on his face was EXACTLY like Lucille when she's disapproving of something or skeptical. That they would put in such a small touch is just brilliant.

Gotta love Mrs. Featherbottom with the 5 o'clock shadow. :lol:

"Why don't you just tell Tobias you know he's Mrs. Featherbottom?"
"Oh, no, I can't do that, he's the only one who will hand wash my delicates."
"Right, because Tobias wouldn't do that, anyway."

Ah, ok. Don't feel so stupid, didn't know the basis. Sad to hear about the cutback though. Hopefully fox learned its lesson with Family Guy. It'll be easier to let Arrested Development ride out the lower ratings wave than to bring it back when the fans hire assassins to kill the execs behind the lame move.

"boo-yah"
"D'oh" rotfl

Stiller ends up being the weakest part of the show.

I missed both. :(

Actually it seemed to me that Michael's entire storyline was about Fox and AD. Michael has some mysterious ailment that puts him in the hospital (AD is floundering in ratings despite being the funniest thing on TV). He doesn't get any better despite being treated by the best doctor in the state. (AD performs poorly behind The Simpsons) Michael has minor surgery to correct the problem, but it doesn't work. In the end, he leaves the hospital without the problem getting corrected, and is content to move on with his life and whatever happens will happen. (AD keeps bringing teh funny, and if it gets canceled then so be it.)

The offices are forced to vacate their lofty penthouse and lease their space to someone else, and are happy about just being able to continue working. (AD bumped from post-Simpsons slot by Family Guy, but haven't been canceled yet.)

Regarding the cut from 22 to 18:

Michael: "We had the blueprints all prepared!"
Narrator: "No, they didnt."

I'm surprised Fox didn't hype this one up because of the special guest star.

wow, that's a huuuuuge stretch, but who knows....

I'm mad I didn't get the 22-18 joke until I read it here. This kind of joke though proves how amazing of a show AD is.

Got the 22 to 18 reference immediately, and thought it was hilarious, as well as the rest of the episode. BAR NONE, the best show on television.

The Ben Stiller parts weren't all that great, but the rest of the show more than made up for them

Only GOB could do one stop shopping for Dong Tea and a sword. :lol:

I was looking at the TVTome.com website and looking at the episode list for Arrested Development. It lists the production number of last night's episode at 217, so it was one of the last episodes taped. This is assuming that the info on TVTome is correct.


D.

"Ancient Chinese secret, huh?!"

Absolutely-freakin'-hilarious...

(You did get it, right?)

It might depend on how old the viewer was. ;) I'm guessing the youngins wouldn't be as likely to.

That was great. The whole scene in the shop was my favorite part of the episode.

"Whatever, just ring it up with the dong tea."

"Hey Michael, I was looking for you."
"Oh really? It looks like you're looking for dragons ... in the future."

Hilarious.