Arrested Development
Dry humorDeadpan, understated wit.This show: 9/10AbsurdistSurreal, logic-bending comedy.This show: 9/10Ensemble castMany characters carrying equal weight.This show: 9/10Tight writingNo wasted scenes, just disciplined storytelling.This show: 8/10Ironic & metaSelf-aware humor that knows it's a TV show.This show: 8/10Comfort rewatchThe kind of show people return to endlessly.This show: 8/10Witty banterRapid-fire verbal sparring.This show: 8/10Intellectual challengeRewards close attention and theorizing.This show: 7/10
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Starring
Jason BatemanMichael CeraPortia de RossiWill ArnettAlia ShawkatTony Hale
Written by
Mitchell Hurwitz
Starring
Jason BatemanMichael CeraPortia de RossiWill ArnettAlia ShawkatTony Hale
Written by
Mitchell Hurwitz
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Arrested Development Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | E10 | E11 | E12 | E13 | E14 | E15 | E16 | E17 | E18 | E19 | E20 | E21 | E22 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 9.0 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.1 | 8.5 | 8.7 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.5 | 8.6 | |
| S2 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 8.9 | |||||
| S3 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 7.9 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 9.1 | ||||||||||
| S4 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 7.0 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.0 | ||||||||
| S5 | 7.0 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 7.3 | 6.7 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 7.5 |
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About
"Comedy built for rewatching, joke by joke"
A wealthy Orange County family loses everything when the patriarch is arrested for shady business dealings, forcing straitlaced son Michael to hold together his spoiled, self-absorbed relatives while running the family company. It's a dense, fast-talking farce built on running jokes, visual gags, and callbacks that reward rewatching over casual viewing. The tone is dry, cynical, and gleefully immature, carried by a stacked ensemble cast with perfect comic timing. Later seasons shift structurally due to real-world scheduling issues, but the original run remains a benchmark for joke density in sitcom writing.
Watch it for
the relentless density of callbacks and running gags rewarded by repeat viewing.
Maybe skip if
you prefer straightforward sitcoms without tracking dozens of interlocking jokes.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Season 12003
8.374K227h 59m
Meet the suddenly penniless, and equally clueless, Bluth family. Accustomed to their wildly affluent lifestyle, they can't seem to grasp the fact that the head of the family is now in the slammer for shifty accounting practices — and he's loving every minute of it. Even worse, since the family assets have been frozen, they may actually have to go out and get jobs! The only one who understands the seriousness of their predicament is Michael, who realizes it's up to him to guide his eccentric family into this new chapter of their lives: Chapter 11.
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Season 22004
8.650K189h
Michael Bluth, once again determined to be free of his dysfunctional family, packs up the car and his son George-Michael and heads for Arizona. But he's soon pulled over by the police who tell him that his father, George Sr., has broken out of prison. Due to the company's shady business deal with Iraq, Michael could face prison time, so he returns home to clear his name even as George Sr. secretly flees to Mexico, Tobias decides to be an understudy for the Blue Man Group, and Lucille begins a torrid affair with her husband's twin brother Oscar.
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Season 32005
8.534K136h 15m
Michael Bluth finally realizes that it's his Uncle Oscar serving time in prison, not his father. Reluctant to spring Oscar due to the effect it may have on the family business, Michael decides that the only fair thing to do is to find his father and place him under house arrest. Yet once found, George Sr. insists he was tricked into working with the Iraqis, leaving Michael no choice but to investigate his father's outrageous claim. But it isn't until Michael and Buster go to Iraq on a rescue mission to save Gob that the depth of the devious plot is revealed — and Michael learns which family member is the real brains behind all the madness.
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Season 42013
7.627K158h 22m
The dysfunctional Bluths embark on separate journeys -- but always find a way back into each other's lives.
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Season 52018
7.017K167h 49m
As the Bluths continue to make a mess of their personal and professional lives, Michael again can't quite abandon the family that makes him miserable.
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Jason Bateman Michael Bluth
Michael Cera George-Michael Bluth
Portia de Rossi Lindsay Bluth Fünke
Will Arnett Gob Bluth
Alia Shawkat Maeby Fünke, Shaman Sheman
Tony Hale Buster Bluth, British Soldier
David Cross Tobias Fünke
Jeffrey Tambor George Bluth Sr., Oscar Bluth
Jessica Walter Lucille Bluth
Ron Howard Narrator, Ron Howard, Self
Crew
Mitchell Hurwitz
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