"The One Where They Build a House" is the second episode of the second season of the American television

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

''. It is the 24th overall episode of the series, and was written by series creator

Mitchell Hurwitz Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom ''Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of '' The Ellen Show''. He is ...

and co-executive producer

Jim Vallely James Vallely (born August 30, 1954) is an American television producer and screenwriter. He has written and produced for ''The Golden Girls'', ''Two and a Half Men'', ''My Wife and Kids'', ''The John Larroquette Show'', and '' Ladies Man,''Dun ...

, and directed by

Patty Jenkins Patricia Lea Jenkins (born July 24, 1971) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. She has directed the feature films '' Monster'' (2003), ''Wonder Woman'' (2017), and '' Wonder Woman 1984'' (2020). For the film ''Monster'', sh ...

. It originally aired on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

on November 14, 2004. The title is a reference to the sitcom ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'', which had finished airing six months earlier. The series, narrated by

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

, follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy,

dysfunctional family In psychology, abnormality (also dysfunctional behavior, maladaptive behavior, or deviant behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when i ...

, who made their money from property development. The Bluth family consists of

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, his twin sister Lindsay, his older brother Gob, his younger brother Buster, their mother Lucille and father George Sr., as well as Michael's son

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

, and Lindsay and her husband

Tobias Tobias is the transliteration of the , which is a Graecisation of the Hebrew biblical name . With the biblical Book of Tobit being present in the Deuterocanonical books and Biblical apocrypha, Tobias is a popular male given name for both Chri ...

' daughter Maeby. In the episode, Gob promises a model house for a new development in only 2 weeks, so everyone in the family helps to build a fake house that is empty on the inside. Lindsay buys a cream made of powdered diamonds.

Plot

(

Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...

) plans to save the Bluth Company by beginning construction on a new model home and holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Gob (

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix sitcom '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and the titular ch ...

), now president-in-name-only of the company, promises the board the house will be built in two weeks. Michael protests, and Gob suggests building a fake house, with nothing on the inside. Meanwhile, Buster (

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is most known for his comedic leading roles in the Fox series '' Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth, and as Gary Walsh on the HBO series '' Veep''. For the ...

) tries to find a way out of being volunteered to the army by Lucille (

Jessica Walter Jessica Ann Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in more than 170 film, stage, and television productions. In films, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc ...

), while he suspects that she and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

(

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American retired actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank ...

) are having an affair. Lucille tries repeatedly to end the relationship, but can't resist Oscar's luxurious hair. Buster finally finds out about the affair, gets upset, and willingly goes off to war. Lindsay (

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series ''Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...

) and

's (

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...

) newly open marriage becomes more competitive, and Lindsay makes a date with a homeless man (

Thomas Jane Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. Born and raised in Maryland, Jane's film career started with the Telugu-language romantic comedy '' Padamati Sandhya Ragam'' (1987). His other early films included ...

), only to realize that he is actually an actor living on the street to research his role. As Gob cuts the ribbon on the hollow house at the ceremony, all four walls collapse. Gob angrily accuses Michael of setting him up, and the brothers get into a fight in front of the attending press, resulting in a lot of bad publicity for the company. Michael and Gob realize that their competitive attitudes stem from George Sr. (Tambor) always pitting them against each other. Meanwhile, George Sr. hides out in Mexico with Kitty (

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in Judy Greer filmography, a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for ...

), who is driving him crazy. He asks Gob to wire him money, but the call ends when the police take him down for marijuana smuggling, thinking he is Oscar. George Sr. eventually manages to convince the Mexican police that he is not Oscar when they start to refer to his infamous appearance on the Bluth company's cornball fryer commercial. He thinks he is off the hook until all the Mexican officers angrily show him burns they got from attempting to use the fryer. He tries buying his way out of the predicament, but fails to contact either Gob and Michael, who both have decided not to speak to him. He is unable to get the money for the bribe and is dragged away by the officers.

On the next ''Arrested Development''...

Lindsay finds out the homeless man is actually an actor, who rejects her, and she and Tobias reconnect.

Production

"The One Where They Build a House" was directed by

, and written by series creator

and co-executive producer

. It was Jenkins' first and only directing credit, Hurwitzs' tenth writing credit and Vallely's sixth writing credit. It was the second episode of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

to be filmed.

Reception

Viewers

In the United States, the episode was watched by 7.22 million viewers on its original broadcast.

Critical reception

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' writer Noel Murray praised the episode, saying "this episode is big on bold slapstick moves." In 2019, Brian Tallerico from ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

'' ranked the episode 24th out of the whole series, calling it a "very funny chapter".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:One Where They Build a House, The 2004 American television episodes Arrested Development season 2 episodes Television episodes written by Mitchell Hurwitz Television episodes written by Jim Vallely Television episodes directed by Patty Jenkins