40. "Pilot," Arrested Development (2003)
Welcome to the “100 Best Sitcom Episodes of All Time,” a countdown for 2012. Each episode will get a separate blog post, counting backward toward No. 1. A list of the programs revealed so far is here (and on Pinterest), and an introduction to the project is here.
Lucille: If you're saying I play favorites, you're wrong! I love all my children equally.
(cut to scene earlier that day)
Lucille: I don't care for Gob.
I'd put that joke next to Archie Bunker's first racial epithet in terms of its influence on TV comedy. Here we have:
1.) The introduction of a character so self-absorbed and cartoonish that she makes Seinfeld gang look like the Waltons.
2.) A discrepency between a character's spelling (Gob, for George Oscar Bluth Jr.) and pronounciation (Job) that non-fans are sure to find confusing and that adds to the show's science-fiction-like cult status.
3.) A joke that depends on editing and that couldn't be accomplished on a traditional three-camera sitcom.
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