The series, narrated by Ron Howard, follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family, who made their money from property development. The Bluth family consists of Michael, 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, and Lindsay and her husband Tobias' daughter Maeby. In the episode, after Ice reveals that George Sr. has been executed in Mexico, the family holds a wake. Gob attempts an illusion in which he is buried in place of his father's body, which upsets Buster, who was told that it was a birthday party. George Michael discovers George Sr. alive in an underground bunker and hides him in the attic.
At the time of, and since, airing, the episode has received critical acclaim, with it often being labeled as the greatest episode of Arrested Development and one of the greatest television episodes of all time. Series creator Mitchell Hurwitz calling it his third favorite episode of the series. Rolling Stone ranked the episode as the 29th best television episode of all time in 2024.
Buster is not told the truth about his father's death out of fear of him overreacting. George Michael finds George Sr., who had faked his death and came back to win Lucille back from his brother Oscar (Tambor), alive and hiding in a spider hole, so George Michael hides him in the attic of the model home. The wake begins, with George Sr. watching through a vent and sending George Michael to bring him hors d'oeuvres. Michael intercepts his son, reuniting him with Ann and telling him that he wants them to be happy and honest with each other.
Buster arrives, and Lucille asks Gob to get him out of the house before he realizes it's a wake. Outside, Gob begins his illusion, but ends up getting himself buried alive when Buster realizes that the event is his father's wake. Michael finds his father in the attic and tells everyone else, but when they arrive at the attic, George Sr. has apparently fled. When they leave, George Sr. emerges from a hiding spot, and Michael keeps his secret.
On the next Arrested Development...
Buster finds out about the death of Captain Kangaroo and trashes Lucille's apartment, Michael gets annoyed with looking after George Sr., and Gob is put on the cover of Poof, a magazine for magicians.
Production
"Good Grief" was directed by Jeff Melman and written by consulting producer John Levenstein.[1] It was Levenstein's sixth and final writing credit for Arrested Development,[2] and was the fourth episode of the season to be filmed.[3]
Arrested Development was given permission by the estate of Charles M. Schulz to make references to Peanuts in the episode.
The scene of Buster throwing a vacuum towards a bus proved difficult to shoot, and required six takes before it was finished. Jason Tinero, who portrayed young Buster, later said that, during his time on the show, the scene was his favorite, but noted how tedious it was to get it right. The bus moved at a regular pace, and Tinero was required to throw the vacuum while it was in motion; however, his aim was not accurate enough, and the bus had to be slowed down with each new take so he could move closer and have a more precise throw.[4]Arrested Development had previously made several references to the Peanuts franchise—particularly by using character names such as Linus to refer to body parts—and so they were granted permission to do the episode by the estate of Charles M. Schulz.[5] "Good Grief" was first released on home video in the United States on October 11, 2005, in the Complete Second Season DVD box set. The set includes audio commentary for the episode from series creator Mitchell Hurwitz, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, David Cross, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, and Jessica Walter.[6]
Reception
Viewers
In the United States, the episode was watched by 6.66 million viewers on its original broadcast.[7]
Critical reception
"Good Grief" received critical acclaim from both critics at the time and retrospective reviews. The A.V. Club writer Noel Murray praised the episode, calling it a "stunningly well-constructed piece of farce".[8] The episode was labeled as one of the best of the 2004 season by Variety's Neal Justin, who listed the multiple Peanuts references and the ironic use of them as highlights.[9]The Free Lance-Star's Amy Amatangelo wrote in her assessment of the series that "Good Grief" was her "all time" favorite episode, particularly for the gag of Gob quickly removing his stripper pants.[10]
In 2019, Brian Tallerico from Vulture ranked the episode as the 20th best of the whole series.[11] In 2015, Megan Walsh from Screen Rant ranked the episode as one of the top ten best of the series.[12] Series creator Mitchell Hurwitz ranked "Good Grief" as his third favorite episode of the show.[13] In 2024, Alan Sepinwall from Rolling Stone ranked the episode as the 29th best television episode of all time, calling it "a standout from the series’ initial three-year run".[14]
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