Arrested Development/Mr. F

Mr. F
Season 3, Episode 5
Airdate	November 7, 2005
Production Number	#3AJD05
Written by	Richard Day, Jim Vallely
Directed by	Arlene Sanford
← 3x04 Notapusy	3x06 → The Ocean Walker
Arrested Development — Season Three

This article about an episode needs to be expanded with more information. Please help out by editing it.

Mr. F is the fifth episode of the third season of Arrested Development, and the forty-fifth episode overall.

Guest Stars: Scott Baio (Bob Loblaw), Dave Thomas (Trevor), Bob Einstein (Larry), Charlize Theron (Rita), Frankie Muniz (Himself)

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Rita and Mr. F: It is revealed officially that Rita is mentally retarded. This has been hinted at subtlely in previous episodes like in Forget Me Now where she was seen obstructing a Wee Britain sign so it said "Wee Brain."

Characters

• Annyong: This episode marks the first appearance of Annyong since The One Where Michael Leaves, albeit he only appears in a "Next On" segment.
• Michael and Rita: Michael proposes to Rita after getting her and Trevor deported.

Referbacks

• Motherboy XXX: Tobias makes reference to when he played George Sr. in an episode of Scandalmakers, filmed by Carl Weathers in the referenced episode. The narrator also briefly mentions his feud with the narrator of Scandalmakers.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Awards: For their roles as Bob Loblaw and Rita, respectively, in this episode, Scott Baio and Charlize Theron were each nominated for an IVy Award for the 2005-06 season for Best Guest Actor or Actress in a Comedy Series.
• Special Timeslot: This episode first aired as the second in a block of two new episodes at 8:30PM.
• The End?: Following the poor ratings of this two episode block, Fox cut the show's order for the season from 22 to 13, and pulled it from the schedule for the November sweeps period, a sign that the series will likely be cancelled.

Allusions and References

• Bay of Pigs: The bay of pigs incident was carried out by the CIA in 1961 in response to Fidel Castro's move towards communism. The plan was to invade Cuba and forcefully remove Castro as the leader. However, the invasion was a failure. Most of the invaders were captured and sentenced to 30 years in prison and it put a heavy strain on US-Cuban relations.

Narrator: Frank said 'CIA', a government agency responsible for this catastrophe.

• Godzilla: The Godzilla series of movies are a long running Japanese cinema staple that has had over 25 films to date. The series revolves around a gigantic dinosaur looking lizard creature that was originally meant as an allegory for the effects of the use of the hydrogen bomb. This meaning is often lost on American audiences due to the culture clash and unusual English dubbing.

Michael: They come from a culture that values honor and respect...

GOB: And Godzilla!

• Alias: Alias is a sci-fi series about spies (occasionally shortened to "spy-fi") created by J. J. Abrams. The series stars Jennifer Garner as a CIA agent who adopts a new persona for each mission she is sent on, hence the title.

Buster: Alias is a show about a Spy

• Ultraman: Much like Godzilla, the Ultraman series represents another facet of Japanese science fiction, most notably Tokusatsu. The series follows a superhero named Ultraman who fights giant monsters throughout several television series including Ultra Q. While it isn't entirely clear that the intent was to parody the films, the fight between George Michael and Tobias take several elements from this type of movie, particularly the low budget look.

Quotes

• Larry The Surrogate: What is that, a train set? Look down, Larry.
  George Sr.: No, not down at your feet.
  Larry The Surrogate: Left. My left, your right.
  George Sr.: What is the matter with this guy? And, let me guess, he's probably-
  Larry The Surrogate: saying all that, too.