Who is George Bluth Sr. in Arrested Development?

Show

Arrested Development

Played by

Jeffrey Tambor

First episode

“Pilot”Season 1, Episode 1, aired November 2, 2003

Role

Main cast

Network

FOX

Occupation

Bluth Company founder, often behind bars

Show run

2003 to 2019Canceled by FOX in 2006, then revived by Netflix for seasons in 2013 and 2018 to 2019.

Also known as

George Sr., George Oscar Bluth Sr., Pop-Pop

George Bluth Sr. is the crooked real estate developer whose arrest leaves his son Michael to hold the family together. Played by Jeffrey Tambor, he keeps trying to run the company, and his children, from prison, from hiding, and at one point from the attic.

On Arrested Development, George Bluth Sr.'s story runs through Lucille Bluth (Wife), Michael Bluth (Son), Gob Bluth (Son), Buster Bluth (Son), Lindsay Bluth Funke (Daughter), and George Michael Bluth (Grandson).

Who is George Bluth Sr.?

George Sr. founded the Bluth Company, a homebuilding business in Orange County, and ran it on years of what the show calls creative accounting. In the pilot he is arrested by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the family's lavish lifestyle starts to crumble around him. His grandchildren call him Pop-Pop.

He is married to Lucille and is the father of Gob, Lindsay, Michael, and Buster, plus the adopted Annyong. He also has an identical twin brother, Oscar, a far more laid-back man who causes no end of confusion, especially when the two start trading places.

Personality and comedy

George Sr. is a born manipulator who loves pitting his sons against each other, often by using Gob to undercut Michael. He believes in teaching lessons the hard way, and many of the family's worst habits trace straight back to him. His most famous piece of advice, that there is always money in the banana stand, turns out to be literally true.

His spiritual side is a running joke. He converts to Judaism during a stretch of isolation in prison and sells a video series called "Caged Wisdom," and later becomes a devout Christian after reading a pamphlet while hiding in the attic. Before the series began he also invented the Cornballer, a faulty kitchen gadget banned in several countries.

Key storylines

George Sr. escapes from prison at the end of season one and flees to Mexico. In season two he fakes his death there, the family holds a funeral without him, and he secretly hides in the attic of the model home. Season three reveals that his twin Oscar has been serving his prison time, and George is found hiding among the Blue Man Group and placed under house arrest while his case turns to homes the company built in Iraq, a deal he admits may amount to "light treason."

The original run ends with the twist that Lucille was the real power behind the family's schemes, and George slips away to Cabo. In the Netflix revival he runs a sham sweat lodge for executives near the Mexican border and schemes to build a border wall with the help of politician Herbert Love. His marriage falls apart when Lucille learns he has been secretly swapping places with Oscar.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Jeffrey Tambor plays both George Sr. and his twin Oscar. The character was originally planned as a much smaller part, but Tambor's performance meshed so well with the rest of the cast that the role grew. He received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2004 and 2005, and he won a 2004 Satellite Award for the role.

Seth Rogen plays a young George Sr. in season four flashbacks, and Taran Killam plays him in the season five show within the show. The banana stand line became one of the most quoted in the series, and it pays off early in season one when Michael learns that $250,000 in cash was hidden in the stand's walls.

George Bluth Sr.: frequently asked questions

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