Season 1 Plot
Meet the suddenly penniless, and equally clueless, Bluth family. Accustomed to their wildly affluent lifestyle, they can't seem to grasp the fact that the head of the family is now in the slammer for shifty accounting practices — and he's loving every minute of it. Even worse, since the family assets have been frozen, they may actually have to go out and get jobs! The only one who understands the seriousness of their predicament is Michael, who realizes it's up to him to guide his eccentric family into this new chapter of their lives: Chapter 11.
Arrested Development Season 1 aired on November 2nd, 2003.
Season 1 Episodes
1. Pilot
Meet the Bluths. In the pilot, Michael decides to take a job in Arizona after being passed over by George Sr. for head of the Bluth Company. George Sr. is jailed, and the family realizes they need Michael.
2. Top Banana
Michael puts George Michael in charge of the Bluth Bannana Stand, and his son subsequently burns down the stand. Elsewhere, Tobias auditions for a commercial, and Lindsay inadvertantly gets the part.
3. Bringing Up Buster
Michael spends quality time with Buster. George Michael auditions for a school play to get closer to Maeby. Gob breaks up with his girlfriend and has nowhere to go.
4. Key Decisions
Gob decides to lock himself in his father's prison for 24 hours to get back in with the alliance, and to spend quality time with his father. Michael takes Gob's girlfriend to an awards show, and Buster inadvertently flirts with his mother's rival.
5. Charity Drive
Michael and Lindsay try to prove their charitable sides to each other. Gob demands George Michael's respect, and Buster continues avoiding Lucille 2.
6. Visiting Ours
Michael sets up an "intimate conjugal visit" for his parents, while it is revealed that George Sr. had an affair with Kitty, his secretary who recently slept with Gob. Tobias and Lindsay see a marriage counselor.
7. In God We Trust
Michael attempts to fire the family's incompetent, but likeable attorney. George Michael impresses Maeby with a muscle suit for a "Living Classics" pagent. Tobias has a psychological affliction where he is unable to take off his clothes.
8. My Mother, the Car
Michael loses his short-term memory, which Lucille uses to her advantage. Gob attempts to use the family yacht before Michael sells it. George Michael and Maeby attempt to see an R-rated movie about cousins having an affair. Buster and Lucille 2 take "the next step".
9. Storming the Castle
Michael cannot go through with his plan to break up Gob and Marta. A thug magician wants to take Gob's "legs". Maeby wears all leather to get back at her mother, and Lucille decides to confront Buster's relationship with Lucille 2.
10. Pier Pressure
Buster realizes that medical marijuana will help cure Lucille 2's vertigo, and pays George Michael to get it for him from Gob. Lindsay sends Maeby to spend a day with Lucille to punish her for bad grades. Michael thinks George Michael is on drugs and attempts to teach him a lesson.
11. Public Relations
When George Michael is a rejected by a private school due to the family's reputation, Michael hires a publicist from his gym who he's been flirting with to change the public perspective of the Bluths. Meanwhile, Tobias is sent to Boston to reclaim his medical license.
12. Marta Complex
When Lucille throws an anniversary party for Tobias and Lindsay on Valentine's Day, Michael gives an impassioned speech about love. This makes Marta realize she has feelings for him and Lindsay realize she wants a divorce. Meanwhile, Buster decides to move out of the penthouse and Lucille revels in living alone for the first time.
13. Beef Consommé
After learning that Marta has feelings for him, Michael goes to her and they decide to get permission from Gob before taking things to the next level. Meanwhile, Lindsay and Tobias finally get to the heart of his "never-nude" problem and George Sr. faces his first hearing.
14. Shock and Aww
Michael falls for his George Michael's ethics teacher, whom his son also has a crush on. Meanwhile, Lucille adopts a 14-year old Korean boy, and George Sr.'s "Caged Wisdom" tapes have given him a new admirer.
15. Staff Infection
When Michael discovers his family has been receiving paychecks without working, he forces them all to get jobs within the company. Lindsay questions his management skills, and Tobias checks himself in at George Sr.'s prison to research a film role.
16. Altar Egos
Michael attempts to have a one-night stand with an attorney whom he doesn't know is not only blind, but the prosecutor who is trying to put his father in jail. Also, Gob gets married on a dare, Maeby pretends to be a girl with a made up disease, and George Sr.'s admirer turns out to be an undercover SEC agent who has truly fallen for him.
17. Justice Is Blind
Gob steals a file on the government's case against the Bluth Company that Maggie had given to Michael. Tobias is sent to Maggie's house to get evidence, George Michael tries to prove Maeby's fraud, and Lindsay fights to remove the Ten Commandments from the courthouse lawn.
18. Missing Kitty
Gob attempts to make good on his promise to make the family yacht disappear. Meanwhile, Lindsay and Maeby try to track down Lindsay's grandmother, Tobias seeks George Sr.'s respect, and Michael attempts to fire Kitty, who claims to have information that could bring down the company.
19. Best Man for the Gob
George Sr. uses Gob's bachelor party as an opportunity to set up his accountant in a compromising position so that he can blackmail him. Meanwhile, Michael tries to prove he's a fun guy, and the Funkes reunite their family folk-music band.
20. Whistler's Mother
Michael deals with numerous requests for some unfrozen money, and chastises Lucille for being too coddling with Buster. Lindsay decides to protest the war to boost her self esteem while Tobias and Gob decide to start a coffee company.
21. Not Without My Daughter
Michael takes Maeby to work with him on Take Your Daughter to Work Day. After being slighted by Michael, Tobias, George-Michael and Gob all go to the mall to prove that they are just manly. Oscar takes Lucille and Buster to Annyong's soccer game.
22. Let 'Em Eat Cake
In the first season finale, George Sr. has a heart attack, and Maeby is jealous when George Michael likes another girl. Meanwhile, Lindsay decides to leave Tobias until a book he wrote a long time ago becomes a gay bestseller, and Buster and Annyong compete over women.