Has it really been over 20 years since the first season of Arrested Development aired? Where in the world does the time go. Anyways, I would bet that this show — a top 5 comedy for me, maybe top 3 — was most people’s introduction to Will Arnett. I’m not sure anyone can play an overconfident buffoon as well as he can, with Gob Bluth being the buffooniest of them all. It’s been over a decade since I listened to the Arrested Development DVD commentaries but if you ever get the chance to do so you I would highly recommend it, especially the ones that feature Arnett. He has so much utter contempt for the Bluths and their stupidity it’s hilarious. Not to digress but man, they need to make commentary tracks available on streaming services (I’m not sure it would be profitable to do so but I’m sure these corporations will do it to benefit the consumer regardless of any monetary incentive 😉).

It was always thrilling to see Arnett pop up in so many shows over the years, including as cold-pizza-preferrer and villain Devon Banks in 30 Rock, another candidate for funniest show of all-time. All these years later, two particular line-readings by Arnett from the aforementioned shows have lived in my head rent-free:

So if you ever see me staring off into the distance seemingly lost in deep thought, know that what I’m actually doing is reciting “thanks...phooone!” or “what kind of name is that...magazine!?” in my head. I am not qualified or insightful enough to pinpoint why exactly these lines are so funny but something about the combination of Arnett's character's masked desperation and oblivious self-assurance while they perform the bizarre theatrics just make for an absurd situation and human to laugh at in bemusement.

By the way, this is not related to anything but the video above is the first thing I’ve uploaded to my YouTube channel in 14 years. Thought that was funny for some reason.

This is merely scratching the surface of my appreciation for one of Canada’s finest exports and if you’re looking for another, more recent, Will Arnett vehicle, you should check out Murderville (or great vocal performances in BoJack Horseman and The Lego Batman Movie) and finally, while we’re on the topic of inanimate objects I’ll just go ahead and recommend In Bruges too. Great film!