Talk:Pilot (Arrested Development)

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Pilot (Arrested Development) (final version) received a peer review by Wikipedia editors, which was archived on 22 August 2025. It may contain ideas you can use to improve this article.

Pilot (Arrested Development) has been listed as one of the Media and drama good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Review: May 9, 2025. (Reviewed version).

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Misc

As of today (Aug 2011) I thought the level of detail was exactly right. Pilots tend to be crammed with backstory and this gave me exactly what I needed to understand what was going on in the show, which I had started watching a few episodes into Season 1. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.67.219.180 (talk) 03:37, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

Can someone re-write the synopsis. It reads like the narrator in the episode, and has many lines just lifted out of it, which sound out of place in Wikipedia. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.153.122.68 (talk • contribs) .

I edited the synopsis so that big chunks are no longer lifted straight from the narrator Kweeket 20:50, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

The foreshadowing part about ice the bounty hunter sounds like a bit of a stretch. Anyone have a source to prove that this was intended and not a mere speculation/assumption? ArtimusClydeFrog

Fair use rationale for Image:Adwink.JPG

Image:Adwink.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 07:23, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:ADpilot.JPG

Image:ADpilot.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

BetacommandBot (talk) 03:55, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Hidden/Background Jokes

In contrast to the other articles about the series' episodes there isn't an section about Background Jokes. I noticed two: When Buster is shown during National Americans/ Tribal Ceremonies an Indian is talking on his cell phone in the background. Secondly, in the extended pilot Gob makes a twenty dollar bill from George Michael disappear and produces instead an Monopoly game, saying: You don't have it, do you?, and George Michael answering: "I think I might". Later in that episode George Michael is packing his things up in the attic and among them are several monopoly boards, meaning that Gob did this. magic trick several times. If nobody is going to object, I will incorporate this into the article. Merkwürdigeliebe (talk) 16:06, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

GA review

Passed. DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 02:05, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

This review is transcluded from Talk:Pilot (Arrested Development)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Crystal Drawers (talk · contribs) 20:47, 6 April 2025 (UTC)

Reviewer: DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk · contribs) 03:44, 7 April 2025 (UTC)

Hey! I will be reviewing this article :) I look forward to reading it as it seems very interesting! I am going to do a thorough review soon but for now I have three points

1.) The plot summary is too long - it should be less than 400 words per the requirement. Done

2.) "On the next Arrested Development..."- This should be removed as it is not part of the plot Done (but I feel it is needed)

3.) This sentence in "Accolades" - "The pilot was honored at the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Mitchell Hurwitz won Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for writing the pilot episode. During his acceptance speech, Hurwitz joked, "This is such a huge honor and, I fear, a giant mistake."" - is unsourced - please source it (also, I am not sure of the relevance of the acceptance speech?) Done (sourced statements and removed speech)

I will do a thorough review either tomorrow or later this week, so please expect new comments soon... DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 03:44, 7 April 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for the comments! I’ll fix these later today. Just one thing, the "On the Next" section is a part of every Arrested Development episode page, as it is a part of every single episode. One thing to note is that these are more one off jokes if anything, as none of what happens in these ever occurs in the next episode, and so they are unique moments from each episode. What happens on these usually does affect the next episode’s plot, so I think having it is a necessity. For now, I have removed it, and I’m fine with that, but I would prefer to keep it Crystal Drawers (talk) 11:04, 7 April 2025 (UTC)

Hey, I hope you are well! I reviewed the rest of the article. Here are my comments:

Lead - can you please remove the quotes and paraphrase them instead? Done And also can you add the actors' names next to the characters (e.g. George Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor)) please? Done

Plot -"This is too much for Michael" - What does this mean? Also regarding the plot, I have struggled to understand some of it and I feel that some of it may not be understandable to readers who do not know the subject, so maybe if you could please try clarifying some things? Done (reworded previously mentioned sentence and made certain parts of the section easier to read)

Development:

1.) "resulting from repeated rewritings and rehearsals" - I am a bit confused by what this means? Done (reworded)

2.) " "squarely in the zeitgeist"" - What does this mean? Done (tried to reword in a more digestible manner)

3.) Please link the "Fox" company Done

4.) "as a put pilot with a six-figure penalty" - What is a "put pilot" and what does "six-figure penalty" mean? Done (reworded to best of my ability; also, to answer your question, a put pilot is when a network agrees to buy a television pilot without being able to intervene, and the penalty is that if they choose not to air it, they are forced to pay a penalty for this. I tried to reword the sentence to also include the description, but it may come off rather awkward to read)

Themes and analysis - "The attitude of "Pilot" has been described as an "early adapter to the changing economic mood [towards America] in the 2000s" - Described by whom? Done

Reception:

1.) ""Pilot" was well received with critics, notably for its deadpan humor and lack of a laugh track. The New York Times critic Alessandra Stanley wrote that any possible comparisons to The Royal Tenenbaums were unfair, noting that Arrested Development dropped the "highbrow precociousness" of that film." - Both these sentences need sources. Done

2.) "Tim Goodman" of which newspaper/website etc? Done

3.) "while lauding Bateman's performance as "stunningly great"." - This needs a ref Done

Also can you please link Vulture in the sources themselves? Done

Once these are done I will do another check. Well done for your work on it so far! DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 19:26, 14 April 2025 (UTC)

@DaniloDaysOfOurLives: thanks for the comments! I fixed all that you’ve asked, and have left short comments on some of your notes just in case of anything. Thanks again! I hope you are doing well :) Crystal Drawers (talk) 20:01, 14 April 2025 (UTC)

@DaniloDaysOfOurLives: hey, how’s it going? Have you had a chance to do another check of the article yet? Sorry to be a bother, I’m just checking in :)

no worries if you can’t right now! Crystal Drawers (talk) 10:52, 22 April 2025 (UTC)

Hey, sorry, for some reason I never got these pings! I am satisfied with your changes and I can't see any major issues. I will do a spotcheck later today and hopefully pass the article DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 05:00, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Thanks :) Crystal Drawers (talk) 10:59, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Hey, I was spotchecking Source #1 and I came into a lot of issues as there were many statements and words that were not in the interview and did not line up, which is an issue. Could you please go through the sources and ensure that everything you have written aligns with the source? When you have done that I will do another spotcheck. DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 09:09, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

@DaniloDaysOfOurLives: Hey, I think I’ve fixed it now, the production section should be good. Let me know if it’s still an issue Crystal Drawers (talk) 10:25, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Okay, I think it is okay now. I have spotchecked sources #1, #4, #9, #10, #15 and #16. I am going to finally pass it, well done :) DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 02:04, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: rejected by reviewer, closed by Launchballer talk 05:11, 8 July 2025 (UTC)

(

Comment or view
Article history

)

... that the pilot to Arrested Development has been compared to Plato's Allegory of the cave?

Source: ^[1]

- ALT1: ... that the pilot to Arrested Development has been described as an "early adapter to the changing economic mood [towards America] in the 2000s"? Source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/arrested-development/arrested-development-turns-20-now-the-story-of-a-wealthy-family-who-lost-everything
- Reviewed:

Improved to Good Article status by Crystal Drawers (talk). Number of QPQs required: 0. Nominator has fewer than 5 past nominations.

Crystal Drawers (talk) 02:41, 9 May 2025 (UTC).

GA status, length, hook, close paraphrasing check ok. No QPQ needed. I prefer ALT0. --Soman (talk) 20:21, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

@Crystal Drawers and Soman: per discussion at WT:DYK, I've pulled this one out of queue because of unresolved sourcing questions. I'll come back around in a bit to summarize where my thoughts are :) theleekycauldron (talk • she/her) 18:55, 27 May 2025 (UTC)

@Crystal Drawers: Thanks for waiting, and sorry for a long message in advance! So, you mentioned this draft of a possible addition to the Manual of Style – I would say that even if it were part of the MoS, it still wouldn't supersede the basic principles of what goes into an article. Neither does the fact that some or even many other articles aren't written to the same standards – lots of articles were written at a time when standards were lower or in a topic area where enforcement of policy is less rigorous, but that doesn't mean that policy shouldn't be enforced rigorously.

As to what discourages using DVD extras: I would argue that a core principle on Wikipedia is that our coverage of a topic is shaped by independent, professional sources. They're the people we trust to separate what's important and true from what isn't, and overusing self-published material gets in the way of that ideal. The guideline I'll cite here is WP:SELFSOURCE, which says that people can be reliable sources of information about themselves as long as the source does not involve claims about third parties; it also says that use of self-sourced material should be minimal; the great majority of any article must be drawn from independent sources. I do see some self-published sources being used for claims about third parties, and I wouldn't say that the use of non-independent sources in the article is minimal.

I do think that correcting the first one would go a long way towards addressing the second, so I hope I'm not pushing too much of a burden on you! Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help :) also, I kinda wanna get around to watching this show now. it's been on my list forever...theleekycauldron (talk • she/her) 06:42, 29 May 2025 (UTC)

@Theleekycauldron: What makes citing DVD extras different to citing the episode itself, which is allowed per WP:PLOTSOURCE?--Laun chba ller 21:22, 6 June 2025 (UTC)

@Launchballer: I'd say that plot is different from real-world information. PLOTSOURCE is a specific carveout from our general policy of prioritizing secondary and independent sources, in recognition of the fact that the plot of a work is self-contained and easily accessible, so all we have to do is summarize the information the same way we would any other source. If we required a professional org to do that work first, we just wouldn't have plot sections in most book articles (even though I do like secondarily-sourced plot summaries where available). Still – we wouldn't, for example, cite a DVD extra for interpretation of the work. theleekycauldron (talk • she/her) 22:00, 6 June 2025 (UTC)

In which case, @Crystal Drawers: please address the above.--Laun chba ller 22:31, 6 June 2025 (UTC)

@Theleekycauldron: @Launchballer:, I apologize for my lateness, I have a lot of testing this week so I have been studying instead of doing my usual Wikipedia editing. I will have it done by the end of the weekend Crystal Drawers (talk) 02:14, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

No rush, Crystal Drawers, best of luck on your tests!! theleekycauldron (talk • she/her) 04:05, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

@Crystal Drawers: Just following up on the above. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 00:35, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

I again apologize. My finals finish on Wednesday and I will be back to my usual Wikipedia workings by then, so expect this to be finished by the end of the week Crystal Drawers (talk) 01:27, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

@Crystal Drawers: Just one last ping as a follow up. If this isn't resolved soon, this may have to be marked for closure. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 04:59, 4 July 2025 (UTC)
There has been no response from the nominator and they have not edited since July 1. With the nomination turning two months old on the 9th, I'm timing this out. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 00:42, 7 July 2025 (UTC)

References

[1]
Irwin, William (November 8, 2011). Arrested Development and Philosophy: They've Made a Huge Mistake. Wiley. ISBN 9781118146262.

Peer review

Pilot (Arrested Development)

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch • Watch peer review

This peer review discussion is closed.

I've listed this article for peer review because it is a recently listed GA and I plan on submitting it for FA status. It currently could use some work in its production section, themes section, and potentially the reception section. My main concern is that the article may be difficult to follow due to its structuring (particularly in Production). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks, Crystal Drawers (talk) 20:54, 18 May 2025 (UTC)

As the one who reviewed the GA, I think the article needs more secondary sources to meet FA criteria. I wish you the best of luck for it though! DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 04:57, 26 May 2025 (UTC)

Thank you :)

@DaniloDaysOfOurLives: Is there any section in particular you feel could benefit from more secondary sources (Production, themes, etc)? I just went back a little bit ago and added some secondary sources to the production section in order to cut down on how many primary sources it uses. I’ve counted and there are 6 sentences in Production where I could not find another source and had to use a primary source, and one in themes (all coming from the DVD bonus features). Crystal Drawers (talk) 14:48, 26 May 2025 (UTC)

@DaniloDaysOfOurLives: pinging again just in case you haven't seen my recent comment. I've actually gone back and removed all DVD sources, so I think the article is free from primary sources as of now. Are there any other issues or concerns you can see with the article? —Crystal Drawers (talk) 16:21, 29 May 2025 (UTC)

FAC PR sidebar

I have added this article to the FAC PR review sidebar. Please consider reviewing other articles listed there and remove this entry when this is closed. I also highly recommend seeking help from a FA mentor as they can provide help and reviews on what needs to be improved upon. Lastly, I recommend that you continue reviewing articles at WP:FAC now: this helps editors learn the FA criteria and builds goodwill amongst FAC reviewers, making your article more likely to be reviewed when nominated. Z1720 (talk) 15:11, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

Query from Z1720

@Crystal Drawers: It has been over a month since the last comment on this PR. Is this ready to be closed and nominated at WP:FAC? Z1720 (talk) 04:40, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

i’ve had a few other issues with the article brought up to me in other places and i don’t think the article is FAC ready yet, so i think closing it and leaving the article be would be the best option Crystal Drawers (talk) 11:15, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

@Crystal Drawers: Instructions on how to close a PR are at WP:PRG. I recommend the script. Z1720 (talk) 14:44, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

GA review

Pilot (Arrested Development)

FAC PR sidebar

Query from Z1720

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