Posted April 23, 2013 By Presh Talwalkar. Read about me , or email me .

This is the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. This is Arrested Development.

I am excited for season 4 of Arrested Development, to be released May 26 on Netflix. In preparation, I watched some of my favorite episodes and re-lived the show’s funniest moments. Along the way, I noticed there were a fair amount of strategic situations in the show, resulting from the characters trying to outsmart and backstab each other.

Of course, in this comedy very few of the strategies work out as planned. Here are 5 moments from Arrested Development that illustrate concepts from game theory.

(I am in great debt to the fan site http://the-op.com/ which has transcripts of each episode.)

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"All will be well if you use your mind for your decisions, and mind only your decisions." Since 2007, I have devoted my life to sharing the joy of game theory and mathematics. MindYourDecisions now has over 1,000 free articles with no ads thanks to community support! Help out and get early access to posts with a pledge on Patreon. .

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5. How much should you bid?

As a rule, auction theory is a fairly difficult subject. It is often not easy to calculate the optimal bidding strategy when facing issues like the winner’s curse, strategic opponents, and asymmetric information.

The good news is that most auctions are not this complicated. Common auctions like eBay and charity auctions are relatively easy to analyze.

The strategy is simple: to win, outbid the next highest person by the smallest allowable amount. This results in getting the prize at the lowest cost. And, it should go without saying, make sure to bid on the correct item.

The bidding strategy is simple, but not simple enough for Buster. In Charity Drive from Season 1, Episode 6, he is instructed to bid on his mother Lucille:

Lucille: What are you going to do? Buster: Bid on you. Lucille: How much? Buster: $10,000. Lucille: When? Buster: When they call my name. Lucille: No, they’re not going to call your name. They’re going to call my name. Good grief.

But even these instructions prove too complicated for Buster, who does bid when the name “Lucille” is called but still manages to mess it up.

“Bachelorette Auction” clip from Hulu, go to 00:55 for Buster’s bid

Buster does manage to bid when they call “Lucille.” Only he doesn’t bid on his mother; it was the name called out for their neighbor Lucille Austero. Oh Buster, how grand.

4. A game of chicken

Two cars speed directly towards each other. They will crash unless one of the drivers swerves out of the way. Who will be the chicken, or will they both be too proud and crash?

The classic game is a test of guts and a show of pride. The scene in in the show, from Staff Infection in Season 1, Episode 15, is roughly about the same issues.

“Work Issues” clip from Hulu, go to 00:40 where GOB calls Buster a chicken

Buster and GOB are filling in at a construction site when the two get into an argument.

G.O.B.: Don’t listen to him. He’ll never stand up to the Man. He’s a chicken. A chicken. Coka, coka, coka, coh! Buster: My whole life you’ve called me a chicken. But that’s over now. I have nothing to prove. G.O.B.: Coka, coka, coh! Coka, coka, coka, coh! Coka, coka, coka… Buster: That is not how a chicken sounds. Chickens don’t clap! Chickens don’t clap! Foreman: This is not how we settle things on a site. We got our own way of finding out who’s a chicken. By a little game we like to call… “Chicken.” G.O.B.: I hope you’re up to this, Buster! This is a game of courage! A game for men! Buster: Yeah, well, it’s a game I’m ready for! Uh-oh, my seat doesn’t have a cushion.

The setup is much like the standard game of chicken. Buster and GOB are driving bulldozers headed in a crash course for each other.

The twist in the show is that neither backs down. As it turns out, the machines were moving at a snail’s pace and the crash barely had any impact. It is this act of “courage” that makes GOB first see his younger brother as a man.

3. Rock-paper-scissors

The child’s game rock-paper-scissors is a fun way to resolve small disputes. In The One Where They Build a House, Season 2, Episode 2, the game is played out with oversized props from a construction site.

Very low quality clip from Youtube

GOB is holding a giant pair of scissors for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a new house. Just as he is about to make the cut, the shoddily built house falls apart. GOB believes that Michael has set him up somehow, so he charges at him with the prop.

Narrator: G.O.B. charged at Michael with the scissors, but Michael, as he always did, picked rock… Michael: Put it down. G.O.B.: Make it collapse. Make me look foolish. Michael: G.O.B., don’t do this. G.O.B., the scissors! Narrator: …[and the rock Michael was holding] beat scissors. Unfortunately, the whole incident was covered by the paper.

Again, the show makes a clever twist on a classic game. Michael wins with his rock, but then his rock was beaten by “the paper” as the media covered the event and made both brothers look very foolish.

2. The volunteer’s dilemma

An enemy grenade drops near your camp. There’s not enough time to escape. The only way the group can survive is if someone jumps on the grenade and sacrifices himself. Otherwise, everyone is a goner. Who’s going to volunteer?

The volunteer’s dilemma is a tricky situation. The group needs someone to volunteer, but the task is unpleasant that no one wants to be the volunteer.

The Bluth company faces a Volunteer’s dilemma in Queen for a Day, in Season 2 Episode 8.

Here the family lawyer explains the situation:

Barry: Good news…Your company’s stock is unfrozen… … Michael: … Now, that means we can sell, right? We can do whatever we want with it? What about a car? I could sell enough to buy a car? Barry: … Sure you can get one as long as everyone doesn’t sell the company stock at once. You don’t want someone else to get control of the company. Michael: Right. Got to keep the company intact, right? I mean, yeah, the people shouldn’t risk selling their, uh… Maybe you can draft up a letter to the investors. “Yes, the stock is unfrozen. We urge you not to sell.”

Michael’s actions demonstrate the dilemma perfectly. He requests others not to sell their shares while secretly he plans to sell enough shares so he can buy a new car. Who’s going to be the volunteer to save the family?

“Spending Spree” from Hulu

As explained in the clip, it’s not Lucille, who blows her money by moving her wall a couple inches into her neighbor’s penthouse. Tobias buys a gay dance club the Queen Mary; Lindsay pledges her money for a country club membership. GOB is planning to purchase a yacht. Michael tries to lecture everyone at their selfishness, except he has lost his moral high ground by splurging on a new Corvette.

Buster alone is loyal and did not sell his shares, but that was not enough.

The Bluth’s played the game horribly and they lost control of the company. Lucky for them, their neighbor Lucille Austero buys up the shares. Now, if they can only win her over…

1. Bertrand competition

It’s a running joke that GOB is jealous of his younger brother Michael who is more business-savvy. The father keeps the brothers in competition so he can exploit GOB’s lack of self-esteem to do his bidding.

Michael hopes to bury the hatchet and have the two brothers work together. In Making a Stand, Season 3, Episode 8, he offers GOB a true opportunity of opening another banana stand.

In the following clip, GOB is excited and grateful, but instead of bringing the brothers together, the banana stand ends up driving them back into competition.

“Frozen Banana” clip on Hulu, go to 00:40 for Michael’s offer to GOB

GOB locates the new banana stand right next to the old banana stand, again pitting the two brothers against each other in business.

(Of course, his reasoning is hilarious, “Did the research. Did you know that more frozen bananas are sold here on this boardwalk than anywhere in The O.C.?”)

Michael and GOB could resolve the situation as adults since both branches are in the family business. But instead, they go down the childish path of competition, even against the warning of the teenage George Michael.

G.O.B.: Attention, everyone! Why go to a banana stand when we can make your banana stand? I give you Barbara and Dee! Don’t worry, these young beauties have been nowhere near the bananas. George Michael: Dad, are they strippers? Michael: If I know your uncle, they’re at least strippers. Michael: Well, I guess we have to up the ante. George Michael: You know, Dad, then they’re just going to up it, and it’ll go back and forth all day. Michael: If that’s what it takes, that’s what we’re going to do. Narrator: And they did. But it was less entertaining than you might imagine— no matter what music was put under it.

The two competed for lower and lower prices, just like in a game of Bertrand Competition.

GOB: TWO FOR PRICE OF ONE

Michael: THREE FOR ONE

GOB: ALL THREE FREE!

To top it all off, in the heated competition, GOB manages to burn down his banana stand.

As these examples illustrate, the Bluth family may not be particularly smart at playing games correctly. Then again, it is the twist on the classic strategic situations that leads to the show’s fantastically humorous situations.

Here’s to looking forward to season 4.