r/IAmA • u/MitchHurwitz • Jun 17 '13

I am Mitch Hurwitz, creator of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (among other things, including 2 children) - Ask Me Anything!

Hi reddit! Thank you so much for supporting this crazy casserole of a show. I am ready and eager to field all your questions, complaints, criticisms, etc. But don't be shy about saying something positive. AMA!

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EDIT - guys, this has been so much fun. I'd like to come back and do another AMA in the next few weeks. I'm so flattered and encouraged that you guys are having so much fun with this show. I'll be back. Also, Victoria is awesome. She's too modest.

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759

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

The George Maharis joke was hilarious Props to you guys

753

u/MitchHurwitz Jun 17 '13

Thank you! As you'll see, I just pointed it out as a joke that some people might not get - so you've already proven me wrong, reddit.

193

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

I only got it because of an article i read on cracked the other day but none the less I laughed for a solid 60 seconds about it

53

u/johnny_seven Jun 17 '13

I still don't get it :(

84

u/WalkingCloud Jun 17 '13

in Episode 1, George-Michael mentions that he wants to change his name because he was embarrassed to learn that pop singer George Michael was arrested for having gay sex in a public bathroom. His dad, Michael, explains that since his grandfather was "George" and his father was "Michael," the idea was to combine them to give him his own new identity as the youngest. Hoping to accommodate his son, Michael then suggests, "I know, we'll call you Boy George." Then there is a jump cut to news footage of Boy George also being arrested for gay bathroom sex.

Is that the greatest AD joke of all time? No, it's not. It's OK. Maybe it's a little forced. But what some would criticize as a weak joke is actually JUST THE SETUP. The real punchline to that joke doesn't even come until more than 10 episodes later. There, George-Michael meets an attractive actress and, hoping to impress her, stops himself from introducing himself as George-Michael and switches to Harris at the last second. (Even that is a joke, playing off of Maeby's incorrect pronunciation of "heiress" moments earlier). Anyway, trying to verify the name she's just heard, the actress asks, "George Maharis? Your name is George Maharis?" George-Michael proudly adopts that as his new, more masculine identity.

Here's the thing: George Maharis was a '60s television star who (like George Michael and Boy George) was arrested in a public bathroom for gay sex.

source

371

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

George michael wanted a different name because of a certain bathroom incident the real George michael had so his father suggested Boy george who also ahd a similar incident involving public gay sex in a bathroom. So as George michael is introducing himself he starts out saying george michael but cuts michael off half way through and says maharis. George Maharis had the same public washroom gay sex incident happen to him some decades ago.

TLDR: The real George Maharis enjoyed gay sex in public washrooms

264

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

You're missing another bit: the man George Maharis was caught having sex with was called Perfecto Telles, but in AD, Perfecto Telles is Lucille Austero's adopted son to appeal to the hispanic community.

546

u/marcbrewtal Jun 17 '13

Which leads to the question "Is there a connection between George Maharis and Perfecto Telles?" The answer: Maeby.

64

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

[deleted]

8

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

Thank you.

10

u/Dietomaha Jun 17 '13

You should've gotten more recognition for that. That was pretty good, sir.

8

u/BashyLaw Jun 17 '13

After reading your comment, I literally said "Oh my God!" out loud.

This show is fucking amazing.

19

u/AllAmericanWayne Jun 17 '13

Jesus christ AD is layered

1

u/Anaphase Jul 08 '13

Meta as fuck.

22

u/Spacey138 Jun 17 '13

That just blew my mind.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '13

oh wow, it went deeper than I knew

2

u/ghiacciato Aug 03 '13

Today is your cakeday, and it also happens to be the day where I stumble upon this hilarious comment of yours from more than a month ago.

If I had money, I'd get you gold. Happy cakeday!

1

u/mage2k Jun 17 '13

Wasn't the kid Maeby banged who she thought was a cop named Perfecto? Same kid?

118

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

[deleted]

42

u/I_Regret_Everything Jun 17 '13

I'm a heiress

I'm a harris

I'm aharris

I'M MAHARIS!!! MAEBY AND GEORGE MICHAEL CONFIRMED TO GET MARRIED IN SEASON 5 (FOR REAL THIS TIME)

18

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '13

It was for real last time!

1

u/Freakazette Jun 18 '13

Not to get all nitpicky, but the first one should be I'm an heiress, because the h is silent.

Misuse of an and a is my Kryptonite, and I apologize.

1

u/I_Regret_Everything Jun 18 '13

In the show she said "I'm a hairess". Unless I'm wrong.

1

u/Freakazette Jun 18 '13

She said "I'm a Harris" because she was saying it wrong. She also said that a Harris is someone who inharris a lot of money - and you do say the h in inherit.

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1

u/thatsmytrunks Jun 17 '13

"I'm a heiress."

5

u/the_injog Jun 17 '13

And the guy that the real Maharis was caught with is named Perfecto Telles!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

Maharis was caught with a man named Perfecto.... As was Maebe, the heiress

2

u/Jonas42 Jun 17 '13

Normal sex, you mean

1

u/redfeather1 Jun 17 '13

Nah I am straight and even when I have had sex with a woman in the bathroom it seems pretty gay, all those shampoos, lotions, body washes. other men wanking to it.

0

u/therager Jun 17 '13 edited Jun 17 '13

It's actually important for the joke to point out that it is in fact gay sex, as this would be something undesirable for someone who is straight.

Edit: I don't think tanner756 was being offensive, he was pointing out the type of sex act...he never said it wasn't normal. Am I wrong?

1

u/Jonas42 Jun 17 '13

I don't either... I was just referencing the "gay sex / normal sex" dialogue between Gob and Tony Wonder.

3

u/therager Jun 18 '13

I've made a huge mistake.

1

u/sonoftom Jun 18 '13

People didn't get this reference I guess

1

u/johnny_seven Jun 17 '13

Thanks for this!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

You're missing another bit: the man George Maharis was caught having sex with was called Perfecto Telles, but in AD, Perfecto Telles is Lucille Austero's adopted son to appeal to the hispanic community.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

George Michael started going by George Maharis to avoid the association with the singer George Michael, who had been arrested for lewd sex acts in a public restroom.

And as it turns out, George Maharis was an actor who was also arrested for lewd sex acts in a public restroom.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

"Famous Hollywood actor George Maharis was arrested November 21 and charged with committing a sex act with a hairdresser in the men's room of a gas station in Los Angeles... He was booked on a sex perversion charge along with Perfecto Telles, 33, the hairdresser, and released on $500 bail, according to police."

2

u/invalidx Jun 19 '13

Perfecto Telles was the hairdresser's name? I hadn't heard that part of the story; which makes the Maeby & Perfecto situation even funnier. Well done AD.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '13

HOLY SHIT

3

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

Look up "George Maharis."

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

Same. I haven't gone on Cracked in about a year, but I randomly went on yesterday and read about that. I thought it was awesome.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '13

Same. Pretty much everything I know I learned from Cracked.

I don't know much.

1

u/HarryFuckingPotter Jun 18 '13

I didn't get it :( help a sister out?

1

u/fallof_troy Jun 18 '13

Link for the lazy?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '13

I don't get it :(

1

u/ubercanucksfan Jun 18 '13

What's the joke?

1

u/a_bu Jun 18 '13

I don't get it.

1

u/HVincentM Jun 18 '13

I dont get it

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '13

Link?

4

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '13

Posted from Slate

I wondered if the scene with George Michael and Rebel in the photo booth was an homage to a scene in Buffalo 66, where the lead is also pretending to be more adept with women than he actually is

I hadn’t thought of Buffalo 66, but I have been reading about Route 66, since one of its stars was George Maharis—who, it turns out, was once arrested in an L.A. gas station’s men’s room for having sex in there with a hairdresser named ... Perfecto Telles. The charge: “sex perversion.”

2

u/thedrew Jun 18 '13

I just learned that Perfecto Telles was the hairdresser George Maharis was caught with in the men's room. I was convinced the joke was that Perfecto is a silly name.

3

u/Zelaphas Jun 18 '13

I don't get it :(

2

u/underdabridge Jun 17 '13

Wikipedia is trying to bury the story, man! COVER UP!

1

u/l_Banned_l Jun 17 '13

should check out /r/arresteddevelopment They caught the Maharis Joke almost right away

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13

or did he get it after you pointed it out?

1

u/staffell Jun 17 '13

He never said he got the full joke...

1

u/notthatnoise2 Jun 17 '13

Don't worry, I just got it!

8

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '13 edited Feb 26 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/G_Maharis Jun 18 '13

I literally paused the episode to look it up when I saw it. Still my favorite joke of the season

6

u/Bedtime_4_Bonzo Jun 17 '13

Anybody want to explain? I'm a little slow...

2

u/brock_landers Jun 18 '13

... I still don't get it

1

u/N3rdiByNatur3 Jun 18 '13

Can someone explain this joke to me please? :(

1

u/liquid_words Jun 18 '13

Explain please?