Lucille grows annoyed with Buster and forces Michael to take him to work for a day. Meanwhile, George Michael auditions for the school play in an attempt to kiss Maeby, but Tobias' ineptitude as a director ruins his chances.
The Arrested Development episode "Bringing Up Buster" provides examples of:
- Awkward Father-Son Bonding Activity: Downplayed. George Michael and Michael usually share a loving father-son relationship, so George Michael's desire to do something other than go out for a bike ride together is a source of deep consternation to Michael. In the end, they make cornballs together in the model home's kitchen.
- Cluster Bleep-Bomb: Buster has a very long bleep when he's talking to Michael, and again when all the Bluth siblings gather in the model home. Played for Laughs because it's rather out of character for Buster to swear so much and represents him rebelling against Lucille. It's later revealed that he was just trying to fit in, and massively overcompensated.
- Comically Missing the Point: Buster completely misses that GOB and Michael are actually insulting Lucille.Michael: She's always gotta wedge herself in the middle of us so she can control everything.
Buster: Yeah, Mom's awesome. Maybe we should call her. - Crosscast Role In-Universe: Tobias ultimately casts Maeby as Benedick and Steve Holt as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.
- Foreshadowing: George Sr. says that Lucille was pregnant with Buster for 11 months. This is likely a lie to cover up the fact that Oscar is Buster's real father, a fact which is revealed much later in the show.
- Tobias is seen wearing cutoffs in the shower before he's revealed to be a Never Nude.
- Funny Background Event: While Lucille is on the phone with Michael, Buster is in the background trying to shoo a bird out of the apartment and causing considerable damage in the process.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Lucille and Michael talk about Buster like he's not in the room despite him sitting right in front of them. Buster, however, doesn't seem to mind or even think that he should.
- At the end of the episode, Michael and Lucille have a fairly personal conversation about their sons growing apart from them. The camera pans out to reveal that Michael was in a meeting with a roomful of Bluth Company employees the entire time.
- Kissing Cousins: George Michael tries to kiss Maeby, Maeby kisses Steve Holt, and Tobias' recasting would make Steve and George Michael kiss. They're all cousins.
- Latin Land: Lucille assumes that Marta is Mexican because she's Latina. In reality, she's "Columbian or something."
- Literary Allusion Title: To Bringing Up Baby.
- Manchild: Buster's general manchild tendencies are particularly evident in this episode.
- Mistaken for Gay: George Michael by Tobias.
- My Beloved Smother: Lucille, to Buster. He actually does want to stay with Lucille, despite her overbearing ways.
- Parental Obliviousness: Tobias doesn't know much about Maeby - her personality or her whereabouts.Tobias: Maeby, where are you off to on this glorious Sunday afternoon?
Tobias: [sotto voce, to Michael] She won't tell me.
Maeby: I'm going to audition for a play.
Tobias: Well, that time it didn't work. - Pronoun Trouble: Played with in Michael and Tobias's conversation about the school play, thanks to Tobias's perplexing crosscasting.
- Psychological Projection: Tobias thinks that George Michael is gay for a very insignificant reason. Ironic, considering that Tobias himself is seemingly in a Transparent Closet.George Michael: I think your dad thinks I'm gay.
Maeby: Oh, he thinks everyone's gay. - Reveal Shot: Used multiple times this episode to comedic effect, to reveal Buster or the Bluth Company employees.
- Shower of Angst: Played for Laughs because Tobias is deeply distraught over a high school sophomore's negative review of his play.
- Show Within a Show with School Play: George Michael and Maeby both try out for their school's production of Much Ado About Nothing so that they can participate in the kissing scene. Tobias decides to become the director.
- Shout-Out: The episode title is a pun on Bringing Up Baby.
- Zip Me Up: Played with due to the incestuous undertones. GOB realizes that he can't live with Lucille when she tells him to zip her up, and moves back into the model home.
- Paralleled in a one-off scene when Michael asks Buster to zip up his backpack, referencing how he and Lucille both have a tendency to smother their children.note
