Free Arrested Development and Philosophy by J. Jeremy Wisnewski William Irwin Kristopher G. Phillips, J. Jeremy Wisnewski Page A

George Sr. started the banana stand in 1953, the series finale reveals that he and Lucille stole the idea from a Korean businessman and had him deported. Annyong, that Korean businessman’s grandson, would later come to live with Lucille, who adopts Annyong because she thinks the company could use some good publicity—and to teach Buster a lesson, because he won’t finish his cottage cheese.
    As we know, the banana stand often employs Bluth children. George Michael spends a lot of time there, sometimes with help from his cousin Maeby—who is also later employed as a film executive for Tantamount Studios. In fact, in the pilot George Michael is introduced as “Frozen banana salesman/child.” And Michael often worked at the banana stand as a kid, too. In “Top Banana” we see a clip of hot, overwhelmed, and young Michael apparently working the stand by himself. He has chocolate on his forehead and cheek and sweat pouring down his face; the line of customers is long; and he looks like he desperately needs a break and some help. In that same episode, George Michael tells Michael that he’d like to work more hours at the banana stand. George Michael wants to work more because his attraction to Maeby is dominating his thoughts, and he thinks some time away from her will quell his incestuous desires. Unfortunately for George Michael, his father makes Maeby join him in the banana stand so that she can learn the value of work—something she can’t learn from her unemployed parents. Michael makes George Michael the manager (Mr. Manager, but we just say, “manager” . . .) of the banana stand and offers his son the following advice for managing his new employee: “You stay on top of her, buddy. Do not be afraid to ride her. Hard.”
    Besides the fact that working in the banana stand with Maeby makes George Michael uncomfortable, there’s a problem with having children work there at all. Both Michael and Maeby are under sixteen years old, and U.S. child labor laws place significant restrictions on the number of hours they can work. 4 The Bluth Company probably violates child labor laws again in “Staff Infection” when Lucille says Annyong—whose “work ethic is unbelievable”—is heading off to work a ten-hour shift at the banana stand. I say “probably” here because no one really knows how old Annyong is. Lucille does call him a “young boy,” however. Perhaps using so much child labor is the reason why at the end of “Top Banana” Michael realizes that the banana stand is the only profitable part of the Bluth Company. And if you’re going to break the law so that the family can make some money, why not put family—especially young family—to work first?
    The banana stand isn’t the only money-making venture in which the Bluth Company exploits children, though. In “Making a Stand” we learn that George Sr. provoked his sons to fight one another and then taped these fights—which were popular in Latin America—and sold copies under the name Boyfights . The Boyfights series included the titles “Boyfights: A Day in the Life of American Boys,” with bonus footage of Baby Buster in “I Don’t Want to Go to Bed”; “Boyfights 2: Boys Will Be Boys,” with bonus footage of Baby Buster in “Too Old to Breastfeed”; “A Boyfights Cookout,” featuring “Run for Your Life!” with bonus footage of Baby Buster in “A Fifth Grader Wets His Bed”; and “Backseat Boyfights: The Trip to Uncle Jack’s 70th,” with bonus footage of Crybaby Buster in “I Don’t Want to Be on This Tape!”
    Treatment of Employees: The Office and the Construction Site
    The Bluth Company’s poor treatment of employees using the “Family First” motto isn’t limited to the banana stand—it permeates every aspect of the company, including the office and the construction site. In the realm of the office, consider Gob at the company Christmas party in “Afternoon Delight,” in which he alienates employees by