10 Small Details You Only Notice Rewatching Arrested Development
3. The Meta Use Of A Boom Mike
Have you ever watched a television series or movie, but manage to see something that's not supposed to be there? One of the more recent (and infamous) examples of this would be the Starbucks coffee cup in an episode of Game of Thrones.
When something shows up that's not supposed to be there, it's called a gaff or a blooper. Most of the time, they are removed, and nobody notices, while other times, they ruin the shot, but somehow manage to make it past the editing room and onto our television sets.
Arrested Development never really had any goofs; rather, they purposefully put something in a shot to make a joke land. In one episode, the Bluths are warned by Bob Loblaw when he says, "I think you might have a spy. This room, or someone in it, might even be wired with a listening device.
The shot then changes, and a microphone on a boom can clearly be seen. The show did this sort of meta-commentary another time when Tobias calls Hollywood television shows incredibly detailed. It comes about as Michael says, "I'm serious. Why else would they want all these documents?" Tobias replies, "For set-dressing, silly. Those Hollywood shows are so incredibly detailed." As he says it, he opens a cupboard in the background to reveal a single Starbucks coffee cup.