You Can Thank Carl Weathers Himself For His Hilarious Arrested Development Performance
The late Carl Weathers only appeared in four episodes of the critically acclaimed and beloved comedy series "Arrested Development," but the impact he had on the series feels much larger than that low episode count might imply. Playing a heightened version of himself — an out-of-work actor who's obsessed with mooching off others — Weathers frequently stole scenes out from under the hilarious Tobias Fünke (David Cross), as the hopeless man's acting teacher, most notably in a hilarious interaction that introduced the phrase, "Baby, you got a stew goin'!" into the cultural lexicon.
In a series that featured a revolving door of terrific guest stars, Weathers was one of the funniest and most memorable. According to "Arrested Development" creator Mitch Hurwitz, we have Weathers himself to thank for the direction and tone of his character on the show. In a 2013 interview with Vulture, Hurwitz explained their original idea for including the actor on the show:
"Then we had this great idea to do a parody of this very homoerotic scene in 'Rocky 3' of Carl and Sly Stallone running on the beach. There were shots of their crotches and this big finish to some imaginary race, and they were jumping up and down in the water in slow motion. We gotta do this with Carl and Tobias! Then I needed to call Carl Weathers. There's always [that thing when you're making] fun of something until you realize, oh, right, it's a human being."
'It's not going to be just a bunch of Rocky jokes, is it?'
In a moment that almost sounds like it could have been a scene straight out of "Arrested Development," Hurwitz recounted how, when he actually got in touch with Weathers, the actor immediately dismissed the exact type of joke Hurwitz and the writing staff were envisioning. And not only that, but it was actually Weathers himself who came up with the running bit for his character:
"So I called Carl, and said, 'Hey, I don't know if you've seen the show but we wanna use you for it, and you'd be working with David Cross.' And he goes, 'Great, but let me ask you something. It's not going to be just a bunch of Rocky jokes is it?' I laughed, 'No! No! Give me a little credit, Carl. Of course not! It's a multidimensional character.' And he was like, 'Because I direct and I'm a funny guy and I don't wanna just do a bunch of Rocky jokes. Nobody wants that. Maybe I could be really cheap or something?' And I said, 'Whaaaat?' 'Maybe I could be really cheap?' 'Really? You'd like to do that?' 'Oh, absolutely, that's what I'm saying. I want to play someone funny, not just be a sight gag.' It was so much better. I went back to the writers room and said, 'You're not going to believe this. Carl Weathers wants to be incredibly cheap.' All credit to Carl on that."
With that wise suggestion, Weathers skyrocketed into the pantheon of the best "actors playing a version of themselves" in 21st century TV history, up there with Larry David in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and Adam West in "Family Guy." He approached his role with the perfect amount of seriousness; he never indicated to the audience that he was above the jokes that were being made at his expense, and there was always a twinkle in his eye as a performer — even when he was essentially doing an ad for Burger King right in the middle of an episode. Rest in peace, Carl Weathers. I will literally think of you every single time I make stew for the rest of my life.