What's the subtlest joke in AD?

[Egg]

ok, i've watched season 1, disc 2 yesterday and i noticed something in pier pressure. since there are probably way more people reading this thread, i'll just post it here as (possible?) subtle joke.
in the scene where buster and michael are at the banana stand, talking to george michael, you can see that in the background, two women are fighting over a bag or a blanket or something like that.
now, what the bleep is that all about?

This is really intriquing to me, I can't believe I've never noticed this before. Does anyone think there could possibly be anything to this? Or is it just some random bit of absurdity they inserted in the background? Or maybe it wasn't planned at all, but rather just a couple extras in the background fooling around?

Usually nothing happens on AD without a reason behind it, so ...what could the reason be?

[Chelpo]

I have no idea what that's about, but I'm as intrigued as you are.

[LickMyLovePump]

It looks like a TMNT pillowcase, or duvet cover or something.


Leonardo to be specific...

[Egg]

It looks like a TMNT pillowcase, or duvet cover or something.


Leonardo to be specific...

Yeah! The second photo from the left especially looks like a picture of a ninja turtle on the pillowcase (if it is, in fact, a pillowcase) ...

But why, WHY??

[Beamer]

I hope nobody says it's foreshadowing the storyline with Buster's turtle in Season 3, that is such a reach.

It could very well just be the extras fooling around - the one on the left is clearly smiling and looks over to the main actors. Not very professional. But, why they had a blanket at that location set in the first place? Hmmm...

Maybe they stuck it in there JUST to make us debate its relevance.

[LickMyLovePump]

Or maybe they let it slide because they never thought fans would end up scrutinising every individual screencap from the show...


You underestimated us, Mr Hurwitz.

[neognosis]

Could be a mother-daughter mirror image of the father-son conflict in the foreground. Michael is trying to get George-Michael to stop working and have fun, right? But for GM, work-school-structure are his security blankets... and freedom is the devil's handshake.

[Egg]

...And just to add to this mystery, why does that guy run up to them and then apparently leave by the last frame?

And the girl on the left with the skirt - What is that pink stain? That's not a design on the skirt, is it? Cause it looks and awful lot like something spilled on her ...

I don't know - more and more, I think there's some significance, they just couldn't be random people committing a random act. I mean, why the hell would two extras passing by in the background just happen to have a ninja turtle pillowcase on them? It must have been given to them for the scene ...

[ACR]

...I think somone vomited a pink flower on that skirt

[Egg]

...I think somone vomited a pink flower on that skirt

Damn, I didn't recognize it as being a flower until you mentioned it being a flower. D'oh!

[Beamer]

Maybe there was going to be more to the joke than just that (like the "bum gets balloon" thing in Public Relations), but the first/second part to it was cut from the full episode? It happens.

[sphincter]

I think there's probably something to it, the show is so highly detailed and every shot is thought out.

[sherlymaebyfunke]

i think its either when Michael tells George Sr "well, you're a regular Brad Garret", because Jeffrey Tambor lost an award for best supporting actor in a comedy role to Brad Garret, or , when Rita is sitting on a bench that says "wee britain", but she's covering up the i and the t so it says "wee brain"

[Hero Squad Captain]

GOB's puppet Franklin is supposed to be Franklin Armstrong from the Peanuts comic strip. Franklin Armstrong was the only black character in the comic, and he was introduced to break social barriers. It's also ironic that his last name is Armstrong, and GOB's Franklin is a hand puppet. Oh, and Franklin Armstrong plays center field on the baseball team, and I am pretty sure GOB plays center field on the Bluth Softball team.

I think those three things were some of the most subtle jokes in the show, making Franklin as a whole the most subtle joke.

[Sean Doody]

This might not count, but...: in the commentary for the extended pilot, Mitch Hurwitz says that the scene of the Fünkes fleeing the hotel was funniest when set to "Hotel Yorba" by the White Stripes, but they couldn't afford the rights. Then he added something to the effect that no other music really worked with the scene. Much later, in "Making a Stand," the narrator says almost the exact same thing about the montage of GOB and Michael and the battle of the banana stands, except the song in question is "Yellow Submarine."

I know it's a stretch.