Tony Hale Reveals the 'Arrested Development' Joke That Took Him 15 Years to Get

Tony Hale is still discovering jokes hidden in Arrested Development. One of the best, he admitted, took him 15 years to get.

The conversation started with Henry Winkler, who Hale said is coming on the show next week. Hale called him the best, and meant it beyond the pleasantry. When Hale moved to Hollywood in 2003 and felt overwhelmed by the cutthroat, ego-driven people he was meeting, Winkler became the counterexample. He was gracious, kind, and giving, proof that you could spend a long time in the business and keep your character and integrity intact.

On the show, Winkler played Barry Zuckerkorn, the worst lawyer imaginable, who crossed paths with Buster plenty. Hale's own kids have become students of the series. Two of his three, his daughter Taylor and older son Xander, have watched all of it soup to nuts, something he and his wife Susan are proud of, even if explaining Barry trolling in his car at night gets awkward. When Taylor once spotted Winkler at an event, she announced, "Dad, that's Barry Zuckerkorn," which left Hale to explain the whole Fonzie chapter that came before.

Then came the joke that haunted him. In the hospital scene, the doctor says Buster is going to "be all right" after a seal ate his hand. Hale didn't realize for 15 years that the line was a pun: Buster would be all right because he only had a right arm left. "I'm not kidding," Hale said. Will Arnett screaming "What is wrong with you?" only sharpens it.

His other favorites run just as deep. There's the bit where Tobias joins the Blue Man Group thinking it's a support group for depressed men. David Cross, who recently visited the show, confirmed he wore real blue paint that was a nightmare to remove, only for Jeffrey Tambor to later pull off a similar gag with just a mask. "How come I wasn't afforded this?" was the gist of Cross's complaint.

The deepest cut Hale offered up involves the seal itself. The animal that bit off Buster's hand was a "loose seal," a play on Lucille, the name of Buster's mother, a connection that left Rich admitting he'd never have put it together. Buster's mother issues ran so deep that even the seal was in on it. The same logic explains his storyline with Liza Minnelli, whose character was also named Lucille. Hale got to make out with Minnelli, a dream he never had on his bingo card, and realized creator Mitch Hurwitz was simply handing Buster from one Lucille to the next, always looking for another mom.

Hale credited Hurwitz for all of it, recalling how he'd pitch an idea and Hurwitz would top it instantly. "Yeah, that's funny, but I think I'm going to have a seal bite off your hand," Hurwitz once told him. Hale's response: well, that tops it, we're going with that.

It's like the money in the banana stand. There's always something there to find.