Fünke family
Family in the Arrested Development sitcom

The Fünke family is a fictional family depicted on the American television satirical sitcom Arrested Development, which aired on the Fox Network (2003–2006) and later on Netflix (2013, 2018–2019).
The series, narrated by Ron Howard, mainly follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family, who made their money from property development; the Fünkes are related to the Bluths through Lindsay Bluth-Fünke (Portia de Rossi). The Fünkes consist of three family members: Tobias (David Cross), the patriarch; Lindsay, the matriarch; and Maeby (Alia Shawkat), the daughter, who is also the youngest member of the Fünkes and was conceived in a lab. Each member is unique, with Tobias being a psychiatrist turned actor, Lindsay being a spoiled activist, and Maeby being a rebellious teenager often looking for ways to disobey her mother.
Cross was not the first person to be approached with the character of Tobias, that being Andy Dick; however, he already had a series he was working on, and an originally reluctant Cross was soon given the role. De Rossi was looking for a role similar to her previous work in Ally McBeal, and agreed to it upon reading the script. Named after a combination of series creator Mitchell Hurwitz's two daughters' names, Maeby, along with Michael Cera for George Michael Bluth, was the first cast member to officially join the series. The three would go on to receive multiple award nominations for their portrayals of the characters.
Main family
The Fünkes are one of the two principal families in Arrested Development, alongside the wealthy Bluth family, who made their money from property development and several other business ventures.
Tobias
David Cross portrays Tobias Fünke, former psychiatrist turned actor, the patriarch of the Fünke family, the husband of Lindsay, and the father of Maeby.
“Fünke family” enters the record as family in the Arrested Development sitcom. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Fünke, family and Family can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Fünke family” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Fünke, family and Family provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q137691241. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2018.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Fünke family”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Fünke family primary sources, Fünke family archive and Fünke research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fünke family”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Fünke family” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.