{"slug":"but-it-might-work-for-us-captioned","name":"But It Might Work For Us (Captioned)","url":"/templates/but-it-might-work-for-us-captioned.jpg","w":500,"h":750,"top":"","bottom":"","description":"Create a But It Might Work For Us meme using the captioned three-panel Arrested Development version with dialogue baked in. Classic format for self-aware optimism about things that never work.","keywords":"but it might work for us meme, arrested development meme, it never works but meme, optimism meme arrested development","year":2013,"origin":"From Arrested Development, the exchange between characters about a plan that has never worked but \"might work for us\" became a foundational meme format for irrational optimism. This captioned version has the dialogue baked in. For the blank version to add custom text, see But It Might Work For Us (Blank). For a single panel, see But It Might Work For Us (Single Panel).","format":"classic","alternateFormats":[{"slug":"but-it-might-work-for-us","label":"Blank Version"},{"slug":"but-it-might-work-for-us-single","label":"Single Panel"}],"hidePreviewHints":true,"exampleCaptions":["STUDYING THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM",""],"exampleAltText":"But It Might Work For Us captioned Arrested Development meme about studying the night before an exam","exampleRefreshDate":"2026-05-15","howToMake":["Open the But It Might Work For Us captioned template with Arrested Development dialogue baked in","Add top text with the thing that has never worked for anyone but you are attempting anyway","Leave the bottom blank or add a second line for extra self-awareness","The baked-in dialogue carries the joke — just label the specific doomed endeavor","Share with anyone about to do the exact thing they know will not work"],"seo":{"aliases":["But It Might Work For Us Arrested Development","It Never Works Meme","Arrested Development Optimism Meme"],"description":"Three panels from Arrested Development with dialogue already printed across them. The exchange covers the full arc: something never works, acknowledgment that it never works, and the fatal optimism that this time will be different. The captioned version is self-contained as a reaction image and only needs a top label to identify the specific doomed plan being pursued.","definition":"A captioned three-panel Arrested Development meme with baked-in dialogue about attempting something that never works. Used as a reaction image for self-aware irrational optimism.","useCases":[{"category":"Doomed Study Strategies","examples":["STUDYING THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM","REVIEWING NOTES ON THE BUS TO THE TEST","SKIMMING THE CHAPTER SUMMARY INSTEAD OF THE CHAPTER"]},{"category":"Recycled Bad Ideas","examples":["OPENING A TAB DIET ON A FRIDAY NIGHT","SETTING FIVE ALARMS AND EXPECTING TO WAKE UP ON THE FIRST ONE"]}]}}