Seven years after it went off the air on Fox,Arrested Developmentmade its triumphant return onNetflixwithSeason 4, which premiered May 2013. Two and a half years later, fans are still waiting forSeason 5, but it seems that may be happening soon. While promoting his new dramaIn the Heart of the Sea, directorRon Howard, who also serves as narrator and executive producer ofArrested Development, revealed on ABC’sGood Morning Americatoday that series creatorMitch Hurwitzis currently working with the writers.
“Well,Mitch Hurwitzthe creator of the show is working with writers now. Netflix is behind it, 20th Century Fox is behind it. It’s hopeful. What has happened is that the cast has become so freakin' in demand and busy. Everyone wants to do it. Fans want it. I would be saddened if we didn’t achieve it. I’m the announcer and the narrator, and I have to get back to that microphone.”
Back in July, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos revealed that thestreaming serviceis working out deals with theArrested Developmentcast, which has become complicated because many of them have other shows they’re working on. In April,Ron Howard’s producing partnerBrian Grazergave a much more definitive update, revealing that they plan on producing 17 new episodes forSeason 5, with production scheduled to begin in early 2016. It isn’t known how far alongMitch Hurwitzand his writers are in the writing process, so we’ll have to wait and see if filming will start early next year.
Brian Grazeralso revealed in June that if production does start early next year, the season would debut four months after filming gets under way, which means fans could, in theory, get new episodes in either April or May, depending on when shooting starts. In July, actressJessica Walterrevealed that the season will open with Buster Bluth (Tony Hale) being arrested for the murder of his on-and-off lover Lucille Austero (Liza Minnelli). This means the new season will likely pick up almost immediately after Season 4, when Lucille was found dead in a pool of blood, before her body disappeared.
Many fans criticized Season 4 because each episode centered on a specific member of the Bluth family, and there wasn’t enough of the entire Bluth family together. It remains to be seen ifMitch Hurwitzwill stick with this format forSeason 5or not. While we wait for more details, take a look atRon Howard’s video interview onGood Morning Americaearlier today, where he discusses bothIn the Heart of the SeaandArrested Development.
