Arrested Development Officially Gets Season 5

The award-winning Arrested Development was resurrected by Netflix back in 2013 as part of the earliest days of the streaming channel’s push into original programming. Now, the company is honouring a continued commitment to the show because, as Michael Bluth always says, the most important thing is family.

Arrested Development was always ahead of its time – featuring, back in 2003, the patriarch of a prominent and renowned building-empire family being prosecuted for fraud and some “light treason.” The 2013 fourth season saw that patriarch propose the building of a wall between Mexico and the United States, and the rest of the family got dragged into various shenanigans around the issue of money.

The key players in the world of Arrested Development are now all signed on for a new season, along with executive producers Brian Grazer, Jim Vallely and Richie Rosenstock. Just what that season will hold for the Bluth family, in light of all that has transpired in reality since last we left them, is anyone’s guess, and Creator Mitch Hurwitz certainly isn’t giving anything away.

Of course, the biggest question of all will surround the season 4 cliffhanger, which appeared to leave Buster Bluth (played by Emmy winner Tony Hale) under suspicion of the murder of Lucille Austero (Liza Minnelli). The second biggest question will surround the scheduling of the production, and whether the stellar cast will be able to shoot scenes together this time.

The fourth season was purposefully a very different beast than the first three seasons had been – with longer episodes, and a more complex story arc. This was necessary to accommodate the fact that the entire cast could only get together in the same room for one scene, out of 15 episodes – and this was perhaps the biggest criticism that season faced. The problem arose from the well-deserved success each of the cast members have gone on to find in their careers since appearing on Arrested Development in the first place.