so excited we blue ourselves
Netflix revives Arrested Development with new episodes
Remember when an Arrested Development movie was going to be made, but you knew there was no way it could happen?
Or when the main cast, along with show creator Mitchell Hurwitz, said that Netflix was going to license out a 10-episode run leading into an actual, existing feature film?
Impossible, right? Turns out, not so much.
Netflix announced Friday it has reached an agreement with 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television to produce a currently unspecified number of episodes that would be the basis for the streaming site’s jump into original programming.
Arrested Development is one of America’s best comedy series ever produced and by Gob, it’s back! Say it out loud. Believe it.
The deal first gained attention at the New Yorker Festival’s Arrested Development Reunion Show, when Hurtwitz spoke optimistically of ideas he had to revive the series for one last season, building buzz that would feed into a full-length motion picture. Details regarding plot, number of episodes or even if the entire cast would be available have not been released, though the studios have confirmed they will launch in early 2013.
For Arrested Development fans, hearing that the series will continue is a huge thrill, if met with a a bit of skepticism. We’ve been hearing rumors from writers, cast members and producers that the Emmy-winning comedy would be returning in some fashion practically since the show went off the air in 2006.
For the past five years the cast has been playing a game with their fans; teasing the possibility of a 26-episode Showtime run, David Cross repeatedly telling anyone who asked that it wasn’t going to happen, even spreading rumors that a certain banana stand operator was uninterested in doing a film adaptation. Each member of the show seemed to be saying something different of any possible future, it became maddening to try and keep up with everything.
Still, every AD fan should heed caution, there are still plausible doubts to be raised over the certainty of the show’s revival. What if all the cast members, many of whom have garnerd a hefty amount of fame because of the show, are simply unable to cooperate their schedules? What if Netflix drops the ball? Or, at the risk of blasphemy—what if it sucks?
But none of that matters anymore, because Arrested Development is one of America’s best comedy series ever produced and by Gob, it’s back! Say it out loud. Believe it. And while you’re at it, reactivate that Netflix account, because come early 2013, $7.99 is gonna be a steal.
