Arrested Development returns with all-new episodes on (drum-roll please) May 26, 2013.
Netflix issued a press release on Thursday expressing the long-awaited news. In addition to announcing the release date, the streaming company increased the episode order to a grand total of 15, way up from the originally planned 10 installments. Just like it did with its last premiere of original programming in House of Cards, Netflix will make all 15 episodes of Arrested Development available at the same time precisely at 12:01AM PDT on Sunday, May 26. Take note: the new season premieres Memorial Day weekend so fans will have plenty of time to marathon it all before the work week/school resumes on Tuesday.
Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer for Netflix: “Arrested Development is now widely viewed as one of the top TV comedies of all time and Mitch Hurwitz is bringing it to Netflix in a brand new way, crafted for the on-demand generation that has come to discover the show in the years since it last appeared on TV. The highly anticipated return of this show is sure to make history all over again.”
Series creator and executive producer Mitch Hurwitz: “Ted said that? Wow. Well don’t print this obviously, but he’s going to be immensely disappointed. In truth we are doing something very ambitious that can only be done with Netflix as partners and on their platform. Finally my simple wish for the show is coming true: that it be broadcast every second around the clock to every television, computer or mobile device in existence.”
In case you didn’t know… Arrested Development centers around Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) and his eccentric family comprised of his son George Michael (Michael Cera), his father George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), his mother Lucille (Jessica Walter), his brothers George Oscar Bluth II (Will Arnett), Buster Bluth (Tony Hale) and sister Lindsay Funke (Portia de Rossi), and Lindsay’s husband Tobias (David Cross) and their daughter Maeby (Alia Shawkat). With the new episodes, each installment is dedicated to a different character’s point of view. And all of it is a major set up for a feature length film which is still in the works.
I don’t have a trailer for you yet (there may never be one since Hurwitz is keeping such a tight lid on the plotlines), but you can eye the first promotional poster above. I imagine the entire Bluth clan locked inside that bright orange shipping container with Gob trying his mightiest to bust them all out. It reads, “The Final Countdown Begins.” Celebrate with an appropriate scene after the break.