Arrested Development: The Final Countdown

Banana Stands. A politically incorrect puppet named after FDR. Fake trailers. Incest. It could only be the return of Arrested Development.

The irreverent comedy chronicling the lives of the dysfunctional Bluth family will be back for one final season this May. Netflix, who have commissioned a further fifteen episodes of the show, finally announced today via Facebook that the whole season will be available to view exclusively on the site from May 26th. This will come as welcome news to the show’s hoards of diehard fans, who have been waiting for a continuation of the programme since it was axed by the FOX network in 2006 due to slipping viewing figures―despite having gained mass critical acclaim and cult status.

The deadpan mockumentary, which beat Friends and Seinfeld to be crowned the “Funniest TV Show of All Time” by IGN.com, follows level-headed Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) as he tries to keep his family and the business from collapsing after his dad, George Bluth Senior (Jeffrey Tambor), gets arrested for corruption and “light to mid treason”. Whilst the show’s creator, Michael Hurwitz, has been careful not to give too much away about the 4th season, it’s been confirmed that all the major cast members (including Portia de Rossi, Michael Cera, Will Arnett, David Cross and narrator Ron Howard) will reprise their roles, with each of the fifteen episodes focusing on a specific character’s (lack of) development during the programme’s seven year hiatus. In an interview with Empire magazine, Hurwitz explained that the series would provide a background for the forthcoming Arrested Development film (expected towards the end of 2013) and hinted at a multi-layered story arc which would invite viewers to jump from one character’s episode to the middle of another’s whenever they want. Yeah, I don’t really get it either…

With all fifteen episodes being released in one go, Netflix are tapping into the show’s addictiveness and appeasing fans who had to wait for months between individual episodes of season 3 due to scheduling issues on FOX. Obtaining the rights for the 4th season of Arrested Development is the second coup for the instant-streaming website, whose original Sopranos-meets-The West Wing political thriller, House of Cards (starring Kevin Spacey) became an overnight worldwide hit. With further projects said to be in production, Netflix have evidently begun to establish themselves as a serious threat to TV networks’ monopoly over serialised shows, enabling viewers to binge on whole seasons in one go. The site cunningly loads the next episode of any series automatically, assuming you have nothing better to do than spend your days huddled in the foetal-position, wallowing in self-loathing and catching-up on a decade’s worth of TV. Sadly, it’s almost always right…

As for Arrested Development’s return: It’s the Final Countdown.