'Arrested Development' gets new episodes; plans for movie move forward

The loyal Arrested Development fanbase erupted today after creator Mitchell Hurwitz announced that plans were in motion for a fourth season of the iconic show, leading into the long-delayed movie. Now we know that both Showtime and Netflix are vying to broadcast the new episodes, currently expected to air sometime in 2013.

Hurwitz and the entire main cast of Arrested Development were at The New Yorker Film Festival in Manhattan to announce the plans. All the main cast members (Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter) will be returning for the fourth season, which will consist of ten episodes. Each episode will focus on a specific character.

Jason Bateman tweeted to the excited fanbase just moments ago:

“It’s true. We will do 10 episodes and the movie. Probably shoot them all together next summer for a release in early ’13. VERY excited!”

Though 20th Century FOX TV will produce both the new season and the movie, it looks as though the parent company isn’t interested in airing the episodes on its broadcast network. Hurwitz has stated that the episodes don’t necessarily have to air on Fox, and according to an anonymous source at Deadline, streaming giant Netflix and cable staple Showtime are both vying for the privilege.

Both companies have strong reasons to pick up Arrested Development. Netflix has long had the series available on its instant streaming service, and they’re thirsty for high-profile original content, like the upcoming series House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey. Showtime is headed by David Nevins, who was a fan and champion of the show when he was working for Fox during its three-year run. On that note, the choice to bring Arrested Development back in early 2013 strikes a resonance with fans, since it will be ten years since the original season was shown on television.

Perhaps most exciting out of all this is that when and if fresh episodes of the show air on a new network, the increased viewership (or in Netflix’s case, traffic) will certainly spur talk of even more Arrested Development to come. The events of today could well be the beginning of a full-fledged revival for the much-loved series.

Michael Crider blogs for Screen Rant.