If there is one network show that pretty much everybody agrees was cancelled too soon, that show has to be Arrested Development. The show was revived for a fourth season on Netflix in 2013, and although the structural changes weren't beloved by everybody, fans have been waiting anxiously for progress on a Season 5. We've had rumors and vague promises, but nothing concrete... until now. Arrested Development star Jason Bateman took to Twitter to share a very exciting piece of news:
That's more like it! Jason Bateman -- a.k.a. Will Arnett's friend, according to Bateman's Twitter account -- shared in no uncertain terms that he is on board to get to work on Arrested Development this summer. The big question now is how many of the rest of the Bluth extended family has also signed on. After all, Bateman may be the leading man of Arrested Development, but the series would never have become the highly quotable hit that it is today without the rest of the cast.
There hasn't been an official announcement from Netflix or social media confirmation from the other cast members, so we really can't say for sure. We can make some pretty educated guesses, though. For one thing, Tony Hale posted a picture of him hanging out with Alia Shawkat on his Instagram page only hours before Jason Bateman posted his tweet about Season 5. Check it out!
For another thing, Portia de Rossi recently had her character rather violently killed off on Scandal, so she likely wouldn't have any filming conflicts. Of course, her character was killed off because she wanted to take a step back from acting and focus on a business aspect of her career. Still, she didn't rule out returning for Arrested Development. For his part, although Will Arnett has obviously been quite busy with big screen projects, he also has strong connections to Netflix due to his series BoJack Horseman and Flaked.
Jeffrey Tambor has Transparent going for him, and that show is released via Netflix's streaming rival Amazon, which could make things difficult. Jessica Walter has worked mostly as a voice actress on the series Archer, which would likely pose fewer difficulties. David Cross is another actor with connections to Netflix, appearing in several episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Michael Cera -- who joined forces with Will Arnett for The LEGO Batman Movie -- is slated to appear in an upcoming episode of Twin Peaks, of all things. He could well have time for more Arrested Development.
Of course, this is all hypothetical at this point. Nevertheless, Jason Bateman's tweet came a few months after executive producer Brian Grazer revealed that the actors had agreed to do another season, and there's a chance that Season 5 would spend up to half of its time in prequel mode with different actors playing the key characters. The stars really could be aligning to bring back the Bluths and Co. in the not-too-distant future.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. Our TV season finale schedule can give you all you need to know about your shows ending.
