Following the amazing news that not only is the Arrested Development movie still in the works, but that a return to TV may precede it, we’re left to wonder when and where the series will stage its comeback. The when may be as early as 2013. The where is a bit fuzzier right now, but there are two places apparently eying the series.
People have been speculating about a big-screen followup to the Fox comedy Arrested Development for years. Yesterday, series creator Mitchell Hurwitz announced at the New Yorker Festival that plans were in the works to do a 9 or 10 episode season of the show on television before the movie premiere.
“Early ’13” is the timeframe mentioned by series star Jason Bateman in a recent tweet. Whether that’s the expected time to release the film or both the film and the TV show is unclear. Either way, given the size of the cast and their likely busy schedules, having a TV show and a movie ready to go in a little over a year seems pretty optimistic, all things considered.
As for where the show will air, Deadline is saying there’s a chance the show could end up on Netflix, as the streaming video/DVD service is in the market for original programming. Pay-cable channel Showtime is another possibility.
Both Netflix and Showtime would be great options as far as giving the series a bit more flexibility in the way of content. However, I’m not sure either would be the best option as far as drumming up interest for the film goes, if that’s at all a concern or a motivation for the series in the first place. Those already on board would tune in, but if the goal of the series, in addition to setting up the plot for the movie, is to drum up more mainstream support for the show in anticipation of the movie, a pay-cable network, or a subscription service like Netflix might not be the way to go about it.
