Nothing is official or set in stone yet, so it's probably a bit premature to start celebrating this news, but it sounds like there's a chance Arrested Development will be renewed for another season. At the very least, talks are reportedly in the works to make that happen. Time has been ticking by like FakeBlock since the fourth season debuted back in May. It seems likely that one of the biggest challenges in making the fifth season a reality would be cast availability, as that was an obstacle to overcome with the fourth season, though the series did manage to get the whole Bluth family back together, plus Funkes.
Variety reported word that producer Brian Grazer says Netflix is currently in talks to do another season. The site goes on to say that Netflix is in "conversations" with the principals for a second season of Arrested Development, which would shoot next summer at the earliest, due to cast scheduling conflicts.
That would be a "second" season for Netflix. The comedy series aired three seasons on Fox nearly a decade ago, but was cancelled and then revived this year for a fourth season, which debuted on Netflix in May. Netflix is usually pretty quick about passing along renewal news. Orange is the New Black just debuted today and Netflix had that one renewed for Season 2 last month. But AD's a different situation, when factoring in the issues with cast's availability, so I doubt many fans expected to hear word that the show was definitely coming back - or not coming back - right away. And we're technically still waiting for word, though Variety quotes a Netflix rep as saying that they're "interested in doing another season of ‘Arrested Development’ if it is logistically possible.” At present, Variety's sources say that there aren't any active negotiations happening with Netflix and AD studio 20th Century Fox TV, but that both sides "expect a renewal to come together eventually," considering the success of Season 4's 15-episode run.
While Arrested Development was never guaranteed to us as a series that would live on beyond the fourth season, the series certainly left us hanging on some key plot lines that have yet to be resolved, which indicated that there was hope for a fifth season, at least on the writers' side. And fans would likely be eager for more. All the same, if AD does come back for Season 5, I'd be curious to know what showrunner Mitchell Hurwitz has in mind for the next chapter. I appreciated the ambitious attempt that was made to divide Season 4 up by character arc and essentially catch us up on each Bluth/Funke member while also showing us the same stretch of time from various perspectives. And that's something I expect to appreciate even more when I go back to re-watch the season, knowing what's ahead and better seeing how it all ties together. But if there was one thing missing from Season 4, it was Bluths united. Likely an issue of cast availability, there weren't many Bluth family moments in the season. It may be jumping the gun to start talking about what they have planned for Season 5, but I'll be interested in hearing updates from Mitchell Hurwitz and the others involved in crafting the story to see if they're considering a similar format for Season 5, or if there's something else planned, especially if cast availability is as much of an issues as it was season to be for the fourth season.
