Once upon a time, “Arrested Development” was a little gem on Fox that nobody was watching, but managed enough cult appeal to last three seasons before being yanked. While the series itself was ambitiously plotted, what made it work so well was quite simple: strong writing coupled with great performances and chemistry from Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Jeffrey Tambor, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, Jessica Walter, Portia de Rossi and Alia Shawkat.
READ MORE: The 5 Best Episodes Of ‘Arrested Development’ From The First 3 Seasons
It was lightning in a bottle, and for three seasons, we got to see all eight actors riff with each in various formations, but that kind of broke down after “Arrested Development” was canceled, and then later revived at Netflix. With everyone now much more famous and busy, getting the cast back together at the same time for season four proved more difficult, but creator and writer Mitch Hurwitz had a solution of sorts: give each character their own episode. The gambit sort of worked, but even those who enjoyed season four could hardly say it matched the highs of the original run of “Arrested Development.” Well, that cast is certainly not getting any less busy, and for season five, a new high-concept approach is being kicked around.
According to TV Line, the good news is that the entire cast is expected to have more scenes together, but the twist is that upwards of “half” the story would unfold in flashbacks, with an all-new cast playing the key characters. So it would essentially be part prequel, which is interesting, but it’ll really have to be great to make us not want more times with the terrific members of the main ensemble.
None of this is confirmed just yet, but there’s likely more word to come, with filming on the 17-episode fifth season rumored to begin in June.
Just let the show die if you can’t get them all together like 1-3.