When I heard the news that Arrested Development was returning, let me say I just about Bluthed myself.
Mitchell Hurwitz, the show’s creator, confirmed Oct. 2 at a New Yorker Festival panel that a nine-to-10-episode-season and a movie are in the works. Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, two of the show’s stars, soon echoed Hurwitz’s statement on Twitter.
Immediately following the news, my Facebook and Twitter feeds exploded as fans rejoiced at the news. I was no exception, instantly posting a picture of Gob (Arnett) forcing Michael (Bateman) to “taste the happy.”
The movie has always seemed a far-off dream to me ever since producer Ron Howard, playing himself in the final episode of the show, uttered those fateful words “maybe a movie” in response to Maeby’s proposal for a television program about the Bluths. As time passed, I began to doubt the movie would ever happen.
Fox prematurely canceled the show in 2006 because of low ratings, but the show has since attracted a cult following.
To catch the audience up with what the Bluths have been up to the past five years, Hurwitz announced that a nine-to-10-episode-miniseries will air, leading up to the long-anticipated movie. The miniseries is slated to feature one character per episode.
“In working on the screenplay, I found even if I gave just five minutes per character to that backstory, we were halfway through the movie before the characters got together,” Hurwitz said during the New Yorker Festival panel.
According to a tweet from Bateman, filming for the show and movie will most likely take place next summer, with both being released in early 2013.
There is currently a debate about what station will air the new episodes. Hurwitz said Fox has not committed but is involved in negotiations while Showtime, Hulu and Netflix have all expressed interest in airing the show.
Like many Arrested Development fans, my life has been dreadfully devoid of cut-offs and magic tricks — er, I mean illusions — ever since the show’s cancellation. Upon hearing the news of its return, I was more excited than Lucille whenever Gene Parmesan appeared.
Finally, all my burning questions would be answered: Whatever happened with Gob and Bland? Will George Michael and Maeby ever be together? Will Barry Zuckerkorn (“he’s very good”) return to save Lucille?
We can only hope the forthcoming mini season and movie will hold the answers to these and many more questions.
For now, though, we can only assume to see the return of cut-offs, frozen bananas and the infamous Bluth chicken taunts.
Nicolien Buholzer is a sophomore studying journalism and a staff writer for The Post. Talk about it over cornballs with her at nb360409@ohiou.edu.
