‘Arrested Development’ Season 5 Deals ‘Plugging Along,’ Says Netflix

The other day saw Arrested Development producer Brian Grazer insisting once again that Season 5 had begun ramping up Netflix production, but the streaming service brass have a slightly different message. Arrested Development Season 5 remains in the cards, though extensive deal-making may hold up the Bluths for the time being.

Asked about a fifth season at the ongoing TCA press tour, Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos said of future Arrested Development they were “plugging along” with the extensive Fox deal-making required to bring the cast together. Still, Sarandos at least confirmed “it is our intent to have a new season.” We’ll take it! (Per EW):

We are plugging along. It’s a very long complex deal to make for these guys both because the talent is very busy and working on other shows, but also because the show is owned by Fox… It is our intent to have a new season of Arrested Development. All the negotiations are underway.

Last we heard, creator Mitch Hurwitz, Grazer and Netflix had learned their lesson scheduling Arrested Development’s busy cast for separate, fragmented storylines, something Netflix seems to have kept in mind by the eight-episode, celebrity-stuffed revival of Wet Hot American Summer. Grazer’s most recent suggestion claimed that Hurwitz had begun staffing up a writers’ room, the output of which would determine an episode order, likely less than the 17 he’d previously claimed.

In the meantime, we’ll have all eight episodes of Wet Hot this Friday to soak our reunion buzz, but how much longer might we wait for Arrested Development Season 5?

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