‘Arrested Development’ Season 5 Staffing Writers, Possibly for Reduced Episode Order

Arrested Development executive producer Brian Grazer seems to be the only one beating the drum on a fifth season these days, first promising a whopping 17 new episodes, then claiming production would begin in early 2016. We may yet have official development however, as Grazer says creator Mitch Hurwitz has begun staffing writers, which itself will determine the episode order of a fifth Netflix season.

According to CNN Money, Grazer claims that “More [episodes] are coming for sure,” as well that “The creator Mitch Hurwitz is creating a writer’s room right now. We’re going to get everybody on board.” Curiously, the report notes that the ideas generated by said writer’s room will determine the number of episodes 20th Century Fox TV arranges with its Netflix partners, rather than an outright order falling upon the writers.

Last we heard, Hurwitz, Grazer and Netflix had learned their lesson scheduling Arrested Development’s busy cast for separate, fragmented storylines, though it remains to be seen how either side would go about booking talent once Hurwitz confirms either writers, or an order. If anything, a smaller episode order (than the gargantuan 17) might make things easier, something Netflix seems to have kept in mind by the eight-episode, celebrity-stuffed revival of Wet Hot American Summer.

Netflix declined comment on the story, but could Arrested Development Season 5 finally get off the ground? Given the lukewarm reception of the first long-awaited revival, how might Brian Grazer or Mitch Hurwitz return the Bluths to their former glory this time around?

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