There may not be enough money in the banana stand for this one. In light of a recut fourth season aimed at fixing fan complaints and snagging syndication, the Arrested Development cast is demanding additional compensation from the series’ profits.
Anticipation for a fifth Arrested Development season largely dried up when Season 4 made clear the prolific cast had trouble coordinating schedules. That said, the now-confirmed Season 5 teases a more collaborative approach, as star Will Arnett assures the cast will spend “much more” time together overall.
Jason Bateman, it seems, found that money in the banana stand. Where previously Arrested Development Season 5 could only confirm Michael Bluth’s involvement, Netflix has stepped in to make the new season official for 2018.
It’s a question that has perplexed Batman villains since at least 1989: “Where does he get those wonderful toys?” Finally, we have an answer. The LEGO Store. The one a few blocks from Warner Bros.’ New York offices currently sells at least eight different LEGO Batman sets, all of which appear in various forms in The LEGO Batman Movie. The film is, like The LEGO Movie before it, a feature-length toy commercial — and, like The LEGO Movie before it, The LEGO Batman Movie is far more entertaining than a giant piece of crass commercialism has any right to be.
It wasn’t long after the reception of Arrested Development Season 4 that producers knew any potential fifth year would require greater effort to corral its busy cast in one place. More recent outlook on Season 5 suggested Netflix had found a way to do just that, but new reports suggest at least half of Arrested Development Season 5 may function as prequel with an all-new cast.
We’re far enough from the premiere that you’d barely remember Arrested Development Season 4 as one of the first Netflix original offerings, but at long last, Season 5 might finally escape its own arrested development. Producer Brian Grazer says the last cast hurdles have been cleared, and news should be “happening soon.”
A few weeks ago, I attended a holiday party where Nick Offerman’s ‘Yule Log’ played in the background for the entire evening. As people milled about the living room, passing appetizers and making polite introductions, the wise face of Nick Offerman beamed forth from the television, taking occasional sips from a glass of whisky and listening to the crackling fire. And despite years spent listening to Mannheim Steamroller and Frank Sinatra around the holidays, it was the silence of Nick Offerman’s fake living room that now sounds the most like Christmas to me.