Just dump all of the episodes at once – that’s the Netflix way. They did it with Lilyhammer, House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, and Arrested Development. You might have assumed that all streaming services would follow suit, releasing all of the episodes of their own original series at the same time. And you wouldn’t have been wrong to assume that.

But apparently, your assumption is wrong. According to the producers of a new Amazon original series, that’s not the way they’re going to play it.

Back in April, Amazon debuted 14 pilots, put them up for free, and took user feedback. From that feedback, Amazon made some cuts and decided to greenlight five new series: Alpha House, Betas, Annebots, Creative Galaxy, and Tumbleaf.

Jonathan Alter, former Newsweek columnist and author, is an executive producer on one of those series – Alpha House. That show stars John Goodman and was written by Doonesbury‘s Garry Trudeau. It’s about four U.S. Senators who live together in a rented house in Washington D.C. Alter recently told The Wrap that Amazon was not going to release all of the new Alpha House episodes at the same time.

“It hasn’t been entirely determined how they’ll put it out. But it will be a different model than the one used by Netflix,” he said.

That’s interesting and it shows that Amazon isn’t afraid to buck the trend set by Netflix – even if that trend is proving popular with viewers. Binge watching has its benefits – mainly the absolute lack of any sort of forced delayed gratification. But it also can have its drawbacks, as some argue that the immediate availability dampens the buzz for any particular show by failing to keep it in the pop culture eye for more than a few weeks.

Alpha House is set to debut in the Fall.

“DreamWorks Animation is a valued partner in our global efforts to provide families the most engaging stories delivered however, whenever and wherever they want,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “This deal represents a major expansion of what’s already a phenomenal relationship, allowing us to bring beloved DreamWorks characters to the 40 countries where Netflix operates and setting the stage for us to innovate together as we expand into new markets.”

While users will have to wait for the original DreaWorks content, Netflix is doing more to focus on families in the meantime.

They’ve just launched a new section on the website called Netflix Families, which can be found at netflix.com/families. As reported by ABC’s Good Morning America, the company is hoping to see a bigger spike in children’s video streaming this summer, and this is aimed specifically at those new to Netflix streaming.

Netflix Families includes video tutorials about streaming, as the company expects new customers looking to keep kids entertained during summer break. It also has various pre-set playlists for family-friendly content, as well as access to Netflix’s various available titles that fall into this category.

“We know families are really using Netflix more during the summer — we see that going up,” Netflix Director of Public Relations, Jenny McCabe, is quoted as saying. “We want to make that easy for people who aren’t using Netflix yet. We are trying to appeal to those people who are still using DVDs and haven’t gotten into streaming yet.”

Of course, Netflix is also pumping out the original content aimed at adults, for when the kids go to bed. In addition to the already available Lilyhammer, House of Cards, Hemlock Grove and Arrested Development, Orange is the New Black will premiere next month.

One question, which got 1,096 points, was: “I want to download/buy the song “Getaway” by Mark Cherry to use it as a ringtone, how can I have it?”

“We are really working on it, actually!” responded Hurwitz. “It’s tricky because 20th doesn’t really have a record label, which a lot of the other studios do, so they don’t have a mechanism in place, but all of David’s music is so great and I really want to get it out there.”

David would be David Schwartz, who does the music for the show (here’s a great new interview with him from A.V. Club).

On SoundCloud, Jonathan Irons has filled the void, putting out a ringtone version of the song:

And in case you’re not familiar with the jam:

Jessica Walter answers burning questions about where she gets the inspiration for Lucille, how she mastered the wink, what other breakfasts Lucille likes, how Lucille ended up with a son like GOB, and which came first: “loose seal” or Lucille”.

David Cross and Portia De Rossi take on questions about their favorite AD outfits, how they would describe the show to someone who’s never seen it, and what a female “nevernude” would wear.

On Monday, Mitch Hurwitz, the show’s creator, participated in a reddit AMA answering a lot more good questions about the show. Here are some highlights.

If you want more from Walter, check out what she had to say about the show to Anderson Cooper ahead of the release of the fourth season.

As we cover both Arrested Development and Google quite a bit, one particular response unrelated to actual ‘Arrested’ news seemed worth highlighting.

Fans of the show know what a “never nude” is. For the rest of you, Tobias Fünke, a character played by David Cross, is one of these. It’s a psychological condition in which he can never bring himself to be nude, so instead, he always wears a minimum of blue-jean cut-offs.

One redditor asked Hurwitz ” if there was any inspiration in real life that led to the idea of Tobias being a Never Nude?”

His response was this:

No, there wasn’t. The Never Nude thing – I will trace the etiology of that idea, and it’s this. We had this joke that just put us out, that was Tobias keeps crying in the shower. And then I had pitched – I was thinking about production, and the way they shoot those things, they always put people in flesh colored bathing suits, and I said, what if we show part of the flesh colored bathing suits for 3-4 weeks – and then in the 4th week we reveal that he showers in a flesh-colored bathing suit because he doesn’t like showering naked. And then Richie Rosenstock (who’s an absolutely brilliant, hilarious guy – and is responsible for so many of the giant laughs in the show) said without hesitation: “Oh, he’s a Never Nude.”

And everybody in the room froze. And looked at him, and said, “is that a real thing?” and he shrugged, and it was just so funny. It wasn’t a funny idea until Richie called him a Never Nude, which took the joke from being just a sight gag, to a psychological affliction that really elevated it in such a brilliant way. And then I remember looking up to see online if there was such a thing as a Never Nude – and guess what you can’t search for besides finding pornography? “Never Nude” – back then you’d get 25,000 pages with the word “Nude” in it. Even if you used the Boolean quotation marks, you would still get things like “Hot 18 year old who’d NEVER been NUDE in front of a boy!” So we’ll never know if it was a thing before ARRESTED. Although I suppose I could just ask Richie.

He doesn’t specifically mention Google, but this is somewhat amusing given that Google has been going out of its way to hide nudity in image search results in recent months.

First, before we look at what he had to say about that, let’s recall a recent interview Hurwitz recently did with TV Guide. Discussing the current season (season 4), he said, “There’s a lot in this show that not only refers to later episodes but that also refer to a future story. A lot of what we were doing was setting up a future for this world.”

When asked if that means another batch of episodes is to come, Hurwitz said, “It was important to me that I had a story behind this one that we built to. Whether that ever becomes a feature or a puppet show or a graphic novel or a needlepoint pattern, I’m not sure.”

The point is, he’s got some things in mind for where to take the story next, and that could be more show, a movie, or who knows? Netflix has recently indicated that it would like to do more, so it could very well be that we’ll see Arrested Development Season 5 appear on Netflix similar to the latest season.

Now, onto that reddit AMA. Hurwitz was asked: “Do you think that producing the new season as a prequel to the movie took away from its potential?” and “What can you tell us about the movie?”

His responses were as follows:

I’m going to try to interpret that question because it could mean a couple things. One version of that question is “Do I think it will hurt the chances that the movie will get made” – and I would say that I’m more interested in telling the ongoing saga of this family than working out a particular strategy for how to do it. I kind of feel like the form will emerge in a way that I wouldn’t have anticipated – like Netflix a few years ago – so it’s possible that a film studio says “There’s a lot of AD out there. Do we want to invest in more” or it’s possible that a film studio says “Wow, we had no idea there was this kind of a following.” And I think the latter scenario is possible. Just because I didn’t think there was that kind of a following! But if your question is “Does the story we’ve told detract from a movie”, I would say it definitely doesn’t, or wasn’t intended to – it was intended to set up (among other things) a murder-mystery and a family that really now has to come together to save one of their own at a moment when their tensions are the highest.

Well what we’re calling the movie is just the ongoing story – so at the moment, there is nothing really up with it, except that I am gathering up ammunition to try to get the next chapter made.

It’s clear that Hurwitz wants to continue to create more Arrested, regardless of what form it takes. Reviews of the current season have been mixed, but there is surely a big enough audience craving more Bluth family fun. Let’s not forget about this show’s history of turmoil, and its incredible journey back into the living room. As with season 4, no doubt getting the cast together will be the biggest challenge. A movie could be easier to pull off, but they made it work this time, so another season doesn’t seem out of the question.

Hurwitz also had this to say about the Netflix model:

…And one of the burdens that network television implicitly has – they’re not allowed to just respect the cleverest in their audience, they have to please everyone. And I think the Netflix model makes it a little more like publishing – there are different books for different people, and still within that world there are top 10 books that are blockbusters, and then there’s fiction that’s not for everybody.

Netflix was amazing. I’ve become very close to the people over there, and they are all really funny, so if they did have suggestions, they were generally pretty funny, great ones – particularly Ted Sarandos, who runs content for them. And they loved the ambition of the show, and encouraged it.

Update: He just answered another question about a fifth season, in which he said:

For the 5th season, it would DEFINITELY be about the family all together. That was always the design. The idea was originally to have them even together LESS for Season 4 – it really was going to be basically 9 stories (like the Salinger collection) that had nothing to do with one another, and just showed everybody’s life, so that everybody’s life could get to a point of peril, and then the family could truly have no choice but to get back together for the next iteration.
Let me put it back to you- which would YOU prefer? Movie or Season?

Update 2: He just opened up a bit more about where the story is going next:

It will definitely continue where we left off – and also, thank you for that because I think that episode is unlike the others in that it really shows a side of Lindsay we haven’t seen before, and it really takes the idea of her superficiality from being a joke to something she really struggles with, and in many ways I feel like it’s the most honest telling of the life of this family. But yes, we will definitely pick her up – she’s left running as a Republican for office, so she is going to play out some ancient high school agendas.
For Michael and George Michael – I think one of the things that is fun to do and also sometimes generates great material (and sometimes doesn’t) is to “paint yourself into a corner” when you’re writing or performing or doing anything creative. And it reminds me of cutting off Buster’s hand. It’s like, what do you do now? And the answer is – a LOT MORE than you’d do without it. So I wanted to get to an honest point in their relationship that was very uncomfortable, so that there wouldn’t be a pat solution, even for me.

Update 3: And a bit more (regarding Lucille Two falling down the stairs):

“That’s one of the abiding mysteries that Film Studios (or Netflix) will have to find valuable enough to discover to fund more of the show. And what’s YOUR theory? I’m truly curious.”

Variety quotes Spacey: “There are some directors where I think, ‘Why do you never call?’ I wrote a letter to Woody Allen recently. I introduced myself as an actor he might have heard of, but perhaps not, and I gifted him a Netflix subscription so he could watch my show.”

The publication notes that Allen did write back to Spacey, which the actor said was “even more awesome”. It’s unclear whether or not Allen watched House of Cards or whether he will cast Spacey in a forthcoming project. But come on. How could you not cast Kevin Spacey in something if he actually wants to be in it?

House of Cards, meanwhile, is in the middle of filming for season 2, and is picking up a handful of new cast members along the way.

The other day, the crew began transforming Maryland’s State House into a set for the show for scenes filming this week. They’re reportedly remaking the House of Delegates chamber so that it resembles that of the U.S. Senate. According to The Huffington Post:

Portraits of former speakers of the House that lined the chamber’s walls have been sent to archives. Walls with plaques have been covered by faux marble walls. Blank facades were placed over the voting boards that display the names of Maryland delegates.

No release date for the season has been announced so far, but 13 episodes are expected. Season 1 hit DVD and Blu-ray last week, opening the door for a wider audience to fall in love with the show everyone has been talking about since it launched.

And Netflix has just put itself further ahead in the game.

Netflix and DreamWorks Animation have just inked a huge deal – one that amounts to the largest deal for original content that Netflix has ever pulled off. The deal, which includes over 300 hours of new, original programming, is also DreamWorks’ first big step into TV.

The new shows will mostly target the younger crowd, and will be based upon both existing DreamWorks characters from films like Shrek, Madagascar, and How to Train Your Dragon, as well as characters from upcoming films.

“DreamWorks Animation is a valued partner in our global efforts to provide families the most engaging stories delivered however, whenever and wherever they want,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “This deal represents a major expansion of what’s already a phenomenal relationship, allowing us to bring beloved DreamWorks characters to the 40 countries where Netflix operates and setting the stage for us to innovate together as we expand into new markets.”

We can expect the first of this original content to hit Netflix in all of their markets in 2014.

Netflix just had a partnership with Viacom expire a couple of weeks ago, and Amazon swept in and picked up the content (mostly kids’ cartoons) for their Prime Instant Video service. Netflix needed some nice, new animated offerings and they delivered – with original content to boot.

The Inquirer reports that UK users will also be getting user profiles sometime this year, along with a “watchlist” feature, which is apparently just a queue like we have here in the U.S. Madeline Bennett, who spoke with Netflix director of corporate communications, Joris Evers, writes:

“We hear from a lot of people that they’d love to have a function like this. We have a similar feature in the US called Queue – I think we were responsible for adding the word ‘queue’ to the American vocabulary, it’s very associated with Netflix,” Evers said.

“If you’re sharing the subscription with others in the same household, it will give you up to five – though that number may change – separate profiles, and you’ll get different recommendations based on this,” Evers said. “If you’re using an iPad or iPhone or Xbox, you can keep that device logged into a particular profile. You won’t get recommended My Little Pony as the adult logged into the account, and the kids won’t get recommended Hunger Games.”

Netflix has tested various looks for user profiles, as we looked at here. The company even told Yahoo this week that the product may look different yet by the time it rolls out.

Image: Yahoo News