The Xbox Netflix app will be unlocked this weekend – meaning that those with just an Xbox LIVE Silver membership will be able to utilize the app (as long as you have a Netflix subscription). Usually, you must have an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription to access Netflix.

“If you’ve been yearning for more of the Bluth family, look no further. The new season of Arrested Development finally premieres this Sunday, May 26. And it gets even better. Starting today, Xbox Live Gold will be unlocked* for the weekend for Netflix members in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Chile, Colombia and Argentina. Basically, we’ve made it ridiculously really easy for you to catch up on the first three seasons of Arrested Development. If you’re not a Netflix member, fear not,” says the Xbox Wire.

The new season of Arrested Development drops (all 15 episodes) at 12:01 am PT on Sunday. Netflix offers a free 1-month trial right now, so it looks like the perfect storm for Xbox LIVE Silver members who want to watch via their Xbox. If you want to get caught up, you have until then to stream the first 3 seasons, which are all available on Netflix.

This sort of deal promotes binge watching – but be careful. According to Arrested Development’s creator, that could make it less fun. Marathonning is hard to resist, however. So, do what you want.

In a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix’s Content Chief Ted Sarandos hints at just that – possibly doubling Netflix’s content output next year (by the end of 2013, they will have put out 8 new shows).

“It’s feasible that we would double the load that we did this year. People’s tastes are wildly diverse, and I want to be able to appeal to all of those tastes and across demos. Hemlock Grove is totally different from House of Cards. Orange Is the New Black is a very different show. I think we can support a lot of specific tastes,” said Sarandos.

As far as what kind of specific tastes, Sarandos says that sci-fi is a good direction, as is “tween” content.

Also, sitcoms and comedy:

“And then we’re doing quite a bit in the original standup comedy space, too. Bill Burr, for example, is somebody who has had a great cult following, and now his audience is getting so large from him being on Netflix. He is touring in all of the parts of the world where Netflix is, like Norway and Finland, because he has an audience there now. So, we’ll definitely be competitive [with HBO and Showtime] in that space. it’s also a great way to cultivate talent for future scripted projects,” he said.

But as far as original movies go – Sarandos isn’t quite sold on the idea…yet:

“The reason why I’ve shied away from original movies has been that there are so many more great movies that get made than ever get distributed, and I think we function better as a distributor for movies than we do as a creator or marketer of movies for now. But I probably would have said the same thing about TV shows three years ago.”

Netflix’s exclusive shows have brought about a new trend of “binge watching” (watching the entire season immediately, as opposed to the traditional one episode per week format), but should we really be doing this to ourselves?

While Arrested Development’s new season will indeed be released all at once, the show’s creator, Mitch Hurwitz, warns that viewers who choose to watch it this way may miss out on some of the fun. In an interview with Wired, he said:

“I think of it more like writing a mini-series than something [for] binge watching… I think that people do sit down and watch it all at once. Personally, I think [that] will be very fatiguing and will lose some of the fun of being able to mull on it. But I think that with the majority of binge watchers, it’s a modified binge watching, just like the majority of novel readers. You know, you don’t read it all at once. But you are in control of when you feel like going back to it… I personally hope people don’t sit and watch it for, you know, 500 minutes or longer.”

Don’t underestimate the years of anticipation leading up to this season. Die hard fans who were outraged by the show’s original cancellation have had to wade through rumor after rumor about the show’s return and a possible movie for a long time. The fact that the show is actually back is still shocking to many. While some may choose to take their time and savor it (leaving some time between episodes), my guess is that many of these fans will want to consume it all as quickly as possible, then of course, consume it over and over again.

That is, if Arrested’s return lives up to expectations and the greatness that made fans fall in love with it oh so long ago. We’ll find out soon enough.

Read Wired’s full interview with Hurwitz here.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley recently announced that the show had returned to production in the state, as producers take advantage of a tax credit it offers to film productions.

On Tuesday, O’Malley was hanging out on set:

He caught up with House of Cards star Kevin Spacey again on Saturday:

Spacey, by the way, apparently wore a ring from the show at Preakness:

On Saturday, according to the Baltimore Sun, about a thousand people showed up at the Bel Air Reckord Armory for a casting call for the show. David Anderson reports:

“It was a great cross section of people, I think, that will allow us to depict all walks of life in Washington, D.C.,” local casting director Kimberly Skyrme said.

Skyrme, who is the owner of Kimberly Skyrme Casting of University Park in Prince George’s County, and her staff took headshots and the resumes, and spent several minutes speaking with hundreds of men, women and children who came through the Armory gymnasium throughout the day Saturday.

While a release date for the second season has not yet been set, fans will be happy to know that the ball is indeed rolling. In the meantime, they can expect more good stuff coming from Netflix. Later this week, Arrested Development will finally make its long-awaited return as a Netflix-exclusive.

Meanwhile, fans of Netflix’s most recent original show, Hemlock Grove, are eagerly awaiting a second season.

House of Cards Season 1 will hit DVD on June 11th.

Image via

For example, if you see some cookies that you are interested in trying to bake, you might be able to see the recipe. If someone posts an interesting movie-related pin, you might be able to see a review.

The company has partnered with a bunch of sites, which will provide this information. There are three types of pins, which will take advantage.

There are product pins for things like clothing and furniture, which include pricing, availability, and where to buy the item. This info is updated on a daily basis. The initial partners for this category include: Anthropologie, Asos, BHLDN, eBay, Etsy, Free People, Home Depot, Modcloth, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Overstock, REI, Sephora, Shopify shops, Shop Terrain, Sony, Target, Urban Outfitters, Walmart, Wayfair, and Zulily.

Next are recipe pins, which include cook times, ingredients and servings. Initial partners for these are: 101 Cookbooks, Better Homes and Gardens, Bon Appetit, Chobani, Country Living, Delish, Epicurious, Good Housekeeping, Leite’s Culinaria, Martha Stewart Living, MyRecipes, Naturally Ella, Nestlé Very Best Baking, Real Simple, Simply Recipes, Skinny Taste, The Girl Who Ate Everything, The Kitchn,What’s Gaby Cooking, Whole Foods Market and Woman’s Day.

Finally, there are movie pins, which include content ratings, cast members, etc. Info comes from Flixster, Netflix and Rotten Tomatoes.

The new pins are only available in the new Pinterest design.

If you think your site has something to contribute in the way that all of these sites do, you can learn more about rich pins and making your own site’s Pinterest experience better here.

In addition to the new types of pins, Pinterest has finally made the ‘Pin It’ button available to mobile apps. You can see it in action in apps from Behance, Brit+Co, Etsy, Fotopedia, Jetsetter, Modcloth, Snapguide, TED, The North Face and Zulily.

But you might run into problems when you’re watching a series with your significant other, and your schedules don’t quite match up. Wife has to work late? Well, you could always watch a few episodes without her. She wouldn’t mind, right? Wrong. It’s ‘Netflix adultery’ and it’s a serious crime. This new Netflix ad tackles the temptation to “watch ahead.”

Netflix’s new ad comes along at a perfect time, when the temptation to blow through episodes behind your partner’s back is about to get even stronger…

I think that a variety of games, not just from Capcom, could benefit from a little Funke.

Despite the lack of critical acclaim, people seem to like the show. This is usually how the horror genre works. And in the genre, when people want more, they usually get it. See franchises like Paranormal Activity and Saw (or more historically, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm St., etc.).

Netflix has not announced plans for a second season yet, but it’s hard to imagine the company killing one of the early cornerstones of its original programming experiment if it’s getting the viewers. But iewers aren’t just watching the show. They’re already anticipating more. Yes, already (it did just come out less than a month ago). This is no doubt a side effect of releasing an entire season’s worth of episodes at the same time.

Nevertheless, as Yahoo reports, there is a high volume of people searching for the release date of the second season, despite no announcement that it will even happen.

The involvement of Eli Roth (one of the show’s producers, who also directed the pilot) was, without a doubt, a huge part of the interest the show generated ahead of its release, but t’s hard to say how much he would be involved with a second season. He clearly has a lot on his plate (and some of us are still hoping he can find time to make “Thanksgiving“). Still, there’s no apparent reason that Netflix wouldn’t push forward with a new season with or without him.

There shouldn’t be a lack of material, based on reports of Brian McGreevy’s work on sequels to the novel upon which the show is based. Shock Til You Drop reported in April of last year:

McGreevy has a second Hemlock Grove novel nearing completion, with a third fully outlined, so expect at least two more seasons should the series find a following.

As you may have heard, some Bluth banana stands have been popping up ahead of the return of Arrested Development. Ron Howard, the show’s narrator, tweeted this out a minute ago:

Just thought I’d share.

Here’s the trailer for season 4, which will be available on Netflix on May 26th. And don’t forget to check out George Bluth’s reddit AMA highlights.

With that in mind, they’ve finally released a full season 4 trailer. Everyone is back, and looking great – and we couldn’t be more excited. As Netflix has done with their previous original or exclusive series (House of Cards, Hemlock Grove), they will make all (15) of the episodes available at once, on May 26th.

Check here for more on the upcoming season of Arrested Development.