Now that Arrested Development has made its long-awaited return as a Netflix “semi-original,” fans are wondering if they’ll get more. After all, wouldn’t it be cruel to bring it back for just one season after all those years of not having it?
We’ve seen mixed comments on the prospect of another season from Netflix. Back in February, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that the current season would be “a one off” and a “non-repeatable” event, leading the Wall Street Journal to report that there would be “no subsequent seasons”.
But that was months before Season 4 was even released. Things are seeming a great deal more optimistic these days.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos said, “We would love to do more, and we have a deal in place that says that there could be. The problem is logistics. They (the actors) were all working full-time and doing this show in between, and they did it for the love of the show and for Mitch Hurwitz. If we can muster up that love again, we’d love to do it again. And we have talked openly about a movie scenario, too.”
This week, TV Guide put out an interview with Hurwitz (the show’s creator), in which he revealed that he’s already been setting the stage for a future season (kind of).
“There’s a lot in this show that not only refers to later episodes but that also refer to a future story,” he said. “A lot of what we were doing was setting up a future for this world. I would put the ostriches in that camp.”
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. A lot of things [this season] make sense when you rewatch it. Then there are other things that are just set up for something in the future. And then there are other things that are probably just bad writing.”
When asked directly if he would be able to do another season, he said, “I would want to do it again, definitely. It just requires some logistics. I’m sure that could be worked out.”
That sounds pretty promising.
And even if, for some reason, Netflix didn’t want to get behind another season, Arrested Development could have other options. As the TV Guide interview reminds us, Showtime also attempted to pick up the fourth season of the series.
[h/t: Hypable]