Arrested Development season five officially greenlit for 2018 release

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

After years of wondering, waiting, and rolling on the floor in a state of perpetual depression, fans of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT can finally look happily into the sun knowing that Netflix has officially greenlit the fifth season of the show. Breathe in the good air folks…it smells like bananas.

Netflix announced this morning that the fifth season was in development and will air in 2018 with all of the regular cast members returning, including Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Jeffery Tambor, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jessica Walter, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi and Alia Shawkat. New comes after it was announced Bateman had signed on to do another season, hinting that an announcement regarding season five was imminent.

Original creator of the show Mitchell Hurwitz made a statement about the continuing relationship with Netflix, and how shows about narcissistic, dysfunctional families are in short supply these days:

In talks with Netflix we all felt that that stories about a narcissistic, erratically behaving family in the building business — and their desperate abuses of power — are really underrepresented on TV these days. I am so grateful to them and to 20th TV for making this dream of mine come true in bringing the Bluths, George Sr., Lucille and the kids; Michael, Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric, George-Michael, and who am I forgetting, oh Tiffany. Did I say Tiffany? — back to the glorious stream of life.

The last season of the show aired on Netflix in 2013, picking up with the Bluth family after the show was cancelled after season three in 2006. The show marked a turning point for Netflix, which was just starting to launch their slate of original programming, with DEVELOPMENT joining HOUSE OF CARDS and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK jas one of their early projects. Oh and how the world has changed in four years.

DEVELOPMENT is one of those great shows that always received critical acclaim and had a loyal fan base but never got the treatment it deserved. It was cancelled after a criminally short amount of time, and it seemed Netflix wouldn’t do any more seasons after it aired the fourth. But with people clamoring for rebooted shows now, it seems like the perfect time to bring the family back. How about you just keep the train moving after this one, Netflix? You know we want it.

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT season five will air in 2018.