The new season of Arrested Development halts production… to film more episodes

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I don’t believe that I’ve used the word “awesome” in any of my writeups lately, but here’s some news to which it is acutely applicable: production on the newest season of “Arrested Development” has been halted by 20th Century Fox TV because, while shooting the initial ten episodes-worth of material, series creator Mitch Hurwitz “shot more material than planned and also came up with ideas for additional scenes and storylines.”  Which is just about the coolest thing this side of “Arrested Development” actually existing again. 

The reason that the studio has paused production is that it wants to give Hurwitz the time to figure out how to incorporate the new material into what has already been shot, as Netflix hopes to have all of the episodes available to watch whenever the series finally airs.  The schedules of the actors have to also be taken into account, with the word already being that a late January shoot is tentatively being targeted.  Word from within the production also estimates that when all is said and done the new season will be comprised of anywhere from 12-15 episodes, but a Netflix spokeswoman has passed along this caveat:  “We are thrilled with the direction of the show, with the footage we have seen and with the relationship between Mitch, Imagine, 20th and Netflix.  At this time, we are not confirming or announcing the final episode count but we are sure fans will be thrilled when we do.”

Stay tuned for more, as I should imagine (or at least fervently hope) that we’ll be seeing some promotional images soon in advance of the proposed spring air date.