'Arrested Development,' revived by Netflix, could have a fifth season soon

'Development' producer Brian Grazer said new episodes for the comedy are 'really close.' The show aired from 2003 to 2006 on Fox and was revived by Netflix in 2013.

First Look

An “Arrested Development” executive producer says more of the story of a wealthy family who lost everything should be on its way, following Netflix's 2013 revival of the 2000s Fox sitcom. 

“Development” executive producer Brian Grazer said during the Television Critics Association winter press tour that new episodes for the show are coming soon. “I think we’re really close to pulling it off finally,” he said in an interview with TheWrap. “All of the actors have agreed to do it and I think they’ve agreed to their compensation structure. That’s been the hardest – it’s all hard ... But it should be happening soon.”

“Development” premiered on Fox in 2003 and centers on a family played by actors including Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, and David Cross. It aired from 2003 to 2006 and was revived on Netflix for 15 episodes in 2013.

The show was one of the first that Netflix brought back after it had ended at another network. It has since revived the 1990s ABC sitcom “Full House,” with the TV show “Fuller House” having debuted a second season last month, as well as the 2000s WB TV series “Gilmore Girls,” which it brought back for new episodes in November. 

It also acquired the TV show “Longmire,” which aired on A&E beginning in 2012 and was brought to Netflix for two more seasons, with a final one set to air this year. 

In some cases, Netflix may have been able to judge the popularity of an old property before commissioning new installments. For example, the old episodes of “Gilmore Girls” debuted on the streaming service in late 2014; in 2015, Netflix announced it would be creating new installments of the show. Presumably the viewership numbers for old episodes of “Gilmore” gave those at the streaming service confidence that there was interest in the show.

When networks and streaming services do this – Fox, for example, brought back its hit show "The X-Files" recently, while Hulu picked up Fox's canceled comedy "The Mindy Project" – it's because they want to "attract fans of existing content in order to make channels destinations," Aymar Jean Christian, an assistant communications professor at Northwestern University, told The Christian Science Monitor in 2016. While a big fan base help, so do "passionate" ones, he said, since they'll likely help with social media buzz.