Rumors surrounding a fifth season of Arrested Development have been swirling around ever since Netflix did the world a favor and rebooted the series in 2013. While the fourth season of Arrested Development didn’t necessarily resonate with fans in the way that the first three did, fans of the show are still chomping at the bit for another season of those wacky Bluths.
With 2016 now in full swing, we’re finally starting to get a much clearer picture on what the show’s fifth season will cover and when it will finally reemerge on Netflix.
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Plot wise, a few months back we reported that the plot would center on the aftermath of Buster’s arrest for killing Lucille Austero, played masterfully by Liza Minnelli in previous seasons.
Now comes word via Deadline that the fifth season will in fact have an underlying thread of murder mystery running throughout.
The Season 4 finale ended with Buster arrested for the murder of Lucille Austero. That set up Season 5, which will be a serialized murder mystery, Hurwitz said. When he originally mapped out the fifth season, he had no idea the genre would become white hot — first with Serial and The Jinx, and now with the Netflix phenomenon Making a Murderer. Season 5 of Arrested Development is in the vein of Making a Murderer, noted Hurwitz, a big fan of the real-crime documentary series.
Another big question mark centers on when the show will finally return to Netflix. Just last month, Ron Howard appeared on Good Morning America and indicated that the writing process had already begun.
“Well, Mitch Hurwitz, the creator of the show, is working with writers now,” Howard said. “Netflix is behind it, 20th Century Fox is behind it. It’s hopeful. What has happened is that the cast has become so freakin’ in demand and busy. Everyone wants to do it. Fans want it. I would be saddened if we didn’t achieve it. I’m the announcer and the narrator, and I have to get back to that.”
Indeed, the cast’s busy schedule has long been an impediment to getting a fifth season up and off the ground. Remember, conflicting schedules during the filming of season 4 is what led to a different show structure wherein many episodes focused on a single character or two rather than the entire ensemble. With season 5, the show’s creators have expressed a desire to revert back to what made seasons 1-3 so special.
As far as a release date is concerned, some of the earlier rumors pointed to a launch sometime in March 2016. Sadly, that date now seems far too ambitious. The most recent rumblings from creator Mitch Hurwitz is that he wants to get the show up and running before the U.S. Presidential Election, set for November 2016.
With respect to progress made thus far, Hurwitz also indicated that the entire fifth season is now completely outlined. The next step now involves getting the entire cast to sign on board – and they are all interested – and hash out “complex negotiations” over scheduling.
