Since the release of its fourth season, Arrested Development‘s future has been uncertain. Will the beloved comedy return to Netflix? Will its creators make the movie they once talked about? What actually happened to Lucille Two? If a recent interview with series’ executive producer is to be believed, we will soon have answers to all of these questions. During an episode of Bill Simmons‘ B.S. Report podcast, Brian Grazer said “We’re going to do another 17 episodes. So, stay tuned for Arrested Development.”
Uproxx, which first noted Grazer’s remark, commented that Simmons doesn’t seem to be at all interested in Grazer’s AD bomb. Instead, the Grantland founder steers the conversation back to the Grazer-produced Empire. You can see for yourself–the brief Arrested Development sidebar happens 24:30 into the B.S. Report episode.
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Grazer’s comment is the latest in what has been a bread crumb trail of hints related to season five of Arrested Development. In April 2014, series creator Mitch Hurwitz inked a multi-year deal with Netflix. Four months later, Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos said he was “positive” the show would return. Three months after that, it was once again Hurwitz’s turn to drop hints, as he said in an interview that “season four was always meant to be act one of a three-act structure, where everything goes sour at the end of it. So that will be hopefully coming.”
The fact that Grazer, who produces Arrested Development alongside Ron Howard via their Imagine Entertainment studio, mentioned a specific episode count makes it easier for us to believe Arrested Development will indeed be back. Obviously, we can’t confirm the new season until Netflix announces it, but Grazer’s comment gives us hope that a press release will head our way in the near future.
