Yes, Arrested Development Season 5 Is Really, Finally, Officially Confirmed

Say hello to the Bluths again

By Chris Harnick May 17, 2017 2:05 PMTags
Arrested Development castNetflix

The Bluths are at it again. E! News can confirm Arrested Development will return for a fifth season Netflix. Yes, it's finally official.

Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, Portia de Rossi, David Cross and Alia Shawkat will all return for a fifth season premiering on Netflix in 2018. Mitchell Hurwitz is back as executive producer

 No episode count, nor season structure, has been announced. Producers 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television are back on board too.

photos
TV Reboots, Remakes and Revivals Guide: Which Shows Are Returning From the Dead?

"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," Hurwitz, the show's creator, said in a statement. "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 return of Arrested Development wasn't exactly a secret. Bateman previously tweeted he officially signed on and producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer have periodically discussed the road to season five. Arrested Development season four premiered on Netflix in 2013, seven years after the show was canceled by Fox in 2006.

photos
Arrested Development: Best Lines Ever

"Arrested Development brings us structures, outerwear and choreography like no other comedy in history," Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement, which also noted he was "leafing through photos of the banana stand, never nudes and Chicken Dances." "Season Four marked the first foray by Netflix into original comedy programming and this time, the Bluths will collectively be spending more quality time with their millions of fans around the world," Sarandos' statement continued.

New episodes will premiere in 2018. But will the characters appear more as an ensemble vs. season four's structure? These are the questions.

"Whew! I can finally answer the question… Hell yes! Warming up my uncredited narrator vocal chords. Now the only thing I will have to be coy about is all the craziness the Bluths are going to face this season," Howard said in a statement.

Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be looking for Gene Parmesan around every corner from now until 2018.