Arrested Development (season 4)

Production

Six years after the series was canceled by Fox, filming for a revived fourth season began on August 7, 2012. The season consists of 15 new episodes, all debuting at the same time on Netflix on May 26, 2013, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, and the Nordics. Several actors who had recurring roles in the original series returned to reprise their roles, including Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn, Mae Whitman as Ann Veal, Ben Stiller as Tony Wonder, Scott Baio as Bob Loblaw, Judy Greer as Kitty Sanchez, and Liza Minnelli as Lucille Austero, while new characters are played by John Slattery, Terry Crews and Isla Fisher. The plot of the season focuses on the fictional production of a film based on the Bluth family scandal and what the characters have been doing since 2006. There were plans to have George Clooney make a cameo appearance for a joke centered on Mitt Romney but it never came together.

The show format is different compared to previous seasons: each of the fifteen episodes focuses on one individual character—with every episode happening at the same time within the show's universe—showing the character's activities since the conclusion of the third season. According to Jason Bateman, "If I'm driving down the street in my episode and Gob's going down the sidewalk on his Segway, you could stop my episode, go into his episode, and follow him and see where he's going". Michael Cera joined the writing crew for season 4, the first cast member to do so. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and creator Mitchell Hurwitz previously stated that season four would be the final season of the show, and that the revival serves as a "one-off" and "act one of a movie". But, a Netflix spokesperson later went on to say, "We're hopeful there will be more seasons" and "...by no means is this the end of it. We're definitely planning to do more with them."

In October 2014, Hurwitz said that a re-edit of season 4 was being done to tell the story in chronological order. Ron Howard recorded new voice-over material for the recut.

Main

Marketing and promotion

In October 2012, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos premiered footage from the fourth season for the attendees of TheWrap's annual conference TheGrill. The clip featured Buster Bluth (Tony Hale) helping his mother Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter) smoke a cigarette, because the ankle-bracelet monitor she's wearing under house arrest prevents her from leaving her hotel room. Following that, a set photo was released showing the Bluth company stair car, now having the Austero-Bluth Company logo referencing to Liza Minnelli's character, Lucille Austero, having more stake in the company. Set photos showing Tony Hale as Buster Bluth saluting at someone's funeral were released online. The first promotional images of the entire cast together were released in the October 12, 2012, issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine. These included a cover picture, along with two pictures of the entire cast in restoration-era outfits. The first official teaser poster for the new season was released on April 4, 2013, on the show's Facebook page, along with the announcement that the 15-episode season would premiere on Netflix on May 26, 2013. Netflix released the first trailer for the fourth season online on May 12, 2013.

In March 2013, series executive producer and narrator Ron Howard stated that "We're still hoping to build to a movie and in a lot of ways, getting the Bluth family on people's radar, in a kind of contemporary way, so we can move forward with it as a movie". He stated that the film had not yet been green-lit, saying, "It's not a happening thing, but it's something that is being discussed". The same month, Hurwitz stated that he was "confident that we will succeed at [making the film]", saying "there is a bigger story out there that does exist" for the film.

Critical response

Early reviews of the fourth season were generally positive. On the review aggregator website, Metacritic, the fourth season has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 21 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews". Mike Hale, writing for The New York Times after watching the first eight episodes, said that "Along the way there are doses of self-referential and metafictional humor that have made the show a cult item—enough for fans to compile lists, but not enough to re-enliven the episodes or distract from the story's dullness". Robert Lloyd, writing for the Los Angeles Times, praised the series, suggesting that it improves after several episodes. The A.V. Club's Todd VanDerWerff graded the season overall with a 'B', writing that "It is, in places, masterful. It is also, in other places, at once weirdly pleased with itself and too ready to hold the audience's hand where that hand needn't be held", and that "The scope of the whole project is hard to deny for its ambition and audacity." David M. Cook of WhatCulture! gave the new season a positive review calling it "The Triumphant Return Of The Bluths". He said "it was great to see the Bluths return in such fine form" and that he "found a lot of the season to be funnier than anything that had come before it". Gem Wheeler of Den of Geek argued that the fourth season was "Arrested Development's best yet", and "the Bluths officially rule the pop culture landscape. Long may they reign."

Brian Lowry of Variety gave the season a negative review, writing, "Ultimately, this 'Arrested' revival plays a bit like a reunion special, where the individual cast members come out and take their curtain calls. After the warmth of seeing them reunited (or semi-reunited, given how rarely more than one or two are featured in a scene together), there's a sort of awkwardness to it, as if nobody really has much to say. We're meant to bask in the nostalgia, while the particulars are of relatively little consequence." Nathan Rabin of The Wall Street Journal similarly wrote, "Arrested Development has lost a step or two in its long stint on the sidelines. The pacing is notably slower than during its original run and the show lacks the breathtaking density that characterized its glorious past. At its worst, the new/old Arrested Development is reduced to doing a shaky imitation of itself: the characters and themes are there but the beats are slightly off, as is the tone". David Pierce of The Verge also gave it a mixed review, writing "Season four is kind of a confused mess, but then so is the Bluth family — and both somehow work despite all the chaos. From the way it was shot to the way it was released, the show was an experiment — covering a few events many ways, showing us the world through every character's eyes. It's very clearly just set-up in the larger sense, building toward something bigger for Arrested Development. But the question is, what's next?" He also commented positively, saying, "Season four is absolutely worthy of the Arrested Development name, though you'll have to slog through three episodes before it becomes so".

Accolades

The fourth season earned the series three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Jason Bateman, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. For the 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards, the cast was nominated for Best Comedy Ensemble and Jason Bateman was nominated for Best Comedy Actor. Bateman also received a nomination for Best Comedy Actor for the 71st Golden Globe Awards.

Film

Show creator Mitchell Hurwitz said that the fourth season will serve as the precursor to a future full-length Arrested Development film. Rumors of a film circulated after the possibility was suggested in the final episode of the third season, "Development Arrested". In 2008, it was reported that production of Arrested Development: The Movie would begin after the completion of the fourth season, with a script to be written by Hurwitz. In 2008, Ron Howard was slated to direct the film, though it is not clear whether he still is. Reportedly, all original members of the main cast are expected to reprise their original roles. In August 2013, Hurwitz commented "I'm working on the movie right now" and his plan is to do another season after the film is completed.

Fifth season

In 2013, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that he would be interested in producing another season of Arrested Development: "If the talent were willing to do more, and interested in that, I'm sure we would be willing". Producer Brian Grazer said that "We are in conversations with them to do another [season]". The last episode of season 4 features a customary "On the next episode" clip; this differs from the original run's concluding clip, which was titled "On the epilogue".

Home media releases

The fourth season was released on DVD in region 1 on December 16, 2014 (2014-12-16), in region 2 on June 9, 2014 (2014-06-09), and in region 4 on August 27, 2014 (2014-08-27).