‘Arrested Development’ Leaving Netflix

There’s no more money in the banana stand. Netflix is removing all seasons of Arrested Development, including the two seasons produced for the streamer, on March 14. The fourth season was among the first original programming produced for Netflix in 2013.

Arrested Development originally aired on Fox for three seasons from 2003 to 2006. Although the show never did well with ratings, it developed a cult following and was beloved by critics. When Netflix began developing its own original content, the streamer picked up the series in 2012. All 15 episodes of Season 4 were released in May 2013. The fifth season was split in two, with the first released in May 2018 and the second in March 2019.

The show was created by Mitch Hurwitz and centers on the Bluth family, who live extravagant lifestyles even after losing their wealth. Jason Bateman starred as Michael, the one Bluth trying to hold the family together, despite their eccentricities. The main cast also included Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, and the late Jessica Walter. Ron Howard served as the narrator. Arrested Development famously featured dozens of big-name stars in supporting roles or even playing fictionalized versions of themselves.

During the first three seasons, Arrested Development was also an awards magnet. The first season won Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2004 Pteimteime Emmys, while Hurwitz won an Emmy for writing the “Pilot.” Joe and Anthony Russo won an Emmy for directing as well. The second and third seasons were also nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series.

By the time the show returned on Netflix six years after Fox canceled it, most of the cast had become even bigger stars. This meant the fourth season was just plain weird. The entire season took place over a small period of time, and each episode focused on a different character because so few of the actors could get their schedules to line up. In 2018, Hurwitz recut the entire season chronologically as Arrested Development Season 4 Remix: Fateful Consequences to help it make a little more sense.

The second half of Season 5’s release was overshadowed by Tambor’s 2017 sexual misconduct allegations and a disastrous New York Times interview involving the cast. During that interview, Walter spoke through tears about an incident when Tambor yelled at her onset. Bateman was widely criticized for defending Tambor, and he later took to Twitter to apologize. Netflix later canceled the rest of the Arrested Development media tour.