‘Arrested Development’ Season 5 Trailer Released

As series creator Mitch Hurwitz hinted last week, season 5 of Arrested Development is coming much sooner than everyone thought. Season 5 of Arrested Development will debut on Netflix on Tuesday, May 29.

The imminent return of the beloved comedy series was foreshadowed last week when Hurwitz announced new episodes would be dropping on Netflix “soon. Like real soon. Like, if you knew when, you would not be wrong to be thinking, ‘Why are we all just hearing about this now?’”

The same day episodes of the season 4 “remix” debuted on Netflix last week, the streamer confirmed that the series’ embattled patriarch, Jeffrey Tambor, would be returning for the new season, despite last year’s sexual misconduct allegations that led to his firing from Amazon’s original series Transparent.

Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos assured fans previously that the season 4 standalone character format would be abandoned for season 5, with fans finding that “the Bluths will collectively [spend] more quality time” together.

The trailer for season 5, which comes five years after the Bluth family last graced our screens, shows a new and improved family — so improved, in fact, that they’re apparently receiving the Family of the Year award (that they’re giving themselves).

In other surprising notable news from the trailer, it appears that Lindsey (Portia de Rossi) is running for office, Buster (Tony Hale) has finally ditched his hook for a more practical prosthetic hand, and Maeby (Alia Shawkat) has traded her bushy brown locks for a sleek silver hairdo.

The “remixed” version of season 4, which initially debuted in a Rashomon-style of storytelling to mixed reviews, was dropped onto Netflix Friday, taking the footage from season 4 and reworking it into a traditional 22-episode sitcom format.

“The original season four of Arrested Development on Netflix, as some of you know, experimented with a Rashomon-style of storytelling — with each episode dedicated to the adventure of one member of the Bluth family,” Hurwitz explained.

“The goal was that by the end of the season, a unified story of cause and effect would emerge for the viewer — full of surprises about how the Bluths were responsible for most of the misery that they had endured.”

Hurtwitz went on to explain that he had shuffled the 15 episodes of season 4 into a traditional 22 episode sitcom season, where the stories were reorganized so that each episode told a complete story. He said that the remix was “an experiment to find out, well… I guess ‘if I could make some money.’”

However, he assured his followers that the season contained “new jokes and a new perspective,” writing “I’m really excited about the final result.”

Fans who want to brush up on Arrested Development before season 5 drops on May 29 can watch seasons 1-4 on Netflix, as well as the remixed Fateful Consequences episodes of season 4 that Hurwitz announced last week. (The original season 4 is hiding under “trailers and more” section on the show’s official page.)

In addition to Tambor, de Rossi, Hale and Shawkat, Arrested Development also stars Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Jessica Walter, Michael Cera and David Cross.