Without a doubt, Arrested Development‘s triumphant return to Netflix was by all means a hit. Longtime fans were just happy to see the Bluth family back in action and follow each character around as the audience was caught up on what kind of misadventures they got into. The only thing was, some weren’t happy with how the season was presented and really wanted to see the show boiled down to a more digestible timeline and episodic format like the previous seasons. Interestingly enough, the fans weren’t alone, as even Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz wanted to see the show like that.
How much did he want it? He went ahead and just did it himself, reports The Verge. Speaking at The Television Critics Association, Hurwitz explained that he took the fifteen thirty-minute episodes and re-cut them to twenty-two twenty-minute episodes. In part, it was in case they decided to sell the season into syndication, but also to rearrange the season into a more linear, cohesive format. The show’s producer and narrator, Ron Howard, pitched in by re-recording his voice over parts to fit the new narrative that Hurwitz wove with the footage.
The original idea behind the fourth season of Arrested Development was for the early episodes to follow an individual member of the Bluth family and document their personal misadventures before they all met up in the second half of the season so everything could tied itself together. This decision had a lot to do with how the show was filmed, with the cast not all together at the same time to film together, turning into a stylistic decision to make the season feel different.
Now, the real question is if we’ll ever get to see this re-cut season. Hurwitz didn’t have an answer to that, although he did say that perhaps it would be released ahead of the new long-rumored fifth season.
(Via The Verge)
