It’s been nearly 4 years since season four of Arrested Development hit Netflix, and despite it garnering mixed reviews, fans are still getting impatient. Members of the cast and crew have been promising its arrival in vague terms ever since the last season dropped in 2013, but it all still seems to be in the very early stages. Many of the main cast members have gone on to have busy careers — Jeffrey Tambor scooping up Emmys for Transparent, Jason Bateman starring in nearly every ensemble comedy that comes out lately — so nailing down a shooting schedule has been troublesome. However, it appears that they may have found an odd fix for this issue.
According to TV Line, much of season five will function as a prequel, with the main characters being played by new, younger actors. While this has yet to be officially announced, the prequel elements could take up as much as half of the footage, leaving the rest for “lots of big group family scenes.” Season four featured a lot of episodes focusing on individual characters, which proved to be a very unpopular format. While it allowed for flexibility in the actors’ schedules, it took away the most popular element of the show: the complex and hilarious family dynamics. The awkward green screens just did not cut it. Introducing new actors as beloved characters could pose the same problem.
This honestly seems like an odd move unless EP Mitch Hurwitz and the rest of the creative team have a really good plan. Hurwitz said at the TCAs earlier this month,
“I think we found a way to create the compensation structure for all the actors and create a work matrix so they can still make movies and do other things and it will all integrate.”
Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen played younger versions of Lucille and George Sr. in season four, so the show could have a fun creative boost if they returned. However, this whole ordeal leads many to consider whether or not returning to the Bluth family drama is worth it if our favorites don’t return in their full capacity?
(Via TV Line)
