Arrested Development season 4’s creator and cast want to assure you the new episodes won’t be a huge mistake.
Hypable got the chance to chat with Arrested Development series creator Mitch Hurwitz and fan favorite cast members Jeffrey Tambor (George Bluth Sr.) and Jessica Walter (Lucille Bluth) about their excitement for season 4’s debut, the unique storytelling format Netflix provides, and their love for committed Arrested Development fans.
Listening to these three reminisce, it’s clear that there is such a mutual love and respect amongst the Arrested Development team. Their quirky sense of humor shines through their deadpan delivery, and it’s a delight to see that as much as they respect the show they’ve made together, they also know not to take themselves too seriously. Minor spoilers ahead.
On how they deal with rising expectations for the show:
Mitch: I’ll be honest, I really feel like we all should just lower our expectations. That would really be great for me… I’m joking, of course. It’s really, really flattering that the fans are this interested, and it’s such a different experience than when we first made the show when nobody knew what it was. I will say in the last couple days I’ve started to get nervous.
Jessica: I was nervous about doing it again because the fans were so thrilled with the first three seasons. But the first time I read a couple of the scripts, I was blown away and I feel confident that I can say to people now, “You’re going to love it, it’s better than ever.” I really, really, truly feel that way.
Jeffrey: (at the season 4 premiere) Mitch Hurwitz got the biggest standing ovation I have ever witnessed.
Jessica: It was incredible. It was at least seven minutes—
Jeffrey: I don’t think it was that long—
Mitch: Let’s not get crazy… One of the things we did that will hopefully let us live up to expectations is that it doesn’t feel like reunion shows that we’ve seen in the history of our medium. We really are trying to do something different, and I think that’s what made it viable to us so we didn’t feel like we were just repeating ourselves.
On how they feel about fan art and the devoted ‘Arrested Development’ fandom:
Mitch: I love the fact that [Arrested Development] can generate more creativity. That’s just such a great victory for me, if nothing else. It’s second only to me making a lot of money.
Jeffrey: I think the fans really appreciate that when they can replay the episode and see that little blue mark on the wall, or that there’s an Oscar.com. That means that somebody cares about them. So in a way, they have taken a sort of duly deserved ownership of this show, and in that way, it’s very fulfilling.
On how they plan to get feedback from fans:
Mitch: What is going to happen after 12:01? I’m going to wake up Sunday morning, and I won’t have any data. I won’t know anything. I could go online, I suppose. I was thinking maybe I should do a live twitter thing. But then I thought, no, people would just register their complaints with me.
On how Netflix will judge ‘Arrested Development’s’ success:
Mitch: Netflix will know everything. They do have a lot of data. The bigger question is, do they care? Or do they just say, no, we’ve already accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. It’s established Netflix as an outlet where you can get premium content. It’s a whole new world; it’s very interesting.
Jessica: They must care. They want respect. They want the kudos. Of course they care.
Mitch: But they don’t have a lot to compare it to. We’re all human beings, and we all care about what people think of us, but in general, their outlook is, we’re not looking at opening night numbers, we want this to be part of the reason you come to our service. So, if you’ve got a restaurant, you definitely want a line out the door the first night, but you’re more interested in people continuing to come back to the restaurant, which is Netflix’s outlook. I think it allows for more creativity in the process. I think it allows people to make more interesting programming that maybe wouldn’t have a place on broadcast networks that are just counting people.
On how they will watch the new season:
Jeffrey: I have to go and get a computer.
Mitch: You could just go get a DVD player, which is cheaper than a computer.
Jeffrey: I’ve got to get a TV. I had no idea.
Mitch: You didn’t know? Oh, that’s right, we did tell you briefly it was going to be a play. That was the only way we could get Jeffrey.
Jeffrey: I was told it was dinner theater.
On whether people should binge-watch the episodes in a day or sip leisurely through them like a fine wine:
Mitch: If you watch them all back to back, you’ll gain something and you’ll lose something. What you’ll gain is the macro story—you’ll get a good command of that. And what you might lose is some of the fun.
On whether people should watch the episodes in order:
Jessica: I think they should watch them in order.
Mitch: Oh, they have to watch them in order!
Jessica: That’s very important.
Mitch: That’s very important because as it turns out, stories have to be told in order.
On why it took so long to get season 4 going:
Mitch: Timing is everything. First it was too soon. Then the time was right, but I was busy with other things and the cast was busy with other things. And by the time I sat down with Jim Vallely, my longtime partner—writing partner, we’re not lovers yet, but by the time we sat down to work on the movie, enough time had passed that suddenly a different story emerged. It was no longer as interesting to just see a sort of family adventure movie, but what became compelling was the history of what’s been going on in this family’s life. So that kind of gave birth to the television show. And our hope is that it still leads to a movie, or at least some mechanism of doing more content about this family.
On taking advantage of how Netflix works:
Mitch: I love the idea of exploiting the technology. We spent a lot of time thinking about how to take advantage of the opportunity. We knew we had an audience who would be interested in the details. I just like the idea that what was different about this was that the audience owned the material, that they weren’t being told when they would get each particular bit of information.
On what the censorship will be like in this new Netflix medium:
Mitch: We actually do have nudity in the show. I won’t tell you… but it’s one of the principal cast members.
Jessica: Not me, people. They wouldn’t let me do it.
Mitch: Well, there were some people to who we had to say, “Please. Stop taking your clothes off. The scene doesn’t call for it.” But yes, there’s still a lot of bleeping.
Jessica: But it keeps it classy. I’m proud of our show because it’s so classy.
On how Mitch Hurwitz’ experiences growing up in Orange County influenced the show:
Mitch: What’s funny is that as somebody who wanted to be creative growing up, I remember always thinking that the thing I had going against me was Orange County, because it seemed like all of the comedy was coming out of New York. [Orange County] is in the DNA of the show, there’s no question. In fact, I had a hard time even getting everyone to wear Reyn Spooner shirts. Nobody knew what they were in LA—we couldn’t get them. And you know you can’t walk down the street in Orange County without seeing people in Reyn Spooner shirts. It has it’s own little vibe, Orange County.
On the inspiration for the Banana Stand:
Mitch: I had a cookie business with my brother when we were growing up called Chocolate Chip Yard, and that sort of became the inspiration for the Banana Stand. I was learning about business, and my father said, “This is an affluent area and I want you to work for a living, I want you to develop a work ethic.” So we took to selling cookies all day. And then my father used to say things like, “I want you selling cookies until the last bum stumbles out of the distant bar on the boardwalk.” But at the same time, he would say on Saturday night, “Hey, let’s go see a movie,” and we would say, “Well, we can’t, Dad, we’ve got to sell these cookies.” And he would say, “Oh for Christ’s sake, I’ll give you the fifteen dollars. Come on, let’s go see a movie.” So it was a very mixed message.
On Mitch Hurwitz’s own forbidden romance growing up:
Mitch: I dated one of the Nordstrom girls.
Jeffrey: You did?
Mitch: Yeah.
Jeffrey: What was her name?
Mitch: Well, she was a Mormon. So I think if I say her name, I’ve outed her as someone who was dating… And I don’t think I can do that.
Jessica: You’re very honorable Mitch.
On Page 2: Mitch on the set, Orange County influences, and how Jason Bateman spoiled everyone
On having Mitch on set for season 4:
Jeffrey: (to Mitch) One of the more interesting moments for me was your presence on set (in season 4). When we were on the Fox show you were in your office. And I have such a respect for you, that I was actually intimidated by you a little bit. But what was so interesting was that by the time we finished, you and I were practically in the scene together. I just wanted to tell you, I have never had a director like you.
Jessica: I haven’t either. And I’m not as close, obviously, as you two lovers are. But I have always said this: Mitch created this wonderful climate for actors to feel safe and to feel like they could fail, and he always knew when to pull me back. And I just felt so comfortable.
On how Jeffrey Tambor can be a diva:
Jessica: I will say for my pal Jeffrey: he can be a bit of a diva, however, I’m always better in scenes with Jeffrey than I am with some of the other people because he raises the bar. You really have to pay attention, and you have to go with his creative abilities so that he can surprise you. And that’s my love letter.
Jeffrey: My mouth is on the floor. I’m weeping. I’m weeping openly. Let’s go back to ‘diva’…
Mitch: I don’t see you as a diva, I see you as someone, pardon the expression, who is not full of sh*t. It’s great. It’s really great. It’s maturity.
On Jessica and Jeffrey’s acting styles:
Mitch: You have very different styles. Jessica prepares, and Jeffrey likes to throw himself into the scene, so it’s much more found in the moment. And I think that’s why what you guys do together is always so magical. It’s salt and pepper; it’s just a great combination.
On the unique nature and timeline of this project:
Mitch: I got it done last week. I don’t think there’s ever in the history of entertainment been a project that has had as much expectation, has had as much money spent on it, and then has had absolutely no testing.
Jeffrey: Do you know, that as little as five days ago I looped a line on my iPhone?
Mitch: Yes, I know. I asked for it.
Jeffrey: Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that our show?
On guest stars playing younger versions of Lucille and George Bluth:
Jessica: When I saw the episode, (Kristin Wiig) really nailed it. I thought she was wonderful.
Jeffrey: And Seth Rogen. I love how he tried to lower his voice.
Mitch: He’s got the lowest voice in the history of cinema, and he lowered it to play Jeffrey Tambor. He was a sweetheart to do it. They both were. We shot it in one day; they had very little prep time.
Jeffrey: I have to tell you how vain actors are by the way: when I read the script, I thought we were playing those roles.
Jessica: I did too! With a wig that would pull back all my wrinkles. I thought I could do it.
Mitch: We did try to cast for who was right for parts, we didn’t try to just make it Loveboat and bring all the people who were willing to be in it. They guest stars run the gamut from very well known to less well known, but everyone was a joy.
On how Jason Bateman spoiled everyone:
Mitch: Jason Bateman and I had this long talk about how it’s going to be tempting to tweet things, but let’s not. We’ll both decide right now we’re going to keep this under our hats. He said, ‘Do you mind if I just take a picture of the empty set?’ And I said, “No. Do that, that’s a great idea.” But the Workaholics were so under his radar that with these two guys in the shot, he considered it an empty set. So he sent this picture of this so-called “empty set” and immediately it was like, “Hey! The Workaholics are on Arrested Development!” and the news got everywhere.
On having Henry Winkler to do his famous Fonzie move:
Jeffrey: The audience broke into applause.
Mitch: That was a crazy moment.
Jeffrey: And it was sort of emblematic.
Mitch: I was very nervous about asking (Henry Winkler) to do that. We had talked about that in the room and I was like, how do I do it? I didn’t know him very well. And he gave me that sort of stone-faced look too, but I think he was just processing. I made it sound like I had just thought of it, when in fact the whole reason the scene was set in a bathroom was for that joke. You wouldn’t just set a scene, three guys in a men’s room, talking. So I had to say to him, “Hey, you know what might be funny? If you go to comb your hair and then you decide, no, it’s great the way it is.”
Jessica: The thing about Mitch is, whenever he says, “You know what I think might be funny?” you are a fool if you don’t go along with it because he’s always right.
