Arrested Development executive producer Brian Grazer let slip today that the next season of the beloved sitcom will have a whopping 17 episodes.
Speaking on The B.S. Report, Grazer briefly touched on the subject of Netflix’s Arrested Development and revealed that season 5 will have a big batch of episodes.
“I love Arrested Development, but it [was] never a huge thing,” said Grazer. “But people are loyal to it, and we’re going to do another 17 episodes. So stay tuned for Arrested Development.”
Watch his interview on The B.S. Report below (his Arrested Development remarks begin at 24:28):
Netflix revived Arrested Development in 2013 — six years after its Fox cancellation — thanks to a 15-episode season 4. Since then there’ve been numerous reports that’ve all but officially announced a new season of Arrested Development.
The main issue with the production on season 5 appears to be figuring out the schedules of the huge cast, who all have a variety of projects on their plates. Their schedules were the main reason that the cast rarely appeared on screen together. There were even moments when the production had no choice but to digitally insert characters into scenes.
In addition to a new season, an Arrested Development movie is in the works according to creator Mitch Hurwitz.
While we don’t know much about what will happen in Arrested Development season 5, Hurwitz said nearly two years ago that season 4’s mystery ostriches will return. The show has always been good with referencing old gags, so it’s nice to hear the ostriches will be explained — or at least serve another purpose.
And now we wait for an official announcement from Netflix. Hopefully this time they’ll be able to find an opening in the schedules of the stars so they can appear together more frequently.