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(CNN) — Whether or not Netflix orders more episodes of "Arrested Development," the streaming service will remain in business with the show's creator, Mitch Hurwitz.
Netflix announced a deal Tuesday to have Hurwitz come up with new shows, which means another oddball comedy might be on the way. It was described as a multiyear deal.
Netflix has commissioned a number of original shows before, including "Orange is the New Black" and "Hemlock Grove."
But until now, it has not struck what Hollywood studios sometimes call "writer-producer deals" with individual creators. A Netflix spokeswoman confirmed that the arrangement with Hurwitz is a first for the company.
The deal comes nearly a year after Netflix resurrected "Arrested," a comedy series that the Fox network had canceled several years earlier. Netflix ordered a 15-episode fourth season, executive-produced by Hurwitz, and premiered them all at once in May 2013.
Since then, there's been speculation about whether Netflix will order a fifth season or help finance the long-talked-about "Arrested Development" movie. The company said nothing about that on Tuesday. Its news release said Hurwitz would "produce, develop and create new original series for Netflix."
Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, called Hurwitz "a true genius with one of the most distinctive voices in comedy today." And Hurwitz returned the praise, calling it "incredibly inspiring to get to produce for Netflix, a company that not only doesn't resist change, but is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone in forging it."
Hurwitz concluded his statement with a joke: "The fact that I'm also getting one month of their streaming right to my TV or Xbox free ... well, it really takes the sting out of buying that Xbox."
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