Finally, 'Arrested Development' will air on Netflix, with a quirky new format


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SALT LAKE CITY — After an agonizing seven years without a dose of "Arrested Development" to take away those TV blues, fanboys and fangirls around the world will finally have their addiction assuaged.

Some time in May — with rumors swirling about May 4 — Netflix will dump 14 full episodes of the quirky hit show on the interwebz. All. At. Once. Millions will not leave their homes until they have seen every single one.

Perhaps that's overstating the matter, but it is some good news after a long wait for the return of the widely-beloved show. But the latest season, if that's what you can call it, will be treading new ground, much as the original series did.

At an event at the TCA Winter Press Tour, the cast and creator Mitch Hurwitz said that the episodes will not feature the entire family, but will instead focus on a single character, with others appearing here and there in an intertwining and complicated storyline that covers all 14 episodes.

"This is something completely different on purpose, per the format Netflix affords us and the larger story we can do," said Jason Bateman, who plays Michael Bluth on the show.

The basic premise is that the family is left on its own after Michael, the foundation of the Bluth clan, left them.

"The bigger story is the family has fallen apart at the start of our show," Hurwitz told USA Today. "They all went their own way, without Michael holding them together, so they're left to their own devices, and they're not the most successful devices."

The stories tie together, and you'll even get to see the same scenes multiple times, but from different perspectives.

"If people watch it all at once, it will seem like a giant Arrested Development," Hurwitz said. "It's really tailored for Netflix."

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Michael Cera, famous for his portrayal of George Michael Bluth, joined in on the writing staff as well as reprising his role as the skinny, awkward son of Michael who is in love with his (possibly) cousin.

The show is also intended to set up a movie that could possibly follow, also on Netflix.

"These are episodes that set that up," Bateman said. "It is certainly a satisfying conclusion to these episodes if, for some reason, a movie doesn't happen, but they are all meant to work within one another as a hybrid package of Arrested Development stuff."

All the beloved characters will be there, with Bateman to be the only one to appear in all episodes. There will also be appearances from the family lawyer, played by Henry Winkler, as well as Liza Mineli, Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter and "Mad Men's" John Slattery.

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David Self Newlin

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