"Arrested Development:" still brilliantly funny, free & rehabilitated with a new life -- online

The Bluth family is released to the custody of Netflix

By: Gere Iverson - MSTv
Additional content from Associated Press

"Now the story of a wealthy family - who lost everything - and the one son who had no choice but to keep them together."  A simple, but truthful quote that began every episode of one of the most brilliant and unappreciated comedies of the new millennium, "Arrested Development."

The gist of Arrested Development centers on the wealthy, but highly dysfunctional, Bluth family. The focus and center of the show is middle-son, Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), who works to keep his family together, despite their materialism, selfishness, obvious insanities and manipulative natures.

Though the series has received widespread critical acclaim, since its debut in 2003, the six time emmy winner failed to draw a niche audience during its troubled three year run.  The show suffered from low ratings and viewership on the Fox network and it was canceled in 2006. However,  television "death" isn't so final in this information age. 

In response to numerous pleas by fans, talks of a possible movie and even actions from the cast and creators themselves, the online streaming service, Netflix agreed to license new episodes and distribute them exclusively via their site.

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A Normal family?? Are you kidding?!

The award-winning show about the dysfunctional Bluth family returns Sunday May 26th - seven years after Fox cancelled the series. The show is the third exclusive series from Netflix Inc. this year. It's part of the company's effort to add more original programming to a selection that consists primarily of old TV series and movies.

In a recent analysis posted on BTIG's Research analyst Rich Greenfield blog, Greenfield predicted that the total number of hours watched on Netflix in June might even surpass the Fox broadcast network for the first time.

If that were to happen, it would be an ironic twist, given that Fox canceled "Arrested Development" in 2006 over the protest of the series' fervent fans. "Arrested Development" had low ratings during its run, but the viewers who did watch loved it. Others discovered the show later on DVD or Internet streaming — both of which have been available through Netflix.

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Smile everyone! Don't frighten them off, now!

The first three seasons of "Arrested Development" were being watched by so many subscribers that Netflix knew another season would be well-received by its existing audience and would likely lure new subscribers, too.

Like Netflix's previous series, all 15 new episodes of "Arrested Development" will be released simultaneously to allow viewers to watch the show as if they were perusing a book and deciding how many chapters to pore through in a single sitting. "Arrested Development" is scheduled to be available at 12:01 a.m. PDT Sunday (3:01 a.m. EDT), meaning Netflix subscribers could conceivably devour the entire season before grilling on Memorial Day afternoon.

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