ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Season 5 May Include a Surprising Format Change

Until Arrested Development comes to a definitive end, I fear the entertainment press's obsession with it will never be fully satiated. Even after the fourth season was finally brought into existence by Netflix, and it ended up being terrible (so bad it damaged the legacy of the three incredible seasons before it), people can't stop asking when the fifth season is going to happen. Well, TV Line has done some digging, and they claim that whenever it does ultimately come to pass, it's "likely" that season five will have "a major prequel element, with potentially half of the action unfolding in flashbacks featuring much younger versions of all the principal characters (played by different actors)." Whoa.

A big change like that would obviously mean that there's less overall time the main actors have to be involved with the season, which is tremendously helpful when it comes to scheduling. With this prequel flashback structure in place, the show should be able to utilize the main cast more effectively than in the disjointed fourth season. That's good news, since the group dynamic was always the best part of the show. But season four left an awful taste in my mouth, and the idea of half a season involving completely different actors seems destined to make it feel even less like the brilliant first three seasons. Aside from dropping insane amounts of money to secure the entire original cast for as long as it takes to make a full season of television, I just don't know if Netflix is ever going to be able to recapture that magic using this kind of workaround mentality.

Season 5 is supposed to include 17 episodes, and filming is supposed to begin this June.