Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Despite Tambor Allegations, Netflix Will Release ‘Arrested Development’ Season 5

The painfully funny series “Arrested Development” will return for a fifth season in painful times. Despite allegations of sexual harassment by former co-workers against “Arrested” star Jeffrey Tambor, Netflix is set to announce a release date for the show’s belated fifth season very soon. Michel Hurwitz, the show’s creator, said on Tuesday that the new season is forthcoming and, in the meantime, a re-cut version of the fourth season will drop on the streaming site on May 4. Happy “Cinco De Cuatro” to one and all!

via GIPHY

[Ron Howard narrator voice] Here’s what happened: “Arrested Development” ran on Fox for three uproariously bizarre seasons, from 2003-2006, when it was unceremoniously canceled by the cruel hand of fate. After the show experienced a second wind (created by the wings of Gob’s escaped doves?) through its run on Netflix, the streaming giant produced a 4th season with the same central cast, which premiered in May 2013. The season, which departed from the show’s former style by centering each episode around individual characters, was a critical “meh.” On Wednesday, Hurwitz announced that he will re-release the season, having recut it to blend the characters’ stories instead of confining them to separate episodes. He also hinted that a 5th season of the beloved show is closer to announcing a premiere date than fans had suspected.

The 5th season of the show has been filmed, but that announcement came just as the show’s star, Jeffrey Tambor, was accused of sexual misconduct on the set of his hit Amazon show, “Transparent.” Tambor, who has been fired from the show, has not been cut from the upcoming “Arrested” season, according to any statements by the creators of the show. Tambor’s costar David Cross told Entertainment Weekly after the accusations, “I can’t speak for everybody, but I know there are a number of us who stand behind him. From the limited amount we know, we stand behind Jeffrey — and I am one of them.”

Oh brother, as Buster Bluth might have it. Will we, “Arrested” fans, be saying “I’ve made a huge mistake” after watching the recut 4th season episodes and the brand new season?

via GIPHY

Or this?

via GIPHY

Only time can tell.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.