Arrested Development‘s return to TV (or rather, Netflix) was one of the hottest televisual reunions of recent times. The Bluth family became something of a cult step-family to thousands after Fox initially axed the show back in 2006 – so much so, in fact, that the calls demanding their return were soon answered with a fourth season, released straight to Netflix in 2013.

Since the release of season 4 (and the inevitable binges that followed), things have been relatively quiet on the Arrested Development front. Below, we round up everything we know about the incoming fifth season of the show.

When is Arrested Development season 5 released?


The new series is set for a 2018 release.

How many episodes will there be?

Executive producer Brian Grazer has confirmed that 17 new episodes of Arrested Development have been commissioned.

Where can I watch it?

As with Season 4, the fifth season of Arrested Development is set for a straight-to-Netflix release.

Have we seen a trailer?

No trailers or teaser footage have emerged just yet.

Who’s in it?

Jason Bateman has confirmed that he’ll return as Michael Bluth, stating in May 2017 via Twitter that he’s “going to put some more miles on the Stair Car this summer.”

Look very probable I'm going to put some miles on the Stair Car this summer. Just officially signed on to more ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT today. — Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 12, 2017


In addition, January 2017 saw Brian Grazer state that everyone from the original cast is set to return for a fifth round. That mean we can hopefully expect to see the likes of Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, David Cross, Jeffery Tambor and Jessica Walters reprising their iconic roles, with Ron Howard hopefully back to narrate the shenanigans.

It might be a prequel (in parts)

Interestingly, parts of Season 5 are set to feature flashback sections, according to TV Line. It’s a technique that was used back in Season 4, too – back then, we had Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen playing a young Lucille Bluth and George Michael Sr..

The whole family are back together

Season Four of Arrested Development received some criticism due to its focus on one character at a time – a practical consideration, that had to be factored in due to its cast’s numerous other commitments.

This time around, though, it’s back to that off-the-wall, family-on-family dynamic that made the original series such modern comedy classics, with the show confirming via Twitter that “the Bluths are all together. Whether they like it or not.”

This time the Bluths are all together. Whether they like it or not. pic.twitter.com/RrCvHiqOCa — Arrested Development (@arresteddev) May 17, 2017