“Arrested Development” is returning, and people are going a little nuts.

'Arrested Development' Season 4 Reports on the cult comedy’s return, including cast interviews and more.

On Sunday Netflix will release 15 new episodes of the willfully absurd sitcom about the Bluths, a family of self-centered lunatics. The show made its debut on Fox in 2003 and ran for three seasons before being unceremoniously dumped in 2006. The ratings were negligible (it was the 120th most popular show in its Emmy-winning first season), but those who did embrace the show — whether it was during the series’ first run or later on DVD, taking in the show’s dense, silly-smart mix of satire, in-jokes and ridiculous story lines, which touched on Saddam Hussein and incest, among other prickly subjects — tended to do so with vigor.

In the past few weeks an aggressive publicity campaign has drawn thousands to Bluth’s banana stands and other promotional events. The Paley Center in Manhattan will host an “Arrested Development” screening marathon and costume contest on Saturday. Online the enthusiasm has inspired plenty of reports, quizzes, GIFs and whatever this is.

We’re being only slightly more measured: The Times spoke with most of the cast for a coming feature article, and every day this week we’ll roll out interviews with at least one Bluth.

First up is Jason Bateman, whose Michael was the stable son anchoring the loonier Bluths’ eccentric orbits. The brief run of “Arrested Development” was enough to turn Mr. Bateman from a largely irrelevant former child actor into a film comedy star. The new season finds Michael somewhat degraded but still at the heart of things. While each of the 15 episodes will focus on a specific character, Michael will again link the story lines and serve as a “sort of tour guide” for the proceedings.

Mr. Bateman called last week to discuss what the show has meant for his career, why he almost didn’t get the job and what he shares in common with Michael Bluth. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Q.

When we last saw the Bluths, they were fleeing the law and one another in boats. What can you say about where we rejoin them?

A.

It is seven years later, and time has not been kind to the Bluths, particularly to my character.

Q.

How so?

A.

The rest of the family was showing their warts quite clearly back in the day, but my character was pretty convinced that he was close to A-O.K. He’s kind of become one of them now, and it’s driving him crazy, and he’s going to try to get back on his feet and try to maintain what’s left of his dignity.

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Q.

The show has so many in-jokes. Do you ever have trouble keeping them all straight?

A.

In general I had kind of forgotten where we left off. A lot of what we do in these episodes is a direct reference to a lot of that stuff. I was trying to catch up but never could, so in a lot of these episodes I had no idea what I was doing. I’m just walking around there like a dummy. All I know is, it was a privilege to be able to get back together with all of those really talented people and do [the show’s creator] Mitch Hurwitz’s stuff again. It just doesn’t happen that often — a reunion of a show that isn’t some sort of cheesy Christmas thing, you know?

Q.

How has the fevered anticipation for the new season compared to what you expected?

A.

I’m taking it all with a grain of salt because you never really know. I get stopped every day by people anticipating these episodes. But I don’t get stopped by a lot of people, too.

Q.

Do people approach you more for “Arrested” than the movies you’ve done since?

A.

Yeah, I would say so. They’re not a shy group. It’s really nice, too. I would assume that if you’re a celebrity, getting recognized can be a bit of a burden because it’s like the animal has escaped the zoo. It’s a big kerfuffle. But if you’re an actor from a show that people kind of enjoy, you get stopped, and people say, “I really like your show,” and you say, “Thank you,” and you carry on. It’s a public job.

Q.

Any especially memorable encounters with fans?

A.

They’re a pretty tame bunch, although Will Arnett and I are about to go to one of these banana stands at Times Square, so that could all go out the window.

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Q.

David Cross said he’s seen multiple fans with Tobias tattoos.

A.

Well, David Cross is hanging out in tattoo bars. I get stopped in carpool lines with my kids.

Q.

Did you ever expect “Arrested Development” to return?

A.

I was pretty confident we were going to get it done. It was just a matter of when Mitch could find the creative space to tackle it in a way where he had a good chance of doing something better than what was on Fox.

Q.

The usual narrative is, it was a great comedy that never got a fair chance on Fox. But isn’t it at least a little surprising that it ran on a network at all?

A.

My agents didn’t even send me the scripts. They thought there was no way anyone was going to make this show. It was an old agent of mine who called me and said: “This script is really, really good. You should tell your current agents to send you in on that.” So when I asked my current agents about it, they said: “Well, fine, we’ll send you the script. But this show is never going to get picked up.”

Q.

And then you managed to stay on for three seasons.

A.

Once it came on, it was quirky — it definitely wasn’t on the Fox brand. We thought we would never get a back nine [an order for more episodes]. And then I think we got a nomination or something, and they were forced to give us a back nine. And then we won something — maybe that was the Emmy, I’m not sure. [It was.] So they were obligated to give us another one, and they were like, “Ugh, when can we cancel this thing?” Then finally they took those final four episodes and just burned them off against the Olympics, which was the final [expletive]. It was kind of perfect.

Q.

What has the show meant for your career?

A.

Well, it’s been everything. I was circling the building before this show came up. It’s been an absolute second chance for me, and every decision I make is about trying to keep the opportunity, access and relevance that this show has afforded me.

Q.

Michael served as the stable center of the Bluth chaos. Did you have any models in mind when you first played him?

A.

Like any character I play, it’s just another heightened part of me — whatever part of me is made uncomfortable or highly susceptible to becoming a victim and would do anything to avoid embarrassment or humiliation. All those things kind of make Michael Bluth comedically uptight as opposed to dramatically uptight.

Q.

Why do you think the show is so beloved?

A.

I don’t think we’re doing anything incredibly groundbreaking. Having said that, Mitch Hurwitz has a very, very specific sense of humor that is right up my alley and up a few other people’s, too. Hopefully that’s enough to give Netflix some satisfying results because I think we’d all love to do some more of them.