(Photo: Mike Yarish/Netflix)

The slow elevator toward Arrested Development season 5 took another vaguely promising lurch upwards today, with Jason Bateman announcing that he’s “officially signed on” for another season of the formerly Fox-based show. Bateman was assumed to be on board for the project—like most of the series’ cast, he’s been a vocal proponent of keeping the show going, whenever Mitch Hurwitz can get everybody back into roughly the same locations—but now there are apparently contracts and whatnot keeping him to his word.


And while we’re as happy to bust out our chicken dance and “GEEEEENE!” GIFs as the next hardcore Bluth fans, there’s still no word on when the show might actually film, or if Hurwitz will be able to get most of the cast in the same room together, unlike the Netflix-housed fourth season. All we really know is that the season might be at least part-prequel, which would free up some of the scheduling burden on Bateman and the rest of the show’s present-day cast.