To say that Arrested Development's Bluth family is dysfunctional is to say that the surface of the sun is warm. It's difficult to imagine how they could be any more eccentric — but according to actor Will Arnett — a.k.a. Gob — things have indeed gone downhill for the extended brood since they disappeared from TV in 2006.

Us Weekly caught up with Arnett and series creator Mitch Hurwitz at the SXSW Samsung Galaxy Experience in Austin, Tex., where they teased a few details from the much-anticipated fourth season. (Netflix will stream all 14 episodes beginning in May.)

"The family has kind of fallen apart," Arnett, 42, says of Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) and his quirky relatives, who have had to "weather the economic collapse" during the show's hiatus. "Left to their own devices, all of these characters will evolve into the worst versions of themselves."

Speaking specifically about his own onscreen alter ego, the actor adds: "[Gob's] got a new group of friends. He's running with a pretty fast crowd. His fallback is always his illusions. Magic is who he is."

Hurwitz notes that each episode in the upcoming season will focus on one individual character. "It was hard to get everyone together at the same time. When you try to get that group together again, it's unlikely," he explains to Us. "Everyone has gone on to great careers and movies and such…We're asking for 20 weeks from everyone. That's a huge chunk of time! We decided everyone gets one week and then we'll get them to make cameos in other [episodes]."

"We love this concept because you get to watch it the way you want to watch it," he adds of the Netflix partnership.

"People watch Mad Men or Downton Abbey and have to wait week to week. [With] House of Cards" — another Netflix series — "all episodes are available from day one," Arnett pipes in. "That's how it is with Arrested Development. it's great. We don't get pre-empted by baseball or anything…We call it binge and purge entertainment."