By now, you’ve either gobbled up the entire new season of “Arrested Development,” or, like this writer, you’re somewhere in the middle. But undoubtedly, you already have an opinion about the resurrected show, and we’ve shared our own 12 Observations On What Worked & What Didn’t In The New Netflix Season Of “Arrested Development.” And now even mere days after the latest fifteen episodes have premiered, what’s next for Mitch Hurwitz and the Bluths is the question on everyone’s mind. Another season? The much talked about movie? Both? Neither? Either way you slice it, Netflix is open to doing more.
On the one hand, to say that ‘AD’ was a popular viewing choice on Sunday is an understatement. Procera Networks reported that 36% of all devices connected to Netflix streamed at least one episode on its debut day. However, the weak critical response was factor in the company’s stock dropping 6.4% on Tuesday, but CEO Reed Hastings remains ever optimistic. The company famously doesn’t release viewer data, and as he explained to CNBC (see the complete interview below), that’s because theirs is a more longtail game — the new content they create they want to be part of a larger subscriber viewing experience that doesn’t rely on being there on the first day. Binging may be the new black, but Netflix realizes their strength is having that same full season available a week later, a month later, a year later or more for people to watch at their leisure.
So what’s next? Hastings says the future of ‘AD’ is “up to the talent,” a statement that speaks to just how complicated it was to get these fifteen made in the first place, and the unique position this show has as the brainchild of creator/writer/director Mitch Hurwitz. But he’s been uncertain, it seems, about what he wants to do next. In interviews published within days of each other, he told Rolling Stone, “I’ve got to see how this goes. I do have the movie all outlined. Maybe it’s not a movie, though. I don’t know” while also saying to AV Club: “it could take the form of a movie, I’m hoping it does. But truthfully, I even have the last beat of the movie and it definitely is, like, ‘Oh, so there’s more.'”
So, what does Hurwitz do? Given the mixed reviews ‘AD’ has had upon its return, a movie seems like a dicier gamble but also a format that doesn’t exactly fit in Netflix’s desire to create lots of ongoing content. So maybe a new batch of episodes is the answer, though the danger there is stretching out an already far too stretched out story. Or maybe it’s both, with Hurwitz doing the movie and continuing the story with episodes as he sorta hinted at with AV Club.
Or maybe it’s time to give it a rest? Either way, it’s entirely new ground that Netflix, Hurwitz and everyone else are navigating. And again, we’re only three days since the new episodes premiered. More time will need to pass to see if the audience desire is even as fervent as it once was for more ‘AD,’ or if fans will be content to let it rest. What are your thoughts? Do you want more of the Bluths, and how do you want ’em? Let us know below.