<P> During the series' third season in 2006, despite months - long rumors of Arrested Development having been picked up by the cable television network Showtime, creator Hurwitz declined to move the show to another network . As Hurwitz explained, "I had taken it as far as I felt I could as a series . I told the story I wanted to tell, and we were getting to a point where I think a lot of the actors were ready to move on ." He said that he was "more worried about letting down the fans in terms of the quality of the show dropping" than he was about disappointing fans by not giving them more episodes . He also said, "If there's a way to continue this in a form that's not weekly episodic series television, I'd be up for it". </P> <P> On October 2, 2011, the entire cast of Arrested Development reunited for a panel at The New Yorker Festival in New York . At the panel, Hurwitz declared his intention of producing a truncated fourth season as a lead - in to a film adaptation . </P> <P> Six years after the series had been canceled by Fox, filming for a revived fourth season began on August 7, 2012 . Fifteen episodes of the show's revival season were released simultaneously on Netflix on May 26, 2013 . The first eight episodes of the fifth season were released on Netflix on May 29, 2018, with the remaining eight episodes to be released later in 2018 . </P> <P> The plot of Arrested Development revolves around the members of the Bluth family, a formerly - wealthy family who continue to lead extravagant lifestyles despite their changed circumstances and who often find themselves drawn into interactions with incestuous undertones . At the center of the show is Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), the show's straight man, who strives to do the right thing and keep his family together, despite their materialism, selfishness, and manipulative natures . Michael is a widowed single father . His teenage son, George Michael (Michael Cera), has the same qualities of decency but feels a constant pressure to live up to his father's expectations and is often reluctant to follow his father's plans . He battles with a crush he has on cousin Maeby, which developed from a kiss she gave him as part of a prank . </P>

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