'Arrested Development' Set to Stream New Episodes in 2013

'Arrested Development' Set to Stream New Episodes in 2013

Michael, Gob, Buster, Lindsey, Tobias and George Sr. will be back next year, courtesy of Netflix.

The long-delayed “Arrested Development” reunion is official, and a 10-episode fourth season of the critically hailed show will be available on Netflix in 2013. Best of all, viewers won’t have to wait a week between episodes.

The new season will be made available all at once, letting fans watch the fresh episodes in one manic viewing marathon, should they wish. It’s a sign of the new times, the latest indication that the way networks once trotted out new shows may soon become as antiquated as 8-track tapes.

Just re-watched the pilot for “Arrested Development” on Netflix earlier today, and the show’s creative vibrancy grabbed me all over again. Some sitcoms require a few episodes, or sometimes several seasons, to lock in their characters. “Arrested Development” nailed it in those first 22 or so minutes.

Reunions are dicey affairs, and there’s a good chance a fourth batch of “Arrested Development” won’t measure up the show’s early brilliance. But unlike “30 Rock” and “The Simpsons,” two great shows now running on creative vapors, “Arrested Development” never came close to jumping the shark.

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