Two weeks after he locked the final cut of Netflix's Arrested Development revival, show creator Mitch Hurwitz is catching up on TV, traveling to New York and checking social media to gauge the reaction to the fruits of two years of labor. "Right now my hope is that the people who are interested in the Bluth family give the show a try," he says of the new episodes, which each focus on a different character yet are intertwined.
The 15 Arrested episodes were released simultaneously on May 26. Fan reaction has been decent, but critics were mixed, with some of those negative reviews reportedly hurting Netflix's stock price (although anticipation for the show previously helped boost the streaming service's stock).
Hurwitz tweeted on May 28 that critics were "resisting change." But in a lengthy chat last week with TV Guide Magazine, he clarified what he meant, and also discussed his future plans for the show. Hurwitz even addressed Internet chatter about star Portia de Rossi's appearance. An edited transcript follows.
read more"Maybe a movie" would have been a better option after all for continuing the gloriously twisted saga of the beloved cult comedy classic Arrested Development. Those famous last words, spoken by executive producer/narrator Ron Howard in a cameo in the 2006 series finale on Fox, continue to haunt the show's sprawling and rarely satisfying 15-episode reboot on Netflix.
read moreMitch Hurwitz, you were wrong.
A few days before Arrested Development's fourth season premiered on Netflix, the showrunner said that fans shouldn't binge-watch all 15 episodes in one go. Since I'm such a rebel (and one with zero patience), I did so anyways, and Mitch should be grateful.read more