The cult comedy series is as dead as Michael's wife.
Although the first three seasons were some of the best in sitcom history, there's no denying that Netflix's revival of 'Arrested Development' left a lot to be desired.
Still, the streaming service gave it a chance to flourish with another season after the exceptionally ropey fourth season. However, in a recent interview with the Daily Beast, David Cross made it clear that 'Arrested Development' is over and done with.
In the interview, Cross alludes to the issues that arose during the press tour where Jessica Walter - who played Lucille, the Bluth family matriarch - revealed that Jeffrey Tambor had mistreated her on set, behaviour which was scoffed at then by other cast members. As a result, many press junkets - including our own - were cancelled, with said cast members publicly apologising for their comments during the interview.
Cross, in his interview, acknowledged that the on-set tensions and the fallout from the press tour is no doubt a contributing factor to the show's ending. "I think it’s all the things that led up to those kinds of things becoming an issue on set," Cross said, adding that the show was a difficult process, "exceptionally difficult if you're older."
According to Cross, the production was vastly different from previous seasons, with huge rewrites being dropped on the cast at short notice, and at times, were brought back weeks after a scene was done to try new jokes.
"I mean, it was a terrible way for actors to try to do what they do. And there were a lot of frustrations early on, the shoot kept extending. And you know, you’re asking a lot of people, and especially older people who just don’t have the physical stamina that some younger cast and crew do. And it led to some tensions and it was just a very bad way to work," Cross explained, alluding to the incident on set in which Jeffrey Tambor shouted at Jessica Walter.
It's a shame that it never reached its potential in the two Netflix seasons, but the truth is that the expectation on them was so high, there was little chance of it meeting it. Still, there's always money in the banana stand.