ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: Jason Bateman, David Cross, and Jessica Walter Preview the Netflix Debut

It’s been more than seven years since the Bluths went off the air, but this Sunday, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT returns on Netflix. And while it would be natural for there to be some sort of resentment from the cast about their premature cancellation — especially in light of how big it got in the years post-cancellation — at least one actor was able to put things into perspective.

“I don’t think any of us felt any sort of huge bitterness that the show had gone away,” Jason Bateman (Michael) told reporters at a press conference earlier this month. “I think for the most part, the emotion around the set when [the cancellation] went down [at Fox] was certainly we were upset, but we felt pretty grateful we got that far — there was blood in the water after the first like 13 episodes. That we had been so embraced by…people in the media, as well as the vocal minority that cheered us on, and the awards and nominations, whatever it was. And now with this, it’s great, selfishly, for Netflix to give us all a chance to have a reunion party and hang out with each other again and do [creator] Mitch [Hurwitz]’s work. So it’s all been gravy for us from the start.”

And when the new episodes are unveiled on Sunday (at 12:01 AM PT), viewers will be able to watch them all at once…and, technically, in whatever order they choose.

“I don’t think it’ll be easy, but I hope that’s appreciated by the few people that do love the show,” Bateman said. “They do seem to be a group that likes things somewhat challenging, by virtue of the fact they come back for Mitch’s dense writing all the time. It’s incredible. That fact that Netflix affords him the opportunity to have the stories go out over 15 different episodes that are so intertwined that the same scene will repeat from different angles in multiple episodes is a really unique thing and exciting thing to be a part of, both working with his complexity, and also with Netflix’s distribution platform. It’s a neat time to watch TV.”

“What I’m particularly excited about after watching the first few episodes is if you’re watching it — especially in chronological order — I think as you get to episode 3, episode 4, you’re going to realize how you’re supposed to start watching it, as opposed to being just a passive viewer,” David Cross (Tobias) added. “It’s going to be really, really exciting for people as they figure out, ‘Wait a minute…’ Not to give too much away, but it’s taking those moments you had as a fan of ARRESTED, especially when you watched it on DVD, and went ‘Oh, wait a minute, that’s a reference to that thing three shows earlier.’ But quintuple that…it’s going to be a bit of an epiphany or a revelation when you get to like episode 3 or 4 and you realize there’s a structure to this I wasn’t aware of when I started watching…and that’s going to make everyone triple excited. And there’s going to be a sense of discovery to it and kind of redefining what TV can be.”

However, there is one (potential) downside to the revision — due to the cast’s crazy-busy schedules (and the way these newest episodes are formatted), the episodes will focus on each individual character (with several characters getting one installment dedicated to their part of the tale), so family time could be limited.

“That is one of the differences people are going to have to [get used to]: not everybody is in every episode,” Bateman noted. “As much as you treat these as individual episodes, the 15 are meant to be a singular act of the three act saga that he’s going to tell. It’s a good thing they’re all being released on the same day so you could get [every character] fulfilled.”

And while Jessica Walter (Lucille) pointed out that there were only two scenes in the Netflix version where all nine of them were together, it was one of those moments where it hit her how momentous the entire experience was.

“The first time we all sat down in that penthouse, which was recreated to the nails in the wall, it took awhile for us to calm down,” she noted. “Once we heard the voices and saw the faces that looked the same — except for the kids who are now adults — that’s when I knew we were really back. It was surreal.”

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Be honest…are you going to be up at 12:01 AM PT to watch ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT?

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