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Jason Bateman on Arrested Development S5: "Everybody is in every episode"

B

Blader

Member
http://collider.com/jason-bateman-interview-ozark-season-2-arrested-development-season-5/

I'm also happy to hear that Arrested Development is a go for Season 5, and that you're set to start shooting in the beginning of August. Will it be the same structure, where each episode focuses mainly on one character?

BATEMAN: No, it definitely won't be that again. I don't know if learned our lesson is the right phrase, but I think it's pretty obvious that the other structure was better, with the structure from the Fox episodes. The reasons that we had to go into that structure on the Netflix episodes were for things that just don't exist now, so we can go back to the Fox structure, where everybody is in every episode. And we can't wait. We start in a couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

I think the return to the old format has been reported a couple times before, but this seems like pretty solid confirmation that the scheduling issues with the cast in S4 won't be an issue this time around.
 
I

iMax

Member
giphy.gif
 
K

kevin1025

Banned
That's good news! And outside of Jeffrey Tambor's filming schedule of Transparent (or is that complete for now?), it looks like everyone's schedule is open enough that they can all appear together for real! That was the most disappointing part of the fourth season, so if they can have everyone together, that makes me way more excited for more.
 
S

Slaythe

Member
I don't think season 4 deserves all the hate. Like, they did what they could, whatever, it's not the end of the world. It had some pretty good stuff too. Better than no AD at all.

Glad to hear they're going back to the best version though !
 
davepoobond

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
Was there never that alternate cut of season 4 released?

It was a slow burn of a season to come back from a cancelation, but I still enjoyed it
 
A

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
plagiarize said:
That'd involve going back to episode 1. Michael was always an awful person.
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Yeah, it's kind of one of the core aspects of the show - Michael thinking his family is so awful and crazy and considering himself apart from that, but he's actually not much better.
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
S4 certainly had plenty of great moments, and it was at the very least a fascinating experiment in non-chronological serialized narrative structure (rare enough for a drama, but all but unprecedented for a comedy), but I don't think anyone really wants to see the show go back to that well again.
 
G

Guevara

Member
"Actually everyone is in every scene. It gets very crowded and you don't know where to look. The car scenes were difficult to shoot, we're sitting 2 and 3 deep."
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
Wag said:
So, skip season 4?
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I liked it. But you can see the tape and spit stitching together all the different shoots. The cast availability really hurt it. Well, apart from the joke they made of it when the Fünke's are walking around their mansion trying to find each other and never in the same room.
 
A

Arc

Member
People's opinions on S4 will get better with time. It's really not that bad, it's the context of the hype and release timing that exasperated the ok quality.
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
Arc said:
People's opinions on S4 will get better with time. It's really not that bad, it's the context of the hype and release timing that exasperated the ok qualuty.
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I think the cast availability effecting the show so clearly will never not be an issue with it, but over all I liked season 4. Especially the mortgage stuff. No income no joint assets. If you've got it then you've got it.
 
U

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
ahoyhoy said:
Yessssssss

Also fix Michael's character and we got ourselves a stew going.
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There's nothing to fix, from day one we saw that the family need each other. Split them up and they all go off the rails, Michael is no exception. All the Bluths have severe personality defects that can only be moderated by the rest of the family. Michael might appear normal when compared to Buster and Gob but in the old seasons he was still an extreme narcissist, a completely oblivious parent and a pathological liar. S4 Michael was exactly what I would expect him to turn into without Lindsay/George Michael to talk sense into him.

I'm really curious to see if that re-edited S4 will ever see the light of day, I think it could make the show much better.
 
G

Garrett 2U

Member
With Season 4, Netflix had to make many creative concessions due to the stars' conflicting schedules.
The producers prematurely shot their wad on what was supposed to be a dry run, if you will, so I'm afraid they had something of a mess on their hands.

Hopefully with Season 5, they're able to lick that mess clean up!
 
H

Heckler456

Banned
That sounds great. Do we already know what the runtime is per episode, and the amount of episodes ordered? It'd be super great if they got a 30 min 15 episode run again, but I'm guessing that the fact that they have every character in every episode means that there might be fewer episodes.
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
Ushojax said:
There's nothing to fix, from day one we saw that the family need each other. Split them up and they all go off the rails, Michael is no exception. All the Bluths have severe personality defects that can only be moderated by the rest of the family. Michael might appear normal when compared to Buster and Gob but in the old seasons he was still an extreme narcissist and a pathological liar. S4 Michael was exactly what I would expect him to turn into without Lindsay/George Michael to talk sense into him.

I'm really curious to see if that re-edited S4 will ever see the light of day, I think it could make the show much better.
Click to expand...
My favorite thing is how he always convinced himself that the best thing to do as parent for George Michael is conveniently always the best thing for Micheal himself.

He made his son live in a fake house to try to impress his dad and get a promotion he never got. That's like the first time we meet him.

He has a decent business brain, but he is so very incredibly broken other than that.
 
A

acevans2

Member
I think a re-edited Season 4 could do wonders for how well it stands next to the perfection-tier Fox seasons.

Still waiting on follow-up to that Ron Howard tweet...
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
Arc said:
People's opinions on S4 will get better with time. It's really not that bad, it's the context of the hype and release timing that exasperated the ok quality.
Click to expand...
Not mine, I barely laughed the entire season that's pretty damning for a comedy. Quite the difference from the prior seasons.
 
L

louiedog

Member
If George needs a lawyer with an expertise on light treason I hope they mention Bob Loblaw isn't available because he's working for the President. I'd be okay with Scott Baio not coming back around.
 
A

AColdDay

Member
There were definitely moments of Season 4 I liked a lot, even though I disliked it as a whole. I often think of the "To Catch A Predator" Tobias scene and chuckle. Also it is responsible for the "Hello Darkness" meme that still lives today.

I really hated what they did with Michael's character, and the family members being apart really hurt the chemistry of the show. I hope that both of these things are addressed and I'm sure that Season 5 will be great.

Also, I hope they play up the GOB=Jeb connection and have Gob tell an apathetic magic show audience "Please Clap"
 
R

Ray Down

Banned
I enjoyed season 4 especially watching it some more and the show still there, but I still think it was weaker over all that it didn't have them all there for that dynamic.

Now it looks to be fixed which is good.
 
S

SomTervo

Member
Season 4's structure was a very creative idea and its heart was in the right place but whether it was slightly fluffed execution or the wrong story, it didn't really work. Except for a handful of the later episodes which were pretty damn good.

Glad season 5 is going back to old stylings.

hughesta said:
Season 4 had a couple bum episodes placed right at the start, but overall it's really great.
Click to expand...

This was the biggest problem. Michael and George Michael's episodes just weren't good and they were the very first ones.
 
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