Netflix Fixes Huge Mistake By Keeping Arrested Development On The Streamer
No need to blue yourself, "Arrested Development" fans — the cult comedy series will not be leaving its original streaming home on Netflix, as previously reported. The series originally aired on Fox for three seasons before being canceled, but Netflix picked it up for a revival in 2013 and made two more seasons exclusively for the streamer. Earlier this year, it seemed that Netflix had made the inexplicably bad decision to remove the series from their service, marking the end of an era. Just like there was always money in the banana stand, fans knew that they would always be able to watch their favorite episodes of "Arrested Development" on Netflix. What would become of our beloved Bluths? Thankfully, Netflix has confirmed that all five seasons of the wacky family comedy will stay on the service (for now).
According to Vulture, the reason for the whole kerfluffle had to do with the underlying rights to the series being owned by Disney's 20th Television after their acquisition of Fox and 20th Century Television and not Netflix. Apparently, the two companies were able to work something out, however, and we all get to reap the benefits.
A Bluth-worthy switcheroo
The comedy gods smiled upon us and the folks at Disney and Netflix were able to come to an agreement, and a Netflix representative confirmed to Vulture that the show will remain on the streaming service. (Some more astute fans may have already figured this out, as the promised March 15 leave date for the series came and went but "Arrested Development" remained online.) Vulture also reported that the new deal will mean Disney-owned Hulu will lose the rights to streaming the first three seasons (the Fox seasons) of the series later this year, making Netflix the official home of the Bluths, dead doves, and Tobias Onyango Fünke.
Disney still maintains the rights to the series in general, which means they would have the final say on any kind of standard television deals (or movies, although that's pretty unlikely). It also means that we could see the series pulled from Netflix at some point because these deals can be a bit tenuous, and corporations don't always play nice. For now, however, you can hold off on playing "The Sound of Silence" and staring into the middle distance, because "Arrested Development" is here to stay. After all, Disney probably loves the fact that they have someone on another service telling people to "go see a Star War." Now that's advertising.