Why Arrested Development's Return Wasn't Easy For The Cast
The production of "Arrested Development" was just as troubled and dysfunctional as the family it was centered on. Though the show achieved massive critical acclaim, low ratings led to its untimely cancelation. But all these problems reached their apex during production of the show's final season, which came five years after the show was revived Netflix, which came seven years after its cancelation by Fox. All the pressure going on behind the scenes dealt a heavy blow to its cast, particularly Jessica Walter, who faced verbal harassment from fellow cast member Jeffrey Tambor.
The show's leading man, Jason Bateman, only added fuel to the fire by downplaying Tambor's behavior as being "incredibly common" in the entertainment industry during a cast interview with the New York Times. However, following online backlash against his comments, Bateman apologized in a series of Tweets for trying to "mansplain" and "excuse" the abuse that Walter suffered. But how did all these troubles begin?
The writing wore the cast down
David Cross, who portrayed Lindsey Bluth's "never-nude" actor husband Tobias Fünke, claimed that the incident between Tambor and Walter arose from the show's difficult production. "It wasn't an easy shoot," he said, adding:
"We're getting new pages. It was not cool, for an actor, it was a difficult time because, for myriad reasons I won't go into, we'd get a script, they weren't done. You'd get something at night, it'd be f****** pages and pages of stuff, and then it would change later on that night. And then you'd get in in the morning, and you'd have two and a half new pages of long stuff."
"That's hard for anybody," Cross added. "It was one of the things that added to the tension, and people weren't able to do the scenes. That was a big part of it."
Cross also stated that this conflict represented a much bigger problem. "The gist of what I saw was, 'f*** these men, this is a very male thing," he said. "And because of what we said and we did talk over [Walter], it just became representative of 'this is what's wrong with men.'"
Will Arnett's heartbreaking divorce
Will Arnett's return to the show wasn't just tough because of the behind-the-scenes drama. While he was working on Season 4, Arnett divorced his wife, Amy Poehler. The actor said to The Guardian that their separation made shooting "almost excruciating...Just brutal, brutal, brutal. I was driving to the set one day and I pulled over to the side of the road and cried for an hour."
However, Arnett claimed that the show's creator, Mitchell Hurtwitz, helped him channel his pain into something "hilarious and cathartic" on the show. This is evident in how Arnett's character, GOB, deals with a short-lived engagement to his girlfriend and struggles with loneliness.
All in all, it was not an easy or joyous return for the cast of "Arrested Development." The myriad of personal and professional issues were a heavy price to pay for the show's revival, and they can all be felt in the confusing and lackluster narrative that was seen in the last two seasons. Despite that, the show managed to finish on a complete and satisfying note, but considering everything the cast went through, it's no wonder the show wasn't given a sixth season.