Netflix is giving itself as many opportunities for Emmys as it can muster, splitting up several of its original comedies into two parts to maximize awards consideration. It has done so withThe Ranch, and will do so with the final season ofUnbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. And now, according toEW, it will doing the same thing for the upcoming fifth season ofArrested Development.
The new season will reunite the show’s original cast – includingJason Bateman,Will Arnett,Jessica Walter,Alia Shawkat,Michael Cera,Will Arnett,David Cross,Portia de Rossi,Tony Hale, andJeffrey Tambor– and is set to run for 16 episodes. But when it debuts on May 29th, only eight of them will be available for viewers, just two days before the end of the Emmy consideration window. The second half of the season should debut later this year.
It’s interesting that Netflix is willing to rush out the first half of these seasons in order to comply with Emmy eligibility, which seems to suggest a certain confidence in these new episodes, but it’s a frustrating model for fans. Netflix’s signature move has always been making its content fully available immediately for bingeing. To split it up because of awards (especially when the series weren’t designed necessarily for a split) is … an interesting choice, and pretty boldly just about chasing down some prestige tin. And really, for what?
Arrested DevelopmentSeason 5 will land – the first half of it, anyway – on Netflix Tuesday, May 29th. For more of our recent coverage, check out these stories below:
