Arrested Development

2003 • TMDB 7.9 • 5 seasons • Comedy

Overview

Arrested Development is one of the cleverest sitcoms ever made — a show that rewards you for paying attention and then pays you back tenfold. When the wealthy Bluth family’s patriarch is arrested for fraud and their assets are frozen, the only semi-responsible son, Michael, is left to hold the whole gloriously dysfunctional clan together: the vain Lindsay, the failed magician Gob, the sheltered George Michael, the rebellious Maeby, the coddled Buster, the aspiring actor Tobias, and the deliciously terrible matriarch Lucille. Told with a deadpan narrator, handheld cameras, and jokes that can take entire seasons to land, the series layers running gags, callbacks, and foreshadowing into something closer to a comedy puzzle than a sitcom. It was cancelled too soon, revived by Netflix, and still quoted endlessly — and for good reason. There’s always money in the banana stand.

Creator and Main Cast

Arrested Development was created by Mitchell Hurwitz for FOX and Netflix. The cast includes Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth (84 episodes), Portia De Rossi as Lindsay Bluth Fünke (84 episodes), Will Arnett as Gob Bluth (84 episodes), Michael Cera as George Michael Bluth (84 episodes), Alia Shawkat as Maeby Fünke (84 episodes), Tony Hale as Byron ‘Buster’ Bluth (84 episodes), David Cross as Tobias Fünke (84 episodes), Jeffrey Tambor as George Bluth Sr. (84 episodes), and Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth (84 episodes).

Seasons Snapshot

Arrested Development ran for 5 seasons and 84 episodes: Season 1 (22 episodes) premiered on November 2, 2003, followed by Season 2 (18 episodes) in 2004, Season 3 (13 episodes) in 2005, Season 4 (15 episodes) in 2013, and Season 5 (16 episodes) in 2018, concluding with “The Fallout” on March 15, 2019.

Why Watch Arrested Development?

Arrested Development is the rare comedy that gets funnier the more you watch it. The first viewing delivers the big laughs; the second reveals the hidden jokes, the background gags, and the throwaway lines that quietly set up payoffs seasons later. The Bluths are awful in the most lovable way, and the show never judges them — it just lets them be gloriously, endlessly themselves. If you love smart, dense, endlessly quotable comedy, this is the gold standard: “I’ve made a huge mistake” has never sounded so good.

Trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube: Arrested Development – Season 4 | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

Where to Watch

In the US, Arrested Development streams on Netflix and Netflix Standard with Ads. Availability was checked against JustWatch US listings on October 29, 2026, and may change over time.