Why Arrested Development Was Canceled (& Why It Came Back)

After just three seasons, the now acclaimed Arrested Development was canceled by Fox, until streaming giant Netflix picked it up for its fourth season in 2013. Almost a decade later, the show’s triumph on Netflix landed Arrested Development a fifth season with its full cast, causing many viewers to wonder why it was ever canceled in the first place. The show followed the hilarious antics of the formerly wealthy Bluth family, centering on Jason Bateman’s character Michael Bluth. The show broke normal sitcom rules by serializing its episodes and using different narrative techniques like handheld camera footage and voice-over narration.

Arrested Development‘s first season was met with critical acclaim, as they won 5 of the 7 Emmy nominations they had received. After cancelation, Arrested Development is seen as a defining sitcom for the early 2000s, and it even landed a spot on Time Magazine’s Top 100 sitcoms of all time. With this many accolades, the question on everyone’s mind is how could Fox cancel a show that was doing so well.

Many things led to Arrested Development‘s cancelation, including small blips like having to recast girlfriend Marta Estrella, but the biggest reason was the show’s low ratings. Despite massive acclaim, the show went unnoticed during its original run. As viewership dropped each season, Fox slashed the number of greenlit episodes for the next season. Fox also kept bouncing the show to different time slots in desperate attempts to get viewers to watch. In addition to a lack of interested viewers, the show struggled with bad advertising efforts from Fox, and a lawsuit from the band Arrested Development for name likeness. Finally, Fox threw in the towel at the end of season 3, airing the last four episodes while the winter Olympics aired on other channels. They canceled the show, and it fizzled out for the next few years.

Following cancelation, the show’s popularity grew, matching the acclaim it saw during its original run. In hindsight, the main problem was that Arrested Development was ahead of its time. While long-running gags about money always being in the banana stand work with today’s audience, early 2000s’ comedy focused more on The Office style humor. Now, sitcoms are experimenting more with narrative and joke formats, and Arrested Development fits right into the style of modern sitcoms.

Netflix debuted all of season 4 in May of 2013, marking the revival of the previously canceled cult favorite. It did well, earning 3 Emmy nominations, and Netflix debuted a season 5 in 2018, 5 years after the original revival. Unfortunately, season 5 may have been too much for the Bluth family, as for many viewers, Arrested Development season 5 was disappointing, marking the point at which the show had likely run its natural course. As of now, Netflix has not announced plans for a season 6, and many believe it is unlikely to come at all. Arrested Development‘s cancelation despite its massive critical acclaim suggested that something was there, something underappreciated by viewers during its original run. Unfortunately, it seems like that spark has died out and that season 5 will be the last for the beloved sitcom.