Recently in Arrested Development Category

"It's true. We will do 10 episodes and the movie. Probably shoot them all together next summer for a release in early '13. VERY excited!" Never mind Harold Camping getting it wrong...again: The biggest news of October 2011, as everyone knows, was official word that Arrested Development is returning for 10 episodes and a movie, due out in 2013. Apparently, Michael Cera finally needed some quick cash. (I kid, I kid. Says show creator Mitch Hurwitz: "'I thought it would be funny [to put that out there]... but it really turned ugly. For those of you have been following this saga, Michael's been great and he's always been game.")

I've been remiss here in posting anything here about HBO's Game of Thrones, which I've been greatly enjoying over the past few months. (AMC's The Killing...less so. What a disaster that turned out to be.) So to remedy that, here's Arrested Westeros, i.e. what happens you add House Bluth to the Lannister-Stark-Baratheon-Targaryen mix. I particularly like the one above and this one, and you can't go wrong with any variation of "I've made a huge mistake."

In related Game of Thrones fun, see also: Stupid Ned Stark and One and a Half Man, the buddy-movie version of the story. As an aside, I think I'm going to continue into Season 2 without reading the books (or without reading past the first book, at any rate.) As someone who's usually entering into these sorts of genre properties with full knowledge of the backstory and reams of preconceived expectations, it feels mighty strange to be on the other side of the fanboy/general audience divide for once, and I think I kinda like it.

Mrs. Peacock with the Cornballer in Wee Britain...By way of Web Goddess, Pleated Jeans has assembled the Arrested Development version of Clue, "complete with box art, game board, suspect cards and weapon cards." And, once that fails to entertain, Muller has fashioned a handy and informative Coenfographic to trace exactly who's shown up where in the Coenverse over the years. Even more illuminating than the Goy's Teeth!

In today's trailer bin, AD, Superbad, and Juno's Michael Cera hones his (very-quality) schtick in the John Hughes-ish preview for Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. (Alas, despite Cera's talent, this looks bad and/or I'm too old for it.) Meanwhile, Benicio del Toro tries to gets a revolution off the ground in the Spanish-language trailer for Steven Soderbergh's Che: The Argentine (a.k.a. part 1 of his four-hour Che double feature, with Guerrilla.) I can't understand a word of it, but it looks promising.

"'After months of speculation, I think we have finally figured out for sure that we are indeed doing an Arrested Development movie,' Tambor told EW.com at the premiere of Hellboy II on Sunday. 'I am very excited about that. I love that cast and crew and I felt like we had more to say.'" Is the AD movie actually happening? So says George Bluth...or Oscar Bluth. Hard to say, really.

"'I can confirm that a round of sniffing has started,' Bateman said. 'Any talk is targeting a poststrike situation, of course. I think, as always, that it's a question of whether the people with the money are willing to give our leader, Mitch Hurwitz, what he deserves for his participation. And I can speak for the cast when I say our fingers are crossed.'" Cue "The Final Countdown"...Rumor has it Mitch Hurwitz & co. are contemplating an Arrested Development movie, and that deserves a chicken dance.

This was sent in by a reader, and I've been one to get behind a good cause every so often: Petition FOX and Mitch Hurwitz for an Arrested Development Christmas special in 2009. Come on! Please...the banana stand is all out of cash.

"Rasheed Wallace is the GOB of the Pistons...When watching the Pistons, I keep expecting him to unleash an earth shattering 'COME ON!!' after a bad call, then, after the ensuing technical, go to the bench and tell Flip Saunders 'I've made a huge mistake.'" By way of a friend in the program, Rob Deer's Mustache compares the Detroit Pistons to the Arrested Development Bluths.

"Of course, if there was enough money in it, I would have happily abandoned the fans' need for quality. But as it turns out, there wasn't." Alas, it seems Arrested Development has run its course, now that creator Mitch Hurwitz has announced he's had enough. (Via Freakgirl.)

R.I.P. Phil Brown 1916-2006, who withstood the blacklist and is best remembered as Uncle Owen. (He joins Aunt Beru, who passed in 2000 (9/14).) And, also in unhappy news, farewell to the Bluths, who've gone the way of all good and tragically misunderstood television families...for now.

Good news for AD fans: According to Variety, both ABC and Showtime are in talks to take over Arrested Development should FOX cancel it, "with Showtime said to be in particularly hot pursuit of the ratings-challenged laffer."

"I think right now we're trying in these next five episodes that we're filming -- it's blatant that we're begging people to view the show. Like Ron Howard will say something like, 'Please tell your friends to watch this show.' We're just desperate at this point." Here Comes Trouble points the way to an extensive interview with Michael Cera, a.k.a. Arrested Development's George Michael, on the show and its unfortunately probable early cancellation.

Bad news for the Bluths: Despite its critical acclaim and multiple Emmy wins, Fox has cut Season 3 of Arrested Development from 22 to 13 episodes. I caught up with the show recently on DVD, and it's definitely the funniest thing on TV this side of Curb Your Enthusiasm. That being said, it doesn't exactly reward casual viewing, so I can see why it's having trouble at its current slot. Well, maybe it'll find a more suitable home on one of the cable networks.