Splitsider

Tony Hale was on Fallon last night to talk about something – who knows, Veep maybe – but all that matters is he talks about Arrested Development. It's fun to see him be as excited to see what is going to happens to the Bluths as we are. He also alludes to the fact that the show takes place in present day, which was assumed before, because of the now grown up teenage actors and all, but it's still a new detail and any and all AD details are desirable. Seriously, if they leaked the catering order from the first table read, I'd get it tattooed on my back.

Lost Roles is a weekly column that takes a particular comedic performer or writer and dives deep into all of their movie and TV projects that came close to happening but didn’t for one reason or another. This week, we turn our attention to The Office's Rainn Wilson.

On The Office, Rainn Wilson created one of the most beloved sitcom characters of the past decade with Dwight Schrute, a character that’s proven so popular that he’s been chosen to be the show’s Frasier Crane (and hopefully not its Joey Tribbiani). Outside of The Office, however, he’s had a tough time making his mark in the movie industry. When [...]

Duels or “classy show-downs” as they are often called by no one, have been solving hot debates for ages. They're useful for delivering crowds a champion, through often unpredictable means (just ask Alexander Hamilton). Television loves a surprise, so what better way to measure and battle elements of TV than with a duel? Here, we will battle two characters in an imaginary contest of wills. Sometimes a winner will be crowned because of pertinent facts, and sometimes in spite of them.

This week?  Frank Reynolds vs. George Bluth Sr. for the title of World’s Worst Father

This week’s duel will leave the mothers out of it. Like a bad call at a championship little [...]

Columentary (title sadly not pending) is a weekly feature, in which I’ll listen to the commentary track of a sitcom, and divulge, through pretty pictures and less pretty words, the behind-the-scenes secrets the creators, writers, and cast discuss about their show. If you've ever wondered how many leg chairs Eddie from Frasier humped, this is for you.

Show: Arrested Development

Episode: "Ready, Aim, Marry Me" (S02E10)

Original Airdate: February 13, 2005

Episode Plot: The family needs some extra money, so Michael (Jason Bateman) asks Uncle Jack (guest star Martin Short) if he wouldn’t mind bailing out the Bluths yet again.

Players Involved: Will Arnett, actor; Michael Cera, actor; [...]

David Cross fans should be used to his pulling no punches by now. We already know he was not a fan of malt loaf on the set of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, and now thanks to this interview, we know how he really feels about the East Village and the controversy over his comments about Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. (He feels negatively about them.) It's not all bad, though – Cross also talks about making peace with the fact that quality work is often only appreciated years after it's produced, and how that may still happen for Todd Margaret. Perhaps in the [...]

Matt De Lanoy created a custom LEGO set that recreates the entire Arrested Development universe, so if you ever wanted to build a model home model, now you can. It has everything: Gob on a Segway, a blue Tobias, a hook-handed Buster, and more and more and more. If it gets 10,000 supporters, the stair car will get mass produced so support, support, support. Check out more photos below (and here) and get your LEGO building fingers stretched:

Mitch Hurwitz and the cast of Arrested Development appeared together at a Netflix panel at the National Association of Broadcasters convention yesterday, and they gave up a whole bunch of details on just how this revival is gonna work. Vulture was there and captured all the juicy details.

Firstly, all 10 episodes are going to drop on Netflix streaming on the same day rather than them being released weekly like a traditional TV show. So that's good for the bingers: after this years-long wait, you'll be able to tear through the entire new season in less than five hours. As for what the episodes will actually be like: [...]

I’m almost the same age as Hamlet.

This occurred to me at 3 AM on the night before I had to teach a class on Hamlet and Arrested Development. I had started to fall asleep on top of my computer, and dragged myself to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face.

When I looked up from the sink, the news in the mirror wasn’t good.

A patch of white hair in my right eyebrow had marched eastward, a thickening index of the unchecked free radicals cartwheeling through my body. Purplish circles sagged under my eyes, fed by lack of sleep and grief at the recent death of [...]

Hey, anyone laboring under the impression that Arrested Development was meticulously plotted down to the last chicken dance before the first episode ever aired:

We were fitting a wig for George, for a scene when he'd have hair, and I walked outside, and Mitch [Hurwitz] was way high up in the writers' room and looking down, and he saw me with the wig — it wasn't cut yet, so it came down past my shoulders — and he said, "Hold it right there!" And that's how Oscar was born. That's what was so great about the show, how stuff that happens on set could transform the show.

That's Jeffrey [...]

My sophomore year of college, my roommate and I started a tradition that we called “Arrested Development Quote of the Day,” which, per the self-explanatory title, consisted of one of us writing a different Arrested quote on our whiteboard every morning. We kept it up for eight months (give or take) without running out of quotes, and along the way we realized something: Arrested's one-liners are often quite funny out of context, but they're even better when you know the story behind them. For every out-of-context gem like “If you weren't all the way on the other side of the room, I'd slap your face,” there are ten quotes, [...]

Hola, bonjour, ciao, Shalom, merħba, hello (in a Canadian, British, Irish, Australian, or South African accent), if you understand any of those greetings, you probably won't be able to watch the new Arrested Development episodes on Netflix (also you might be Maltese. If so, where is Malta?) Netflix stated recently that, “the return of Arrested Development exclusively on Netflix will be in the U.S. only.” U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A. This probably means that Netflix only bought a domestic license for the show and some company from every other country will have to figure out how to bring it their people. This might mean more traditional distribution [...]

Will Arnett dropped by the Today Show earlier this week, wearing an arrestingly sharp white suit, to discuss Up All Night’s finale or something. Al “The Internet’s Spokemen” Roker smartly interrupted to ask the question we all wanted to hear answered: “What about Arrested Development? Is there going to be a movie?” To which Arnett responded, "We're about to start making the Arrested Development miniseries and then right into the movie this summer." There it is. I liked that he called it a mini-series, like AD was Mildred Pierce but with more callbacks and very cutoff jean shorts. Watch the clip above to hear the news directly from Gob’s mouth [...]

Steve Holt! (That was a Steve Holt! of despair.) Justin Grant Wade, the actor who played Steve Holt on Arrested Development, has not been asked to be in the show's return on Netflix or in theaters. Steve Holt! (That was a Steve Holt! of utter astonishment). Wade has launched a campaign to bring back the character, taking to Reddit tonight at 8. Steve Holt! (That's a Steve Holt! of admiration for his shamelessness and ingenuity). Stick in there, buddy. Steve Holt! (Rallying Steve Holt! of encouragement.)

Jeffrey Tambor stopped by Late Night last night to promote tomorrow night's premiere of Bent on NBC, and he dropped a couple of his catchphrases from roles past. "There's always money in the banana stand." "Hey now." Unfortunately his diminutively regal character on Yo Gabba Gabba didn't seem to have a catchphrase, but it is worth appreciating all the same. He's a singing king on a tiny pillow! That is a career role!