Taking full advantage of his new-found freedom at Netflix, Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz said today that some of this new block of episodes will be longer than a half-hour. In a conference call today alongside actors Jessica Walter and Jeffrey Tambor, Hurwitz admitted that he labored to get the first few episodes under the 30 minutes mark before Netflix execs said they didn’t care about episode length. The episode focused on Walter’s Lucille, for instance, will run about 35 minutes, though most will not be too far over the normal sitcom length.
Careful to not reveal too much too much about the new season, Hurwitz did confirm that all swearing in the show will continue to be bleeped, saying that the idea of the show being filtered by the narrator is a key part of its aesthetic. He also promised a bit of nudity from one of the main nine characters, though he didn’t reveal who. (It must be related to Tobias, right?) Hurwitz reiterated that while the episodes must be watched in order, and that he recommends taking breaks instead of watching them all at once. The new season will also be over-flowing with guest stars, including Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen as a 1982-version of Lucille and George.
