Come On! The Fifth Season of "Arrested Development" Won’t Debut on Netflix in Australia

Today, Netflix released the trailer for the fifth season of Arrested Development, and there was much rejoicing.

The clip shows the reunited Bluth family up to their old, terrible shenanigans, and ends with Netflix proudly trumpeting the premiere date: 29 May.

We were all so happy.

Unfortunately, Australians won’t get to enjoy the exploits of Michael, GOB, Maebe, Tobias, Buster and the rest on 29 May, as Netflix does not hold the "first-run" rights to Arrested Development Down Under.

That means another network has the privilege of airing Arrested Development’s new episodes in Australia before anyone else—and in this case, that means before even the streaming service that resurrected the show for its long-delayed fourth season, all the way back in 2013.

A Netflix spokesperson confirmed to Student Edge the show would "not be available on Netflix on May 29" in Australia, but declined to say when or where the new season could be accessed.

Foxtel showed the fourth season of Arrested Development on the Comedy Channel back in 2013. However, this was before Netflix was officially available in Australia. When Netflix finally arrived on our shores, it came with all four seasons of AD.

We’ve reached out to Foxtel to ask if they still hold the "first-run" rights to AD, and will update this article accordingly (probably with the voice of Ron Howard's narrator, saying, as a sardonic aside, "they do" or "they don't").

Update (23/05): They do. Foxtel will air the fifth season of Arrested Development on 30 May.

In the meantime, we invite you to perform a solemn chicken dance in reaction to this news. Or, you can soothe yourself with the recently remixed Season Four. You don’t really have many other options.

If you don't live in Australia, you can enjoy Arrested Development Season Five on Netflix from 29 May.

Photo: Netflix