‘Arrested Development’ Leaves Netflix Today; How to Watch Comedy Series Now
Now, the story of a wealthy family who lost their streaming home, and which platform will see an opportunity to keep its episodes together.
That’s right, after spending more than 10 years on the world’s largest streaming service, “Arrested Development” is moving to a new home (hopefully, not a model). Netflix may have produced the fourth and fifth seasons of the show, but that doesn’t mean they’re staying behind while Seasons 1-3 move on.
Fox still owns the overall distribution rights to the series, which means Netflix does not have any control over the episodes it produced once its licensing deal with the network ends. So where will you be able to stream Seasons 4 and 5 of the series, now that they’re gone from Netflix?
Sadly, nowhere as of now. There has been no word of new licensing deals between Fox, Netflix, or any other streamer to show episodes of the last two seasons of the series. The episodes could end up just about anywhere, but there is one destination that makes much more sense than any other to give the show a hand.
That destination is Hulu. The majority Disney-owned general entertainment service already houses the first three seasons of the show, in an arrangement that saw it splitting the streaming rights with Netflix to those episodes until today. Seasons 1-3 of “Arrested Development” continue to be available on Hulu, and there’s been no indication from the service or from Fox that they’ll be leaving anytime soon.
If the last two seasons of “Arrested Development” do show up on Hulu in the near future, it will intensify speculation that Fox is interested in purchasing a majority stake in the company. Fox recently agreed to a multiyear renewal of its deal with Hulu that sends primetime FOX shows to stream on that platform next-day.
“Arrested Development” would not be the only Fox property to leave Netflix for Hulu if the show’s final two seasons do stream there. Earlier in March, it was announced that episodes of “New Girl,” which originally aired on FOX, were leaving Netflix to be shared by both Hulu and Peacock.
That could serve as yet another hint that Seasons 4 and 5 of “Arrested Development” are Hulu-bound. Until official confirmation (or refutation) of that hypothesis is available, fans of the show will want to ensure they’ve got a Hulu subscription to watch the first three seasons while they wait.
Hulu
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