Netflix Losing All Seasons of ‘Arrested Development’ in March; Where Will They Go Next?

Say goodbye to these episodes, Netflix! The world’s largest streaming service has informed customers that “Arrested Development” is leaving the platform. The series about a wealthy family who loses everything and the one son who has no choice but to keep them all together is leaving Netflix on March 15, as first reported by What's on Netflix.

No new destination for the show has officially been announced, but the most likely outcome is for the entire series to arrive on Hulu in the near future. The Disney-owned service already streams Seasons 1-3 of the show on-demand and holds the international streaming rights to Seasons 4 and 5.

The loss of “Arrested Development” by Netflix may come as a surprise to fans of the series, particularly because Seasons 4 and 5 were Netflix Original productions. However, FOX still holds the overall distribution rights to the series, which means that Netflix would have to license the show again to continue streaming it.

Either the streaming giant was no longer interested in doing so, or this move is part of the recent multi-year deal announced between FOX and Hulu to keep the network’s content on the streamer for the foreseeable future. Critics and audiences alike were not shy in registering their disapproval of the final two seasons of “Arrested Development” on Netflix, which many felt failed to recapture the magic of the first three FOX installments in the franchise.

Netflix does not lose its original series often, but it can happen when the streaming platform collaborates with another studio to produce content. The collaborating partner often retains distribution rights to the project, as happened with another Netflix original series “Hemlock Grove.”

The close association between Hulu and FOX has led some to think that the media outlet might be one of the first in line to buy the streaming service if it came up for sale. Disney confirmed last week that it is open to selling off its majority stake in Hulu, and since FOX owned 33% of the platform up until 2019, the reunion of the two companies would be a natural fit.

Netflix subscribers who aren’t interested in a Hulu account will need to act fast, as all episodes of the Bluth family comedy are leaving the world’s largest streamer on March 15. But Hulu knows there’s always money in the banana stand, even if Netflix doesn’t, and Seasons 4 and 5 of the series could appear there very soon.