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Green screens were necessary to film 'half' of new 'Arrested Development' season

Green screens were necessary to film 'half' of new 'Arrested Development' season

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Arrested Development screenshot
Arrested Development screenshot

We've already been told a fifth season of Arrested Development on Netflix is unlikely due to scheduling issues with the show's busy ensemble. But it turns out show creator Mitch Hurwitz barely managed to get everyone together for season four — set to debut on the streaming service this weekend. In fact, he often couldn't.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Hurwitz admitted that not only were episodes and scenes shot out of order to accomodate cast members, but also revealed "half of the stuff is on green screen." He cites one example to illustrate the challenges show runners faced: an on-screen conversation between Michael (Jason Bateman) and Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) required the actors to film their lines four months apart. "This is, to me, one of the craziest things of this," Hurwitz said. The entire cast did manage to assemble for two days of shooting, however.

Despite the production difficulties, Hurwitz remains extraordinarily proud of what the Arrested Development family managed to pull together for Netflix's audience. We can only hope fans won't notice any glaring signs of green screens or other tricks that proved necessary to accomplish Hurwitz's ultimate vision. And that long-rumored Arrested Development movie isn't out of the picture entirely. "This is definitely the first part of a bigger story," Hurwitz said of the show's revival on Netflix.