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Jason Bateman ‘Embarrassed and Deeply Sorry’ for ‘Arrested Development’ Interview

Arrested Development.”

Tony Hale (Buster Bluth) also said he reached out personally to Jessica Walter to apologize for minimizing her pain in the cast’s recent New York Times interview.

Tambor, 73, and Walter, 77, play the Bluth parents on the Netflix series; Tambor previously admitted to — and apologized for — verbally abusing Walter in a particularly unpleasant “blowout.”

The New York Times brought it up again in a new interview with the cast promoting Season 5, in relation to the other allegations against Jeffrey Tambor that led to his “Transparent” firing.

It’s clear that the male cast members in attendance were very much interested in defending Jeffrey Tambor and minimizing what happened in the past. Jessica Walter said she was trying to get over her anger at Jeffrey Tambor so they could be friends again. However, it was obvious that what happened — at least to her — was not nothing.

The NY Times interviewer mentioned at one point that Jessica Walter was speaking through tears, recalling the worst someone had yelled at her in her 60-year career.

You could tell it frustrated her when the guys joked away and rationalized Tambor’s behavior, dominating the conversation and making it about themselves and their support for Tambor. Alia Shawkat (Maeby) is the only one who spoke up against verbal abuse, which was noted by readers. She, too, seemed to be ignored.

Walter made it clear that Tambor never sexually harassed her, but Tambor has admitted he can be “difficult,” and he acknowledged he went too far in his on-set anger with Walter.

Here’s New York Times writer Sopan Deb with the story, and reaction from readers, followed by Bateman’s apology:

In a striking exchange, Jessica Walter teared up, with Tambor sitting a few feet away: “Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize. I have to let it go.”

She turned to Tambor: “And I have to give you a chance to, you know, for us to be friends again.” pic.twitter.com/52smZ08aT7

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) May 23, 2018

Jessica Walter, through tears, on Jeffrey Tambor: “I have to let go of being angry at him. He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize. I have to let it go.” https://t.co/D2RgKvQ4WF

— Liam Stack (@liamstack) May 23, 2018

This is the Jessica Walter quote on Tambor that stuck with me. Both when it happened yesterday and today.

“In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set.”

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) May 23, 2018

Also striking: Jason Bateman, several times, said Tambor’s behavior on set was normal in show business.

Jessica Walter interjected: “You’ve never yelled at me like that.”

Again, with Tambor sitting right there. pic.twitter.com/LlLN22LVx2

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) May 23, 2018

I’ll also note this exchange:

TONY HALE: But I will say, to Jason’s point, we can be honest about the fact that — and not to build a thing — we’ve all had moments.

JESSICA WALTER: But not like that, not like that. That was bad.

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) May 23, 2018

JESSICA WALTER: I want you to say in the article, there’s so much testosterone in this room. pic.twitter.com/tIvxPX48nu

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) May 23, 2018

What strikes about this exchange is how many times Jessica Walter has to clarify and reiterate that no one has ever spoken to her as inexcusably as Jeffrey Tambor has, because the rest of the cast repeatedly interrupts her to downplay it. https://t.co/7eB3sEo0aE

— Kevin Fallon (@kpfallon) May 23, 2018

It is absolutely brutal to read this. Walter clearly was unloading something important to her, and the dudes were just drowning her out. https://t.co/xdlRdFlQB7

— The Un-Co-Optable (@TJHawke411) May 23, 2018

Great interview. I learned two things about a show I love.

1) What a tough, mature, graceful person Jessica Walter is.

2) All the men, esp Jason Bateman, are shockingly dismissive of Walter’s awful treatment by Jeffrey Tambor. Way to mansplain her situation, guys. https://t.co/MVUswlBMVm

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) May 23, 2018

the most relatable part about this interview is that part where jessica walter says she has to “let go” at being angry at Tambor for his verbal abuse, which is a position women constantly find themselves in to move forward with their lives and career: https://t.co/PI1CoNM3RO

— Ann-Marie Alcántara (@itstheannmarie) May 23, 2018

Alia Shawkat only speaks twice in this transcript, for reasons that are perhaps explained by one of her comments. https://t.co/SOX8YtRRtR pic.twitter.com/OcHGaIuis0

— ryan teague beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 23, 2018

It just drives me up the wall to see Jason Bateman and David Cross trip over themselves to defend Jeffrey Tambor over an incident that they weren’t the target of, when Jessica Walter is sitting right there

— Ostrich (@flickeringICE) May 23, 2018

Here’s the part of that @nytimes #ArrestedDevelopment interview in which Jason Bateman, Tony Hale, and David Cross try to normalize Tambor’s behavior while Jessica Walter sits there crying, telling them it was anything but normal. It’s heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/Q79ltkivqU

— Rex Trillerson (@fuelbot) May 23, 2018

Since Jason Bateman was the one doing the most to elevate Tambor at Walter’s expense, he was the first to apologize:

Based on listening to the NYT interview and hearing people’s thoughts online, I realize that I was wrong here.
I sound like I’m condoning yelling at work. I do not.
It sounds like I’m excusing Jeffery. I do not.
It sounds like I’m insensitive to Jessica. I am not.
In fact, I’m-

— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 24, 2018

– horrified that I wasn’t more aware of how this incident affected her.
I was so eager to let Jeffrey know that he was supported in his attempt to learn, grow and apologize that I completely underestimated the feelings of the victim, another person I deeply love – and she was..

— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 24, 2018

… sitting right there!
I’m incredibly embarrassed and deeply sorry to have done that to Jessica. This is a big learning moment for me.
I shouldn’t have tried so hard to mansplain, or fix a fight, or make everything okay.
I should’ve focused more on what the most important…

— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 24, 2018

…part of it all is – there’s never any excuse for abuse, in any form, from any gender. And, the victim’s voice needs to be heard and respected.
Period.

I didn’t say that and instead said a bunch of other stuff and not very well.
I deeply, and sincerely, apologize.

— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 24, 2018

Tony Hale tweeted that he apologized directly to Jessica Walter:

I have reached out to Jessica personally to apologize. Arrested Development is one of my families. Regardless of my intentions, it is clear that my words, both said and unsaid, served to minimize Jessica’s pain and for that I am extremely sorry.

— Tony Hale (@MrTonyHale) May 24, 2018

“Arrested Development” Season 5 drops its first batch of episodes this coming Tuesday, May 29 on Netflix.

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May 24, 2018
Netflix Dividing ‘Arrested Development’ Season 5 in Two Parts

The Bluths are splitting up. Netflix is dividing “Arrested Development” Season 5 into two halves.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the first eight episodes will drop on May 29 as previously planned. But now, the last eight episodes will debut sometime later this year.

Netflix has done this before with other shows; the upcoming season of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is also split, with the first half dropping on May 30.

The split is a bummer for fans, who’ve waited a long time for Season 5 and will now have to wait for those last eight episodes.

The streaming service is likely doing this to rake in as many Emmy nominations as possible. The first halves of “Arrested Development” and “Kimmy Schmidt” will make it just in time for Emmy consideration for this television year. Presumably, the back halves will vie for consideration next year.

“Arrested Development” creator Mitch Hurwitz recently “remixed” Season 4 of the show (which originally streamed in 2013). It was chronological telling of the season, which had focused each episode on one family member.

May 16, 2018
‘Arrested Development’ Stars Want a Cut of the Money From Recut Season 4: Report

Tip: There’s always money in the banana stand.

“Arrested Development” has been all over our timelines in the past week, which is such a welcome distraction from the rest of the world. Netflix just revealed yesterday that Season 5 will be streaming May 29. Last Friday, they started streaming a recut version of Season 4, called “Arrested Development: Fateful Consequences.”

One of the consequences of that choice was to start a bit of a pay dispute: The cast wants a cut of the recut.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Arrested” creator Mitch Hurwitz and producer 20th Century Fox Television re-edited the 15 episodes of Season 4 to a full 22 episodes. One reason was to try and land a lucrative syndication deal for the show. The 22, 22-minute episodes are “more in line with its original Fox run and more suitable to be sold in bulk.” THR’s sources said Hurwitz added a few minutes of unaired content to this recut version that were not in Netflix’s original 30-minute-plus Season 4 episodes.

Most of the stars (including Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Alia Shawkat and Tony Hale) were reportedly paid $100,000 each for their Season 4 stand-alone episodes, $50,000 for each installment where they had a little screen time, and another $25,000 for ones where they barely appeared.

It’s not bad money, but if the show and Hurwitz are making more from this new recut deal, the stars’ reps want the actors to get a cut.

So the actors’ reps are asking for added compensation to correspond with the additional episodes. Apparently 20th Century Fox Television has said no. Here are the two arguments, via THR:

Fox argues that it has the right to re-edit the existing episodes that have already aired however it chooses without paying the actors more. The cast position is that the additional episode count effectively reduces the pay-per-episode that was negotiated, especially since the studio stands poised for a financial windfall thanks to a possible syndication pact.

It’s an interesting peek behind-the-curtain to see how these deals are made.

If you’re interested in going deeper on the personal side, THR has a separate story with Jeffrey Tambor, who plays both George and Oscar Bluth. He talks about his behavior on the set of Amazon’s “Transparent,” but also briefly discusses “Arrested Development.” Apparently he once had a “blowup” with actress Jessica Walter (Lucille Bluth) for which he later “profusely apologized.”

“Arrested Development” Season 4 is streaming on Netflix. Season 5 arrives May 29.

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May 8, 2018
‘Arrested Development’ Reveals Season 5 Premiere Date, Official Trailer, and Photos

“Arrested Development” fans only have to wait a few weeks to break out their Never Nude cutoffs and taste the happy!

Netflix just dropped a remixed version of Season 4 on Friday, and on Monday they released the Season 5 trailer and premiere date.

Season 5 will arrive on May 29. Yes, that’s a Tuesday — and it’s the day after Memorial Day, which is kind of a shame, since “Arrested” is the perfect series to binge over a holiday weekend.

Check out the trailer:Entertainment Weekly shared some first-look photos, showing Lindsay Bluth (Portia de Rossi) running for Congress — Her? — and the Bluths giving themselves an award for Family of the Year. Gotta agree with George Michael (Michael Cera) that it still doesn’t seem like they’d get the votes.

Nothing about the Lucille 2 mystery. Keeping that under wraps, it seems.

“Arrested Development” originally aired for three seasons on FOX from 2003-2006. Netflix revived it for Season 4 in 2013. Five years later, we’re finally seeing what happened next.

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May 7, 2018
Ron Howard Narrating ‘Star Wars’ Like ‘Arrested Development’ Is the Mashup You’ve Been Looking For

The Disney family has expanded in recent years to include several key members of the team behind beloved comedy “Arrested Development,” with directors Joe and Anthony Russo helming a little movie called “Avengers: Infinity War,” and producer Ron Howard taking over the director’s chair for upcoming spinoff flick “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” It was the latter collaboration that inspired a new mashup featuring Howard’s narrator character from “Arrested” taking a crack at summing up “Star Wars: A New Hope,” and the results may make you want to do a gleeful chicken dance.

In a bit for The Star Wars Show, Howard put his spin on “the story of a family that wants to rule the galaxy, and the one son who had no choice but to save it.” It’s kind of amazing how many parallels run between the two properties, including the awkward bit about a guy being in love with one of his relatives.

Howard’s deadpan editorializing works especially well here (Princess Leia, in reference to the Death Star plans she gave to R2-D2: I don’t know what you’re talking about. Howard: She actually did.), as do his winking comments weaving in well-known quotes from both “Arrested” and the entire “Star Wars” saga. Plus, the Mr. F music cue when Boba Fett appears onscreen is just plain genius.

The best bit just might be from the “On the next ‘Star Wars,’” tag, though. That’s why you always leave a note, folks.

We’re going to keep our fingers crossed that Howard actually does make that next episode (and just finishes out the entire series while he’s at it). In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for any “AD” Easter eggs that may make their way into “Solo.” That flicks opens on May 25, while a remixed version of “Arrested Development” season four is hitting Netflix in time for Cinco de Cuatro.

May 3, 2018
A ‘Remix’ Version of ‘Arrested Development’ Season 4 Is Hitting Netflix on Cinco de Cuatro

It’s no secret that season four of cult comedy “Arrested Development” was a bit divisive, both literally and figuratively, with the main cast separated for most of its duration. Now, creator Mitch Hurwitz has rectified that situation by recutting the entire season into chronological order — and fans will be able to see it within a matter of days.

Hurwitz announced his ambitious plan via the official “Arrested Development” Twitter page on Tuesday, revealing two exciting updates about new “Arrested” content: First, that the long-awaited fifth season of the series will be making its debut “real soon” (Hurwitz declined to be more specific than that). And second, that this updated version of season four would be available to stream on Netflix on a fake holiday celebrated by the Bluths: Cinco de Cuatro, a.k.a. this coming Friday, May 4.

On the next… Arrested Development pic.twitter.com/NjP26k9KE7

— Arrested Development (@arresteddev) May 1, 2018

According to Hurwitz, the decision to recut the episodes stemmed from trying to mine a different kind of comedy from a different kind of storytelling structure (and perhaps also offering an olive branch to fans who were turned off by the languid pace and scattered structure of the original season four). Here’s how the creator explained his thought process:

The original season 4 of Arrested Development on Netflix, as some of you know, experimented with a Rashoman-style of storytelling – with each episode dedicated to the adventure of one member of the Bluth family.

The goal was that by the end of the season, a unified story of cause and effect would emerge for the viewer – full of surprises about how the Bluths were responsible for most of the misery they had endured.

… But in between season 4 and this upcoming season 5 I had time to take that Rashoman-type story and recut it – shuffling the content from 15 individualized episodes into 22 interwoven stories the length of the original series ….

[It was] a comedic experiment to see if new jokes and a new perspective would emerge from a remix that features all the Bluths in every episode, and where the simultaneity of the story plays out chronologically. And I’m really excited about the final result. It’s funny in a whole new way, and I believe it creates a really entertaining and hilarious new experience.

Hurwitz has actually been talking about recutting the series since at least 2014, so we’re happy to see him finally follow through on his plan to tinker with the timeline. We, along with Tobias, just blue ourselves.

“Arrested Development Season 4 Remix: Fateful Consequences” will be available on Netflix on Friday.

[via: Arrested Development/Twitter]

May 1, 2018
Ron Howard Returns to the ‘Arrested Development’ Recording Booth in New Photo

Taste the happy!

There’s always money in the “Arrested Development” banana stand, but it has lived up to its title in the past few years. We have been waiting and waiting for Season 5 to show up … and it’s finally getting close. Alia Shawkat (Maeby Funke) said Season 5 had wrapped production toward the end of 2017, with Netflix meant to release the episodes at some point in 2018.

Now narrator Ron Howard is finally hitting the recording booth to tell us the story:

warming up the vocal chords for all new … “on the next…@arresteddev “. It’s kinda hard to record narration when you can’t stop laughing. pic.twitter.com/Q1OVcOzjnO

— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) March 22, 2018

But then he retweeted this:

pic.twitter.com/zSImFZtm31

— C. Dunning Ph.D., D.D. (@Cdbrow1) March 22, 2018

Bro, you’d better not be lying.

“Arrested Development” originally aired on Fox from 2003 to 2006. Netflix picked it up for a fourth season in 2013. The wait for that season was also long, and the result was mixed, mostly because of the fractured structure and limited use of OG characters. The stars have just gotten too popular!

Jason Bateman did promise that the whole cast will be together in Season 5, which will include “a bit of whodunit” when it comes to the death of Liza Minnelli’s Lucille 2.

Hopefully, Netflix will release a Season 5 trailer and release date very soon. In the meantime, binge-watch yourself up to date on the big mystery.

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March 22, 2018
Alia Shawkat Says ‘Arrested Development’ Season 5 Is Done, Will Still Feature the Border Wall

After years of waiting, “Arrested Development” fans can now taste the happy: The long-gestating fifth season of the series has officially wrapped production. And while there’s still no release date yet, star Alia Shawkat did offer a few details about what viewers can expect when the show finally returns.

Shawkat stopped by “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Wednesday night, and revealed that she and the rest of the cast had “just finished” filming the new batch of episodes. But the actress played it coy when it came to the premiere of season five, simply telling Colbert that fans could expect to see it “somewhere in the future.”

What Shawkat could say, however, was that season four’s oddly prescient storyline about a Republican candidate’s quest to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico would continue in season five. And yes, a certain president’s election will be reflected in the new episodes.

“I know that some reworking in the writing had to happen after he was elected, because it was kind of shocking for a lot of people,” Shawkat told Colbert.

As for the show’s unlikely role as fortune teller, the actress called the coincidence “terrifying,” and mused that the current administration may yet take some inspiration from other oddball “Arrested” storylines.

“I guess, like, incest and selling bananas will be the next thing that comes out of the White House,” Shawkat joked.

Stay tuned for more intel about “Arrested Development” season five as it becomes available.

November 16, 2017
Buster and Lucille Reunite in ‘Arrested Development’ Season 5 Set Photo

After years of promises that a fifth season of revived sitcom “Arrested Development” was on its way, production has finally started on the next installment of the Netflix series. And now, we have our very first Bluth family reunion photo, featuring the dysfunctional duo of Buster and Lucille.

Actor Tony Hale, who plays the youngest Bluth brother, tweeted out a snap featuring himself all smiles alongside Jessica Walter, a.k.a. the acerbic family matriarch Lucille. Hale captioned the selfie, “Mother and me.”

Mother and me. #AD5 pic.twitter.com/ANwe4M5IBB

— Tony Hale (@MrTonyHale) September 5, 2017

Insert an excited Lucille scream here.

This photo confirms that the core “Arrested” cast is indeed working together more, after the uneven fourth season featured fractured, standalone storylines for most of the characters (something the actors insisted was necessitated by their insanely busy schedules). Thankfully, it sounds like that’s a problem that’s been (mostly) resolved this season, and we can’t wait to see even more on-set reunions in the days and weeks to come.

“Arrested Development” will be back for its 15-episode fifth season sometime in 2018.

[via: Tony Hale/Twitter, h/t Entertainment Weekly]

September 5, 2017
Jason Bateman Teases ‘Arrested Development’ Season 5 With New Photo

The Bluths are back in town — well, almost.

With “Arrested Development” Season 5 soon to begin filming, star Jason Bateman gave fans the first look at the set. On Sunday, he tweeted a photo of the Bluth apartment, teasing, “Here comes trouble.” He also indicated that his fictional family will “move back in” on Aug. 8.

Here comes trouble. The Bluths move back in on the 8th. pic.twitter.com/0PF7ZqkmWM

— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) July 30, 2017

Bateman previously revealed in a Deadline interview from early July that “Arrested Development” Season 5 would begin shooting in the first week August, so the information isn’t new, yet seeing the photo makes it more real; it offers proof that he and his longtime cast mates are ready to resume their characters’ hilariously dysfunctional lives in a second season for Netflix. You know what that means: more insane antics to entertain us.

Although the wait between Season 4, which premiered in 2013, and the upcoming one is better than the seven-year absence fans had to deal with after the show was canceled by Fox in 2006, we’re more than ready to reunite with the Bluths.

“Arrested Development” Season 5 is set to premiere on Netflix in 2018.

[via: Jason Bateman/Twitter]

July 31, 2017