Arrested Development's long-awaited fourth season finally dropped on Netflix this bank holiday weekend. Scores of dedicated fans sacked off their sunbathing and fired up the online streaming service to binge on 15 new episodes marking the return of the Bluth family after an absence of seven years. But amidst the hype and hysteria, the countless interviews, press conferences and premieres, has the return of the cult sitcom achieved the seemingly impossible and lived up to its fans' lofty expectations?

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Sunday 26 May – aka Arrested Development day – kicked off with worldwide festivities to mark the show's raft of new material. Gavin & Stacey's Mathew Horne was quick to announce his intentions for Britain's rare spell of decent weather:

https://twitter.com/mfhorne/status/338637434290044930

Although not all fans were so lucky, with @jamiescott1201 busily venting her Arrested Development envy on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/jamiescott1201/status/338758154030575616

Meanwhile @Jerad_Rilian's holiday spirit was in full swing...

https://twitter.com/Jerad_Rilian/status/338639178944360450

However, his seemingly indefatigable excitement was soon dampened after viewing the first few instalments.

https://twitter.com/Jerad_Rilian/status/338770451574693888

Indeed, Jerad's opinion was shared by a number of tweeters whose initial anticipation failed to survive the early stages of their Netflix binging sessions. Doctor Who director Steve Hughes was one of many to communicate his disappointment with his followers:

https://twitter.com/moviegoblin/status/338770505765113856

@televisionary was in agreement with Steve's comments...

https://twitter.com/televisionary/status/338661567635795969

Peter Hoare was quick to lament the negative tweets that began to scatter across the Twittersphere.

https://twitter.com/PeterHoare/status/338687261916942337

However, he was soon swallowing his words after watching the first two episodes...

https://twitter.com/PeterHoare/status/338704965352689665

But it would be unfair to Arrested Development to claim that the negative reactions – an unavoidable consquence of a show so over-hyped – were representative of the response from its loyal fanbase. Indeed, the series creators need only have glanced through their news feed to enjoy the delight of many viewer, with Derren Brown one of many celebrities to weigh in with his endorsement of the new episodes...

https://twitter.com/DerrenBrown/status/338994103830339584

Meanwhile Saturday Night Live actress Jenny Slate painted an attractive picture of her overexcitement:

https://twitter.com/jennyslate25/status/338905429696462848

And in response to the support, the show's mastermind Mitch Hurwitz took to his own Twitter account to express his appreciation.

https://twitter.com/MitchHurwitz/status/338803378375254016

As did narrator Ron Howard, although he appears to have forgotten the existence of punctuation in the process...

https://twitter.com/RealRonHoward/status/338745774798151681

One of the bones many fans had to pick was the decision to focus each episode on a different character, with The Guardian's @JoshHalliday quick to point out the new format's stuttering rhythm.

https://twitter.com/JoshHalliday/status/339112671188238338

While Devin Faraci berated the rearrangement by equating it to one of YouTube's countless fan montages...

https://twitter.com/devincf/status/338721618908020736

Adding to the conflicted opinions was Russell Warfield who ended his Arrested binge with this tweet:

https://twitter.com/russellwarfield/status/339320293183082497

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Happy Arrested Development, one and all.

Authors

Susanna LazarusAssociate Editor, RadioTimes.com

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