Inspired by Trump, Netflix revives Bluths for new 'Arrested Development'

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[May 18, 2017]   LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The riches-to-rags saga of the fictional Bluth family and their struggling real estate business will return for a fifth season in hit comedy "Arrested Development," Netflix said Wednesday, inspired in part by U.S. President Donald Trump.

In a statement from Netflix, series creator Mitchell Hurwitz quipped "that stories about a narcissistic, erratically behaving family in the building business - and their desperate abuses of power - are really underrepresented on TV these days.”

He added, "I am so grateful to them ... for making this dream of mine come true in bringing the Bluths, George Sr., Lucille and the kids; Michael, Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric, George-Michael, and who am I forgetting, oh Tiffany. Did I say Tiffany? — back to the glorious stream of life.”

Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric and Tiffany are the names of four of Trump's children, and are not names of "Arrested Development" characters from the previous four seasons.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump currently run their father's real estate business.

The show's leading cast - Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, David Cross, Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat - will all reprise their roles as the Bluth family.

No details were given on the plot of the new season or when it would air next year.

"Arrested Development" originally aired for three seasons on the Fox network from 2003 to 2006. It follows the riches-to-rags saga of the Bluth family after patriarch George Sr. is jailed for fraud. Netflix rebooted the show for a fourth season in 2013, its first foray into creating original comedies.

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Walter, who plays manipulative matriarch Lucille, compared the Bluths to the Trump family in a March interview with The Daily Beast, saying: "They're both real estate moguls, tycoons, and businesspeople."

"But the Bluths were really smart — well, smarter than the Trumps. Although that's just my opinion… except for poor Gob!," she added, referring to Arnett's character Gob Bluth.

Season 4 saw George and Lucille Bluth's unsuccessful plan to profit from a government contract to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, to "keep Mexicans out of America."

During his presidential campaign, Trump said he expected Mexico to pay for a wall on the border, projected to cost more than $20 billion, to curb illegal immigration.

Mexico has rejected payment for the construction project as out of the question.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

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