Good News, 'Arrested Development' Fans!

If there's one thing I've learned about comedians and writers, their favorite way to make big announcements is on podcasts. Yet another example to prove the rule: Brian Grazer appeared on The Adam Carolla Show on Tuesday to confirm that, yes, development on Season 5 of Arrested Development is no longer arrested. "Netflix is determined to do more episodes, so we're going to do more episodes," Grazer said. Apparently Grazer said "he spoke with Fox Studios on Monday, and everyone is on board." That's right — even G.O.B., unless there are bees. Production will start up in January 2016, with new Arrested Development episodes slated to make their way onto on Netflix as soon as summer of 2016.

While this is obviously great news — more Arrested Development, yay! — as a fan, I can't with good conscience move on without pointing out: A whole year away?! COME ON!

Luckily, most Arrested Development fans are well-versed in the art of the Long Wait — in the past, it's even been with no certain promise of more episodes at the end, so this is already an improvement — and a year's time is nothing compared to the unlucky seven that came between the end of Season 3 and the fourth season on Netflix. In many ways, we fans are actually lucky to have had that gap, because it allowed for fans to deeply scavenge every episode and really dig deep to look at the intricacies of every episode — so, here are some ways to distract yourself 'til the new episodes next year:

1. Marathon The Seasons

All 68 episodes are available for your viewing pleasure right now, so why not marathon (or re-marathon!) the whole series to see what you may have missed during initial viewings?

2. Learn Your Jokes

Arrested Development is a rare exception to the rule that says a joke is no longer funny if you have to have it explained to you. At Recurring Developments, you can follow the origin and recurrence of every single joke, including "Her?" "no touching," and the stair-car.

3. There's Always Money In The Banana Stand

Blow off some steam Lindsay Bluth style, and drop a little cash on some memorabilia. There's dozens of sites — like Etsy! — with great offers, especially by independent artists. I personally have more than one Tobias-themed token saved in my Etsy favorites, and there's plenty for everyone, no matter who your favorites are.

4. Mash It Up

I think my sense of humor is owed, like, 70% to the Internet at large, and 30% to quotes from Arrested Development. And, since the story of a family who's lost everything is universal, Arrested Development quotes superimposed on screenshots from just about any great television show a joke that never gets old. Best of the best: Mad Development, Breaking Development, and Arrested Westeros.

5. Go Elsewhere

If, for some unspeakable reason, you get bored of re-watching the seasons, you can always outsource for entertainment. The cast of Arrested Development all have long, historied careers (I mean, they would have to; you can't just sit around for seven years for your show to come back), so there's tons of stuff to choose from. And that classic AD humor spills over, even into the animated world. Try Archer, which is basically Arrested Development in cartoon form with secret agents (it even uses a ton of the same actors, like Jessica Walter and Judy Greer!) Or Bojack Horseman, another Netflix original, featuring Will Arnett voicing a washed-up, drunk, depressed Hollywood star...that is also a horse.

6. It's Vodka — It Goes Bad Once It's Opened

You can always make things a little more Lucille Bluth-approved fun by playing drinking games while you watch (given you're of legal drinking age, of course). BuzzFeed has this pretty definitive one, so get your juice ready, 'cause this party's gonna be off the hook.

Images: Netflix, Recurring Developments, Kate's Little Store/Etsy, cactuseeds/Tumblr, maddevelopment/Tumblr, archeronfx/Tumblr, tenpointstogifindor/Tumblr.