Hulu Joins Bidding War for Arrested Development

Arrested Development is one hot property: Showtime, Netflix, and Hulu are now in a bidding war over distribution rights to the upcoming new episodes. Showtime and Netflix were originally reported to be interested in the newly-announced "limited-run series," and Hulu has most recently jumped into the mix, New York's Vulture blog reports. Rivals Hulu and Netflix reportedly both see the value in Arrested Development—despite its low ratings—because of its extreme popularity online and on DVD after it was canceled.

Hulu, for example, has racked up a whopping 100 million streaming impressions from the series and related clips and outtakes since launching in 2008, according to a source. The heightened interest in the series makes it more likely to become a reality, so the bidding war is good news for Arrested Development fans. Despite the fact that the mini-series would be co-produced by 20th Century Fox, insiders say it won't end up on Fox or a sister network. (More Arrested Development stories.)