Good news Selina Meyer fans — HBO’s excellent, biting political satire Veep has been renewed for a third season.  The show has had steady ratings thanks to a big lead-in from Game of Thrones (last year it was paired in a programming bloc with Girls), and the premium network is showing its support three episodes into the series’ second season by going ahead and electing Selina for another term (maybe the President will call?)

Veep, created by Armando Iannucci (In The Loop), stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the hapless Vice-President, along with Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Reid Scott, Matt Walsh and Sufe Bradshaw as her staff. Veep airs Sunday nights at 10 p.m.

The first clip from the new batch of Arrested Development episodes has landed online, and it appears that the relationship between Tony Hale’s Buster and Jessica Walter’s Lucille hasn’t changed a bit.  The clip provides a tiny hint as to what Lucille has been up to since the events of the season three finale, but mainly it just showcases the series’ wonderful sense of humor that’s been sorely missing from our lives for far too long.  Additionally, Netflix has released a new batch of character posters for the new episodes that features the entire cast along with some rather familiar taglines.

Hit the jump to check out the clip and posters, and if you missed the EW covers and new images from yesterday, click here.  Netflix will release all 15 new episodes of Arrested Development at once on May 26th.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her third Emmy in as many series for Veep and it’s not hard to see why. She’s more than just a funny lady here – though to be sure, you may not see anyone quite as funny on television today. Underneath her hapless vice president’s pratfalls and panic attacks, she conveys a strange and abiding sadness. This figure is smart and capable. She wants to make the world a better place. She possesses the tools to leave the government in a better place than she found it. But by the very nature of the system in which she’s trapped, all her assets come to naught. She can only flail about in a mad effort to protect her image and her standing, a process as hysterical as it is quietly troubling. Hit the jump for my full review.

I fully appreciate the irony of this sentence, but the fourth season of Arrested Development has paused production on the revived series’ new episodes. Though Netflix had originally ordered a ten-episode run for the comedy, creator Mitch Hurwitz ended up shooting additional footage and dreaming up enough material for more scenes and storylines. Deadline reports that Netflix agreed to expand the order to somewhere between 12 and 15 total episodes. Production has paused to allow Hurwitz to review the footage that’s already been shot and work the new arcs into the season. It will also take some time to wrangle the actors for the additional shoots, so plans are for production to start up again in late January. This should still allow time for the show’s debut in April, when Netflix plans to make all of the episodes available at once.

The first trailer for Bridesmaids director Paul Feig’s comedy The Heat has been released.  The film stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as an uptight FBI agent and a foul-mouthed Boston police officer, respectively, who must team up to take down a drug lord.  The “mismatched partners” buddy cop premise may seem a tad stale, but this trailer proves that the comedic talents of Bullock and McCarthy (not to mention Feige) are enough to turn the basic logline into a really fun ride.  The two appear to have some excellent chemistry, and it’s especially neat to see one Thomas F. Wilson (ie. Biff Tannen from Back to the Future) back on the big screen.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Demian Bichir, Tony Hale, Taran Killam, and Michael Rapaport.  The Heat opens on April 5, 2013.

Production is currently underway on a new batch of episodes of the brilliant comedy series Arrested Development, and while they won’t debut on Netflix until 2013, an official image of the reunited cast has landed online to assure fans that this is really, truly happening.  Entertainment Weekly gathered the actors together as part of their upcoming “Reunions” issue, and images of the whole cast decked out in some super fancy attire will have you yearning for those new episodes now more than ever.

Hit the jump to check out the images of Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, Jeffrey Tambor, Alia Shawkat, Michael Cera, Jessica Walter, Tony Hale, and David Cross all back together again.  The new episodes of Arrested Development will debut on Netflix sometime in Spring 2013.

When you drive around in stairs, you’re gonna get some walk-ons.  Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz is now giving fans the chance to literally win a walk-on role on the revived series with a new contest.  Netflix, which thankfully rescued the series and will be the home to its fourth season, is offering six walk-on opportunities to creative fans who submit their original Arrested Development-related artwork by October 16th! I think I just blue myself… Hit the jump for details on how you can enter the contest, along with a message from Hurwitz and star, Michael Cera.

It looks like the Bluth family is still going to need a lawyer, as Henry Winkler is set to return to Arrested Development in the revived series which will appear on Netflix.  The movie rental company went a long way to restore good will with the public when they picked up the cult favorite for what will be the fourth season with at least ten new episodes.  Perhaps they had some legal counsel from Barry Zuckerkorn (Winkler) on how best to handle their previous faux pas.  No word yet on if Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio) will lob any law bombs.  Hit the jump for a quote from Winkler on rejoining Arrested Development. 

Now that we know the Netflix-backed Arrested Development project is not just a trick (illusion, illusion!) but actually confirmed, there are finally a few answers to the question of what we can expect from it.  According to Ron Howard, who acts as the show’s narrator, the new season will include some new characters.

There’s been plenty of hype building up thanks to the show’s stars keeping fans on the hook with photos from the set, including Tobias (David Cross) in a sheet and George Michael (Michael Cera) on a segway.  And despite what Howard called a “hell of a hiatus,” he has also reassured fans that the show’s quality is still top-notch (as if those photos suggested anything otherwise). For more on what Howard said of the upcoming season, hit the jump.

The Arrested Development run of ten episodes that will air on Netflix is set to start filming tomorrow.  We’ve been counting the days until the moment and it is finally upon us!  Deadline reports that the entire original cast of Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Portia de Rossi, David Cross, Jessica Walter, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat and Tony Hale will be returning along with Ron Howard in his capacity as a narrator.  That’s one character per episode, which may factor into the idea that each episode will focus on one of the Bluths, likely with multiple characters in certain episodes. (Could we get an episode all about the narrator, maybe?)

Production is expected to continue into the fall.  Creator Mitch Hurwitz is open to an additional season if the first run proves successful.  Netflix has said they’ll release all ten episodes at the same time on an unspecified day in 2013.

For those who haven’t yet had the pleasure of enjoying In the Loop, a British comedy from Armando Iannucci, based on the series The Thick of It set in British government, finally the writer and director is bringing his comedic stylings to American politics. Julia Louis-Dreyfus continues her run as the second most successful cast member from Seinfeld to keep her career going strong with the HBO comedy series Veep. If Aaron Sorkin was a little more of a natural comedic writer, he would have written Veep instead of The West Wing. However, the political satire seems to be a bit less prevalent than the situational comedy, making it slightly less witty, but still very smart. Read my full take on the series premiere of Veep after the jump.

According to series writer and co-executive producer Dean Lorey, the entire original cast of the Emmy-winning series Arrested Development will be returning for the new episodes in 2013. While this should have gone without saying once it was reported that Netflix had picked up the exclusive broadcast rights, it’s nice to get some confirmation from the show-runners since information has been hard to come by. Lorey himself said that “even the schedule is being kept under wraps.” Reprising their roles from the first run will be Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Michael Cera, Tony Hale, Jeffrey Tambor, David Cross, Alia Shawkat and Jessica Walter, although there are still no formal deals in place.

On his blog, Lorey commented that he is penning a new season along with Mitch Hurwitz and Jim Vallely and will begin shooting in 2012. There is still no word as to the exact number of episodes, only that it was suggested to do a 9 or 10 episode season to bridge the old series to (hopefully) a feature film. Hit the jump for more.

Expensive suits.  Quasi-incestuous relationships. Carl Weathers.  Minor Treason.  It’s been nearly six years since the Bluth family brought good wholesome entertainment into America’s living rooms.  But finally, after years of fan demand and seemingly endless rumors, new episodes of Arrested Development are returning to television in 2013.  Provided, of course, that television has Netflix.

Like Family Guy and Futurama before, Twentieth Century Fox is bringing back the critically-acclaimed sitcom (Time Magazine called it one of the best TV shows of ALL-TIME)  for a brand new season in 2013.  But unlike its animated counterparts, fresh episodes of Arrested Development will be broadcast exclusively on Netflix.  We told you back in March that Netflix would host original content with Kevin Spacey’s House of Cards, and while Development isn’t technically a Netflix original, the new episodes are surely the rental service’s highest-profile project to date.   Hit the jump for more on AD’s return.

Earlier today, a tweet from The New Yorker, reporting straight from their own festival in New York, announced the unthinkable as Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz revealed during a cast reunion that the series would be back for another season, but that’s not all. This new season would lead directly into the long-gestating movie that has been talked about by each cast member, every other month, since the invention of television. Since that tweet, more details have surfaced from the festival from EW who reveals that Hurwitz intends to shoot 9 to 10 episodes, each focusing on on an individual character from the Bluth clan (which includes Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Portia DeRossi, David Cross, Will Arnett, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Tony Hale, and Alia Shawkat). Each episode will catch audiences up on what the characters have been doing for the past five years since the series’ cancellation in 2006. More details on the new season and the forthcoming movie after the jump.

[Update: The entire 100-minute reunion Arrested Development reunion panel is now available for your viewing pleasure after the jump; we've also added an interview with Ron Howard where he talks about how the new season will relate to the movie]

It turns out it’s possible to get the cast of Arrested Development to reunite, or at least reunite for one evening.  Gothamist [via The Playlist] reports that Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter will take the stage with Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz on October 2nd for a special panel.  I’m sure they’ll talk about free trade agreements, the philosophical merits of Kant and Heidegger, and other topics.  I doubt anyone will bring up the Arrested Development movie.  Who wants to hear about that?

In all seriousness, wouldn’t it be awesome if this is how they chose to announce that the film has a greenlight and firm start date?  It’s a bit of a long shot, but either way, you’d be crazy not to try and get into this event.  Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon.  Unfortunately, there’s no discount if you blue yourself.