There are always fans in the banana stand: Netflix promotes upcoming ‘Arrested Development’ season
Hundreds of people flocked to downtown Burbank Thursday afternoon to get their fill of everything Bluth.
Netflix launched a campaign earlier this month to promote the upcoming fifth season of its sitcom “Arrested Development” by organizing pop-up events at major cities where fans can grab free gear based on the show.
In the show’s upcoming season, which will be available on Netflix starting May 29, the Bluth family is vying for a Family of the Year award, and on the promotional campaign trail fans were given pins that read “Vote Bluth” and orange hats that say “Make America Bluth Again.”
Burbank was one of the latest stops on the tour and fans came out of the woodwork to get a chance at getting a photo of themselves atop the famed stair car. The line stretched down the Palm Avenue alley and had fans waiting almost as far back as First Street.
In addition to the stair car, fans were able to get their photos taken while standing inside the Bluth’s frozen banana stand. There were also two actors dressed in nothing but tight cut-off jean shorts to resemble the “never nude” characters in the series.
“Arrested Development,” a sitcom based on a fictional formerly wealthy and dysfunctional family from Newport Beach, first aired in November 2003 on Fox and ran for three seasons until it was cancelled. The show was then revived by Netflix, which debuted a fourth season on its video-streaming service in 2013.
Those in attendance Thursday at the Burbank pop-up were also treated with a free cup of a Bluth banana sundae from Ben & Jerry’s served up by actor Tony Hale, who plays Buster Bluth in the series.
Eager fans came into the ice cream shop and snapped selfies with Hale, who posed with a prosthetic hand that held an ice cream scoop at its end.
Although he could not reveal much about the upcoming season, Hale said fans will get to learn what happens to Buster’s girlfriend Lucille Austero, played by Liza Minnelli, and see his sister Lindsay, played by Portia de Rossi, run for public office.
“This season is so crazy and so funny,” he said. “Each season gets crazier and crazier. The bar keeps getting raised.”
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
