“Arrested Development” was canceled in 2006 after only three seasons on the air, something that the series’ devoted fans have loudly bemoaned approximately every day since then. But after five years of complaining and wondering if the long-discussed “AD” movie would ever happen, the clouds have parted to give us this ray of sunshine: the entire cast will reunite next summer to film a 10-episode season AND a movie. Series creator Mitch Hurwitz announced the news at this weekend’s New Yorker festival, and stars Jason Bateman and Will Arnett confirmed the plans on Twitter.

Short version for you ADD types: 20th Century Fox TV will produce the episodes, with Netflix and Showtime emerging as the early frontrunners to air the miniseries, which would serve as a sort of catch-up/primer for the movie. The long version:

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Ordinarily I wouldn’t have anything to say about the New Yorker, because I’m not particularly interested in reading 12,000-word articles about opera in China. But this year’s New Yorker Festival has something noteworthy: a reunion of the cast of “Arrested Development.”

On Sunday, October 2nd, Nancy Franklin will moderate an exclusive “Bluth family reunion” panel, featuring the creator of “Arrested Development,” Mitchell Hurwitz, and the cast: Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter. [New Yorker via Gothamist]

Tickets sold out for the panel almost immediately, as there are countless fans of the show who plan to go solely for the Q&A portion of the panel, which is going to sound exactly like this: “What’s the status of the Arrested Development movie?” “Is the script done for Arrested Development movie?” “When could you start filming the Arrested Development movie?” And “Excuse me, do these effectively hide my thunder?”

Up All Night (NBC) — Series premiere. Will Arnett and Christina Applegate star as a hip married couple who struggle to maintain their hip lifestyle as new parents; Maya Rudolph co-stars as Applegate’s boss, a self-involved Oprah-like talk show host. NBC is trying to give this a viewing bump by placing it after the season finale of “America’s Got Talent” (Nick Cannon, unfortunately, is in both shows); next week, the show moves to its new home on Wednesday nights. Watch an extended preview below.

Free Agents (NBC) — Series premiere. Read my review here. This will be paired with “Up All Night” on Wednesdays, and it will be interesting to see if either survives on a night where NBC has had no comedy foothold for years. Both shows have received reviews that can be called “cautiously optimistic” — there’s a lot of comedic talent in each, but neither pilot was a true home run (not that that’s common for comedy pilots). Let CANCELLATION WATCH 2012 begin!

Survivor/Big Brother (CBS) — Season premiere/season finale. The beginning of Season 23 of CBS’s stalwart reality franchise leads into the finale of Season 13 of CBS’s stalwart reality franchise.

Necessary Roughness (USA) — Season finale. I really hope this gets renewed, not because I like the show (I’ve never seen it), but because Callie Thorne is great and deserves to play a character who’s more than just a buzzkill love interest (see: “The Wire,” “Californication,” “Rescue Me”). It’s the least she deserves after being so cool about getting naked on other shows.

America’s Next Top Model (CW) — Season premiere. Fourteen contestants from previous editions compete in this “all-star” cycle, for lack of a better word. Man, I’d be super excited about this if I were gay.

H8R (CW) — Series premiere. Celebrities — I use the term loosely — like Kim Kardashian and Snooki confront their online critics. Hosted by Mario Lopez. Ugh.

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When your new TV show hasn’t even aired yet and the network is already retooling it, the theme song might as well be a 20-second death rattle. With that, NBC has made some casting and plot changes to the upcoming sitcom, Up All Night, which stars Will Arnett and Christina Applegate as new parents coping with the changes to their fast-paced lives.

Originally, Applegate was going to work for Maya Rudolph’s PR agency, but now she’ll play the producer of Rudolph’s (presumably) Oprah-like talk show. And Nick Cannon is being added to the show, because why wouldn’t he?

Applegate now plays a TV producer, while Rudolph plays a talk-show host, and Cannon plays her more energetic, more beloved sidekick. Jennifer Hall (who will always be the perky one from Unscripted) is also joining the show as Rudolph’s insecure assistant. Fear not, fans of America’s Got Talent: This new gig will not affect Cannon’s hosting duties there. [THANK. GOD. - Ed.] (Via Vulture)

On one hand, there’s faith to be had in a Lorne Michaels-produced show starring Arnett, Applegate, and Rudolph. On the other hand – Nick Cannon. He’s like the male Katie Holmes, but at least Tom Cruise only lets her out once a year. Mr. Mariah Carey just won’t go away. It’s bad enough that he’s torturing New York Mets fans this Friday with free hugs, but now Kabletown’s NBC’s synergy is wedging him into everything, when all I want to see him on is To Catch a Predator.

Following Ricky Gervais’s cameo on “The Office” earlier this season, the star of the original British series will return for another guest stint on the American version’s Season 7 finale, joining Will Arnett for what promises to be a star-laden send-off for Steve Carell.

What will [Gervais and Arnett] be doing? Can’t say. The episode is still being written. We can tell you the one-hour episode will air May 19, have Gervais appearing on the show for the second time, and has Arnett appearing for the first time. Also, that there will be other notable guest stars as well.

Sources did warn that one shouldn’t assume that just because Gervais and Arnett are  in the finale, that either is going to replace Carell next season as the Office boss (but one can dream of it, right?). [EW]

Personally, I’d like to see more of the Will Arnett character from “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.” I’d also like to see the characters of Jim and Pam die in a car wreck, and my dog ride a bicycle, and Kate Upton nude in my bed, but that doesn’t mean any of those things are going to happen. At least not until I get my dog some training wheels.