Is 'Mad Men' Star John Slattery Joining Season Four Of 'Arrested Development?'

Fan favorite TV shows "Arrested Development" and "Mad Men" are coming together at last. At least, they will be if the rumors of "Mad Men" star John Slattery joining "Arrested Development" for its fourth season are true.

Slattery, best known for playing the universally beloved Roger Sterling on AMC's "Mad Men," has not been officially announced as a cast member. The "Arrested Development" team is remaining quiet about Slattery's character, but fans are already speculating about who he may play. TVLine, the source of the rumor, suggests he may be a long-lost member of the Bluth family.

According to series narrator Ron Howard, producer and writer Mitchell Hurwitz is intent on pushing boundaries in the new season and not simply coasting on past success. The inclusion of a new character portrayed by Slattery - easily the most hilarious cast member on "Mad Men" - would definitely be a new development for the cult classic sitcom's fourth season.

"Mitch isn't trying to recreate something," Howard said in an interview with MTV. "It's been away for a while, and part of the fun that Mitch has been mining and exploiting is, what's new to discover about these people? What's delightfully unchanged? He and the writing staff and the actors have a fantastic sense of that. They're pretty brazen, pretty bold and fearless. That's what made the show into something that fans really kept alive."

If the news is true, it's likely that Slattery's inclusion will be a big hit with fans of "Arrested Development." The fan blog Mad Development specializes in mashing up "Mad Men" and "Arrested Development," superimposing lines from the sitcom with screen captures from "Mad Men." Slattery's Roger Sterling is a popular choice for the site, often compared to the notoriously harsh Bluth family matriarch Lucille.

"Arrested Development," canceled by Fox in 2006 after three years, built itself a dedicated cult following since it left the air. For years, fans petitioned the network to bring the series back as a movie. Then, last November, Netflix announced it would be airing a new season of the show online. Fans everywhere rejoiced, and the Internet has been abuzz with speculation about new plot lines ever since.

The fan favorite premiered on Fox in 2003. It followed the lives of a dysfunctional wealthy Orange County family, the Bluths. Before it was canceled, "Arrested Development" kick-started the careers of Michael Cera and Will Arnett, while revitalizing the then-struggling career of Jason Bateman.

Season 4 of "Arrested Development" is set to premiere early next year on Netflix. The online streaming service plans to make all 10 new episodes available at once, rather than spreading them out over several weeks.

Originally, Hurwtiz intended the fourth season to serve as a lead-in for a feature film, with each episode focusing on a single character, allowing fans to catch up with the Bluths one-on-one. This plan appears to have been scrapped, and Hurwitz now plans to use the full cast in each episode. No news of the planned movie has emerged since it was initially announced last October.