A texting service by Jonathan Gottfried and Michael Selvidge, called Bananalerts, will notify you when Netflix uploads Arrested Development on May 26.
We actually spoke to both Jon and Michael about their new service, that already has 13,000 subscribers in less than 24 hours.
Here’s what Michael said about how the idea came to be:
As far as the idea, I actually thought about it after a tweet from Jon. He tweeted about having an AD viewing party on May 26th. I thought this was a great idea, but then I thought about planning my day for the 26th and realized that I had no idea what time it would be live that day. So I thought “wouldn’t it be cool if…”
I actually found our chat transcript from that day:
2:12:28 PM Michael Selvidge: DUDE
2:12:39 PM Michael Selvidge: just thought of something
2:13:02 PM Jonathan Gottfried: dude
2:13:04 PM Jonathan Gottfried: DUDE
2:13:05 PM Jonathan Gottfried: duder
2:13:17 PM Michael Selvidge: your tweet about an Arrested Development party made me think of it
2:13:43 PM Michael Selvidge: TWILIO APP THAT TEXTS YOU AS SOON AS IT’S LIVE
2:13:48 PM Jonathan Gottfried: Oooh
2:13:50 PM Jonathan Gottfried: Great idea
I was interested to know how Michael and Jon would be able to figure out when Netflix uploads Arrested Development. Here’s what Jon said:
I wrote a script that automatically checks Netflix for the new season of Arrested Development. Once it detects the new season, it fires off thousands of SMS messages via Twilio to notify all of the subscribers!
To opt-in to the service, just text “ANN” to 619-EGG-VEAL (619-344-8325). Besides the confirmation text, the service won’t text you till Arrested Development is on Netflix, according to Buzzfeed. You can also call them for a little surprise.
So now, instead of waiting by the computer, refreshing Netflix fervently, you can wait till Bananalerts sends you a text and you can get to watching hours worth of new Arrested Development episodes.
Arrested Development was one of the most critically lauded shows, but was cancelled after 3 seasons due to poor ratings. But, after a 7 year hiatus, Arrested Development is back, and is being developed by Netflix, whose original programming has been immensely popular. Hopefully, Netflix’s revival of Arrested Development will offer the same popularity to a show that has difficulty surviving on cable.