Henry Winkler Says He Was Only Hired for 2 Episodes on “Arrested Development”, but Ended Up Staying for 5 Years
Henry Winkler Says He Was Only Hired for 2 Episodes on “Arrested Development”, but Ended Up Staying for 5 Years
Meredith WilshereSat, June 27, 2026 at 10:58 PM UTC
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Henry Winkler in 'Arrested Development'Credit: Saeed Adyani/Netflix -
Henry Winkler praised Arrested Development's cast, writing, and creator Mitch Hurwitz's on-set involvement while chatting with Rich Eisen
Winkler appeared in 33 episodes across five seasons, far exceeding his initial two-episode role
Ron Howard, Winkler's Happy Days costar and the show's narrator, shares a close bond with Winkler dating back decades
Henry Winkler loved his time on Arrested Development.
The seasoned actor, 80, reflected on his time starring on the show as the incompetent family lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn during a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. When Eisen asked Winkler what he liked about being a part of the FOX comedy, the Happy Days actor listed three main things.
“First of all, the cast was amazing. Second of all, I was hired for like two episodes, and I stayed for five years. Third of all, it was written so incredibly well,” Winkler shared.
Henry Winkler in 'Arrested Development'Credit: Sam Urdank/Netflix
“Mitch Hurwitz, the creator, had a feed in his office of what we were doing on the soundstage," Winkler explained. "He could see every angle of the cameras, and you were about to say something so funny you couldn't believe it, and he came running in, 'Say this! Say this!' And it was funnier than one of the funniest things I was ever going to say that he had already written.”
While Winkler admitted that he doesn't have "a favorite" scene from the show, he looks back with nothing but fondness.
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"I enjoy my job, I love my job every day," he added.
Winkler played Zuckerkorn, a lawyer for the Bluth family at the center of the show. He appeared in 33 episodes across the show's five seasons, including the first three seasons from 2003 to 2006, and then again in 2013 and from 2018 to 2019. In addition to Winkler, the series starred Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross and Jessica Walter.
Henry Winkler and Jason Bateman in 'Arrested Development'Credit: Saeed Adyani/Netflix
The TV series also featured Ron Howard, Winkler's Happy Days costar, as the narrator, whom the Barry star noted is like a "relative" given their close bond stemming back 50 years.
“Ron comes from a family that left the farm in Oklahoma. They went to New York. This was before Ron and his brother Clinton were born. I met him when he was 18 and I was 27. We were touched by the universe," Winkler reflected. "There was a string between us. I didn't have to tell him what I was going to do. He didn't tell me what he was going to do. We just were in the same space at the same moment, it's rare."
Arrested Development is streaming on Netflix.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
