I don’t understand how three seasons of hilarious television, which gave David Cross, Henry Winkler, and Liza Minelli steady work, could have possibly escaped me.

Seven hours. That is how long, cumulatively, I have spent catching up on “Arrested Development,” which I had been sorely oblivious of until last week. Just as I was falling for the family, Michael Cera, the delightful scamp who has made a film career for himself following his turn in the series as George Michael, dropped the bomb that the much-anticipated movie was not in the works. On his publicity rounds, promoting his film “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” which opens Friday, he has openly discussed that there is no possibility of an “Arrested Development” film.

This comes as a surprise, considering that show’s star, Jason Bateman, announced as recently as June that a “twisted” “AD” film was imminent.

If you’re not familiar with the series, which FOX cancelled last April, allow me to elaborate on it. The show, narrated by Ron Howard, concerns the dysfunctional Bluth family and their hijinks following the arrest of their patriarch George Bluth Sr., played by Jeffrey Tambor. Lucille, his wife, is a controlling, boozing wretch who has blithered away the family business’ funds.

Their children are four very different siblings. GOB (SNL Alum Will Arnet), an acronym for George Oscar Bluth pronounced like the Biblical Job, is a failed illusionist with a cock of the walk complex. Michael (Bateman) is the middle son, the straight man of the family, the one with the steady job and the gumption to keep things running smoothly as they slowly fall apart around him. He manages to take care of his awkward teenaged son George Michael (Cera), who has a hopeless crush on his own cousin.

Michael’s twin sister Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), is like a mini version of their mother, except with a slutty streak. She ignores her rebellious daughter Maebe, and her hilariously homoerotic psychiatrist-turned-actor husband Tobias Funke (David Cross), who suffers from a fear of being nude. Lastly, there is poor Buster, the youngest of the four siblings, and the lap dog of his mother. He is prone to panic attacks and painfully uncomfortable social encounters.

The show’s focus is not so much on the situations or slumps that the family gets into, but rather on the individual characters. I’ve found the writing to be sharp, witty, and fast-paced. The actors are spot-on, playing off each other and dwelling in the wackiness of their characters.

Running gags abound in the show including: Mr. Bananagrabber, Lindsay’s inability to successfully cheat on her husband, the rousing use of Europe’s “The Final Countdown,” and the jail’s rule of no touching where George is incarcerated.

The thought that this show will not have the appropriate ending that it deserves, after being so abruptly cancelled (and having obviously not reached the audience it should have), is sad on so many levels. This movie could have been the success that “Stuart Saves his Family” was not.