The best sitcom on TV, Arrested Development, is most likely cancelled

[livingfruitvirus]

Anyone who saw the American Dad article knew about the show ending its season early. Anyone who saw David Cross on Kimmel tonight (I didnt, thanks WSB-TV) knows that he brought the doom and gloom upon us that production for the show has ceased. So once again, all that "screw FOX" crap.

* (it is only my opinion that AD is the best sitcom on TV)

I tried to edit the title to say "most likely" cancelled. Seems vBulletin doesn't do that. :/ I'm not holding out much hope though.

[The Gunnshuu]

dammit.

Well, the only recompensation for this is more Family Guy in May, but this still completely sucks ass. Thanks a lot Fox, you did it again. Congratu-frickin'-lations.

EDIT:

WHOOPS!

Ignore what I said above.

[Fone Bone]

Fox is the worst network ever. They either cancel a show way too early or leave the show on the air way too long (The X-Files). Arrested Development was one of my favorite shows. I guess they needed to make room for a second edition of Trading Spouses.:shrug: :mad:

[Youko Recca]

Fox is the most piece of crap network ever indeed. I was JUST thinking about how Fox couldn't possibly cancel it earlier yesterday. Damnit. A "why?" is necessary. What's the point when it's been showin nothing but good results? And I agree it's the best sitcom on right now.

[AF$]

Hollywood Reporter reported that "American Dad" will take over "Arrested Development's" time slot on May 1, 2005 -- shortening "Arrested Development's" second season to 18 episodes.


Are we sure the show is actually cancelled, or are they just cutting the season short? North Shore got cut down by two episodes, but it is still possible to return. Perhaps what Cross meant was that production has stopped for this season; maybe they have filmed the 18 and Fox then told them they are done for now? It's obvious i'm holding out hope, but perhaps Fox isnt dumb enough to cancel one of the few good things they have going.

[Tobias]

Fox isnt dumb enough to cancel one of the few good things they have going.[/left]
[/list]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Oh, that's funny.

- Boston Public

- Wanda At Large

- Titus

- Undeclared

And tons of other shows I can't think of right now.

[Hades]

Other shows that need to go:

American Idol
American Dad
Boston Public
OC
Trading Spouses

[Lonestarr]

Hollywood Reporter reported that "American Dad" will take over "Arrested Development's" time slot on May 1, 2005 -- shortening "Arrested Development's" second season to 18 episodes.



So, one of the best shows on TV is having its season shortened to make a space for a paean to mediocrity? That is so very typical of Fox.

[Zyzzybalubah]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Oh, that's funny.

- Boston Public

- Wanda At Large

- Titus

- Undeclared

And tons of other shows I can't think of right now.
Except Wanda at Large (which I think is god awful, mostly in thanks to my hate for Wanda Sykes) I agree with the list (well never really saw Undeclared.) As for this news, yeah that is awful Arrested Development is getting cut short. This is a really funny show and I'm anticipating this week's episode with Martin Short. Really, there's other shows that are more deserving of getting the boot:

*Simple Life (Seriously, Why the hell does America like this garbage!!!)
* That 70s Show (okay so it was "alright" at first, but now just by watching and reading episode descriptions, you know this show has lost steam long ago)
* Trading Spouses (Interesting Thought: Dave Chapelle had a parody of a show where the black husband goes into the white family and white guy goes into black family. Kind of sad Fox ripped off a show based on a mocking skit)
* Malcolm in the Middle (Is this Show cancelled yet?)
* Bernie Mac (Same as Malcolm, this show never was funny and really deserved to be cancelled after it's first season.)

[Jaguar]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/JaguarX/gm-snoopy_sm.jpg
Wow, FOX, I guess FIVE EMMYS AND A GOLDEN GLOBE DON'T MEAN A THING TO YOU! You'd rather go a show that's mediocre at best and with which you have barely had no test audience with! AMAZING!
Yeah, where's Gail Berman now with another "Oh, we love the series and we have faith in it" speech? Oh, that's right! NOWHERE.
Thank you FOX, for making me hate you, just when I was beginning to like you once again. Thank you. :mad:

[JohnCrichton]

I thought SCRUBS was the best sitcom on television? O_o

[Supremus]

I'm not going to buy a 3rd hand report and interpretation of "production has ceased".

If it is indeed cancelled, it's a damn shame, because it's the smartest and funniest show on TV, but on the other hand, at least it will go out on top. Too many shows overstay their welcome.

[Jaguar]

I thought SCRUBS was the best sitcom on television? O_oOne of the best, yeah, but where have YOU been?


North Shore got cut down by two episodes, but it is still possible to return.
It won't.

[Lord Dalek]

It just doesn't make any sense. I thought the ratings were pretty good for this season.

[Jave]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Oh, that's funny.

- Boston Public

- Wanda At Large

- Titus

- Undeclared

And tons of other shows I can't think of right now.You forgot Futurama. FOX treated that show like dirt.

[Fone Bone]

Let's look at a more complete Fox ax list shall we?

Firefly, Millenium, John Doe, Married With Children, In Living Color, Boston Public, The Lone Gunmen, Undeclared, Strange Luck, The Tracey Ullman Show, Futurama, Family Guy, Titus, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The Tick, A Minute With Stan Hooper, Sliders, Harsh Realm, Flying Blind, Roc, Bakersfield P.D., Profit, The Critic, Wonderfalls, and now Arrested Development.

All of these series had either large fan bases, critical acclaim, huge potential or even in Titus' case good ratings.

Don't bother watching anything on Fox. They'll only cancel it at the first chance they get.

I'm betting The Bernie Mac Show, King of the Hill, Malcolm in the Middle, House, and Point Pleasant are next. I wouldn't be too surprised to see American Dad on the early chopping block either considering Rupert Murdoch's politics.

[livingfruitvirus]

Reminder that Jason Bateman will be on Conan O Brien tonight. Hoping he can shed some light on this.

[MovieGuy]

Gail Berman
Fox Broadcasting Entertainment President
Fox Headquarters
10201 West Pico Blvd
Los Angeles CA
90035.

or:

Gail Berman, President
Fox Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, California
90213

E-mail: gail.berman@fox.com (gail.berman@fox.com)

Extension: 237626

Fox's Viewer Comment Hotline: 1-800-369-6848

http://www.petitiononline.com/Arrested/petition.html (http://www.petitiononline.com/Arrested/petition.html)

I sent a letter yesterday. Let's all hope it doesn't get cancelled.

[staticblue]

Let's look at a more complete Fox ax list shall we?

Firefly, Millenium, John Doe, Married With Children, In Living Color, Boston Public, The Lone Gunmen, Undeclared, Strange Luck, The Tracey Ullman Show, Futurama, Family Guy, Titus, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The Tick, A Minute With Stan Hooper, Sliders, Harsh Realm, Flying Blind, Roc, Bakersfield P.D., Profit, The Critic, Wonderfalls, and now Arrested Development.

All of these series had either large fan bases, critical acclaim, huge potential or even in Titus' case good ratings.

Don't bother watching anything on Fox. They'll only cancel it at the first chance they get.

I'm betting The Bernie Mac Show, King of the Hill, Malcolm in the Middle, House, and Point Pleasant are next. I wouldn't be too surprised to see American Dad on the early chopping block either considering Rupert Murdoch's politics.




You forgot Fastlane. Why am I not suprised? no, seriously, why am I not? Once again, fox has the choice of the big freakin boat, and the mystery box, because fox thinks it can be anything, even a big freakin boat, they pic the mystery box. and what comes out of said box? Simple Life 4: horing it up, Trading spouses, Whose your daddy, American Idol 6. Im really and truly tired of this. Bernie Mac is danger of being cancled, because fox places it on the friday death slot and puts Nanny 911 on in its place. Whats going on!?!?!? King of the Hill is also in danger, because its in the Football, nascar deathslot. How many of you think family guy is only going to last 2 seasons? Me. and thats giving fox credit. I garantee House is next. and something tells me cause they are stupid, OC is coming down too. Thanx fox, I really needed more crap.:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

you make me sick:mad:

[Slade_Wilson]

You know, At this point, I blame Arrested Developement. They should not have put their faith in Fox'x hands and therefore deserve to get cancelled. Out of all the shows to crop up, even the newer shows Like point Pleasent, If they have a demise, its because they either sucked so bad, or they weren't smart enough to take their show to a channel that will apreciate them.

The next shows on deck are indeed, Point pleasent,House, King of the Hill, Bernie Mac, and Malcolm, with P.P. the closest. If this show fails, it will be because a combination of suckiness and belief in fox. House as well will fail cause they believed in fox. the veterans out of that list will fail because fox purposely doomed them, which sux for Bernie mac cause his sickness did him in. He leaves for a couple of months and it all goes to hell for him. Totally unfair

[Hero Supreme]

i bet someone could make a killing starting up an ex-fox network renewing shows that fox had mishandled. anyone want to give me a couple million to start something like that up?

[MrBananagrabber]

This and the Daily Show are the only reasons I even watch TV. I really hope that it's just a curtailed second season and we do get a third, but I'm incredibly angry about this season being cut short to begin with.

It's Fox, what was I expecting?

[Sandoz]

I was afraid of this. Arrested Development is, no joke, the best thing on that network right now. This is a terribly bad move.

[SirLemming]

And here I was just starting to get into this show. TV is doomed!

[livingfruitvirus]

Like point Pleasent, If they have a demise, its because they either sucked so bad, or they weren't smart enough to take their show to a channel that will apreciate them.TV show creators will take their show to the network that will give them the best offer. That's all there is to it.

[Fone Bone]

Gail Berman
Fox Broadcasting Entertainment President
Fox Headquarters
10201 West Pico Blvd
Los Angeles CA
90035.

or:

Gail Berman, President
Fox Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, California
90213

E-mail: gail.berman@fox.com (gail.berman@fox.com)

Extension: 237626

Fox's Viewer Comment Hotline: 1-800-369-6848

http://www.petitiononline.com/Arrested/petition.html (http://www.petitiononline.com/Arrested/petition.html)

I sent a letter yesterday. Let's all hope it doesn't get cancelled.If I sent a letter every time Fox cancelled a show I liked I'd spend more on stamps than I do on rent.

[Master Moron]

Man, where do I start...

Boston Public:Why does anybody care that they cancelled this? The quality of this show really went down the toilet over the last couple of seasons.

House:This show isn't going anywhere. It's American Idol lead in gives it great ratings.

American Idol:I only like the first few episodes where they make fun of the bad singers. The later rounds are boring. I don't give a damn who the next American Idol is. Regardless, this show is one of the network's highest rated shows, it's not going anywhere.

American Dad:This has only aired one episode so far...jeezus...

OC:This gets great ratings, it's not going anywhere. As for it's quality, hey, at least it self parodies itself a little bit, unlike 90210, which didn't realize it was corny.

The Simple Life:This gets great ratings, it's not going anywhere. And personally, I like this show. Personally, I find it hilarious watching white collar workers get screwed around with. I pretend every company they intern for is a company that didn't hire me. Hey, these companies get what they deserve for not hiring me, but hiring Paris and Nicole instead.

Trading Spouses:This gets good ratings, so it will probably be back. Personally, I watch it if I'm bored before 24 comes on, but I wouldn't miss it if it got cancelled.

Point Pleasant:I don't know or care how it's doing in the ratings, but does anyone really care if it gets cancelled? It's not like we're losing a quality show here.

North Shore:They might bring it back, but I doubt it, and I doubt too many people will care either.

That 70s Show:This show is coming back next year, despite the fact that Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace aren't. That 70s Show without Topher and Ashton will be pretty pointless...

Malcolm in the Middle:The network loves this show, so it will probably be back.

King of the Hill:Same as above, though personally, I wouldn't miss it if it were gone.

And for God sakes, I can't believe people actually miss Fastlane and the Lone Gunmen. Jeez, do you not want them to cancel anything? Fox makes a lot of stupid decisions, but some shows deserve to be cancelled.

[Fone Bone]

And for God sakes, I can't believe people actually miss Fastlane and the Lone Gunmen. Jeez, do you not want them to cancel anything? Fox makes a lot of stupid decisions, but some shows deserve to be cancelled.I don't miss The Lone Gunmen but I think it's important to point out that the show had potential and a solid fan base even if it usually wasn't that great.

[oz615]

You forgot Fastlane. Why am I not suprised? no, seriously, why am I not? Once again, fox has the choice of the big freakin boat, and the mystery box, because fox thinks it can be anything, even a big freakin boat, they pic the mystery box. and what comes out of said box? Simple Life 4: horing it up, Trading spouses, Whose your daddy, American Idol 6. Im really and truly tired of this. Bernie Mac is danger of being cancled, because fox places it on the friday death slot and puts Nanny 911 on in its place. Whats going on!?!?!? King of the Hill is also in danger, because its in the Football, nascar deathslot. How many of you think family guy is only going to last 2 seasons? Me. and thats giving fox credit. I garantee House is next. and something tells me cause they are stupid, OC is coming down too. Thanx fox, I really needed more crap.:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

you make me sick:mad:DAMN,how come no one bothered to mention Tru Calling,cause IMO treated that show worse than Arested Development,cause remember i was picked up for a second season,and well we all know the story there.

[DR.MID-NITE]

I do not watch Arrested Development. But, I feel for you fans. Fox sucks this way. After what they did to John Doe. I really despise them. For those who don't know. Last year in the finale. The producers wanted to explain more of the secrets behind Doe. But, the geniuses at Fox said don't do that...we are going to renew the show. So the producers of the show obliged and left the fans with a huge cliffhanger. And Fox cancels the show. :mad: :mad: :mad: And the show did the best ratings for Fox on a Friday night in years.

[Supremus]

The show is not cancelled. The comments referred to the shortened season 2, and that production on the SEASON had ended.

[staticblue]

DAMN,how come no one bothered to mention Tru Calling,cause IMO treated that show worse than Arested Development,cause remember i was picked up for a second season,and well we all know the story there.Its not that no one bothered to mention Ture Callings, its that people forgot about it. FOX cancels things so fast, it has no time to register. You know another show everyone forgot to mention. Jonny Zero. Im counting the days until its cancellation, cause you know thats whats going to happen

And Master Moon, how can you say House isnt going anywere. Its one of FOX's higest rating shows, and it was coming on before American Idol came back. It did that success on its own. It didnt need Idol. Thats like saying 24 needs Idol to hold on to its success. But all of that is moot because FOX will cancell house and 24 anyway, cause thats how they do. I notice everytime I post or edit a post, I remember another Cancelled show. Anyone Know what happened to Quintuplets?

[Peter Paltridge]

Okay, Fox has been shoving AD down our throats so much that I can't see them giving up now. There was a stiff-paper Fox foldout in a lot of trade papers two weeks ago. It was divided into sections and in the "comedy" part AD was shown three times as large as anything else. If they were thinking of phasing it out, would they do this? "Shortened" but not "cancelled" outright.
I get the feeling most of their executives are the biggest fans of the show, but they're just dogs tied by the rusted iron chains of the Corporate Machine, and if they don't see any serious return soon, there will be little more they can do. Fox execs are the most whipped of any network.
The fact that they've done THIS much completely defies everything I know about Fox. You can liken this to a certain situation where the son of two terrorists is forced to kill his girlfriend, and gets so upset that he finally rebels. But was it futile?

More points:

American Dad was funny. Period. But putting it after The Simpsons and BEFORE Family Guy...I don't think that's a good idea...

Malcolm is still funny. But the characters are getting too old for it. I love the syndicated run I'm watching right now...this is a genius show.

Boston Public was lurid poopy. No school is that bad off.

Point Pleasant and House are stupid. House only gets good ratings because it's after American Idol.

If AD really has as many fans as it seems to, Fox will be overloaded with responses and might rethink any plans to immediately kill this program. And if Fox really does get rid of Arrested....there's also a chance another network might be interested. The man is Ron Howard; he has connections. HBO maybe? Think about that...HBO never cancels anything until the creator feels it's time.

[Tobias]

Quintuplets will be back next summer for it's second season, as part of Fox's year long seasonal schedule deal, at least until it starts losing it's ratings, at which point Fox will yank and cancel the show.

[staticblue]

[QUOTE=Martianinvader]

Point Pleasant and House are stupid. House only gets good ratings because it's after American Idol.
QUOTE]

I cant say much about point plesant, but House is pure genius, and like I said before, it was getting good ratings BEFORE American Idol came back.To say that AI is the reason for its success is purely false.

[Slade_Wilson]

Okay, Fox has been shoving AD down our throats so much that I can't see them giving up now. There was a stiff-paper Fox foldout in a lot of trade papers two weeks ago. It was divided into sections and in the "comedy" part AD was shown three times as large as anything else. If they were thinking of phasing it out, would they do this? "Shortened" but not "cancelled" outright.
I get the feeling most of their executives are the biggest fans of the show, but they're just dogs tied by the rusted iron chains of the Corporate Machine, and if they don't see any serious return soon, there will be little more they can do. Fox execs are the most whipped of any network.
The fact that they've done THIS much completely defies everything I know about Fox. You can liken this to a certain situation where the son of two terrorists is forced to kill his girlfriend, and gets so upset that he finally rebels. But was it futile?

More points:

American Dad was funny. Period. But putting it after The Simpsons and BEFORE Family Guy...I don't think that's a good idea...

Malcolm is still funny. But the characters are getting too old for it. I love the syndicated run I'm watching right now...this is a genius show.

Boston Public was lurid poopy. No school is that bad off.

Point Pleasant and House are stupid. House only gets good ratings because it's after American Idol.

If AD really has as many fans as it seems to, Fox will be overloaded with responses and might rethink any plans to immediately kill this program. And if Fox really does get rid of Arrested....there's also a chance another network might be interested. The man is Ron Howard; he has connections. HBO maybe? Think about that...HBO never cancels anything until the creator feels it's time.whoa guy, I admire your opinions and views on the subject, but some of the things you, master moron, and others are stating are complete against the fatcs.

for one, a hell of a lot of the shows that were cancelled had viewers and were doing excellent in the ratings. It was only until they manipulated their schedules did they fall in the ratings and get cancelled. people could not find the shows. This is what happened to Family Guy, Wanda at Large, Boston Public, and many more. Despite the fact that you didn't like them, Lots of others did. It wasn't taken off simply cause it was bad.

As for House, Another false statement as People were watching it Before AI even premeired. They're on the same night now cause they're both strong shows.

As for american dad's time slot, it was strategically done to give it ratings. It's called Hammocking. They put a weak show in between 2 stronger ones. As far as I'm concerned, it shows that at least fox is using an inch of their brains.

I will admit that a lot of the shows they are showing are low in quality, Simple life and all the other reality shows being among them. Its whats runing these shows and it's driving poeple away.

[oz615]

I will admit that a lot of the shows they are showing are low in quality, Simple life and all the other reality shows being among them. Its whats runing these shows and it's driving poeple away.
Thank you very much for making my point for me,(and not to take away the thunder from the origional post or anything but..)it's not just a FOX problem,but a industry wide problem IMO,they look for any excuse to either cancel something that has potential too soon,or put on another crappy reality show,and im so sick of it.

[Arxane]

About the only good thing I can say about Fox right now is that least they canceled Method and Red...

[William C. Maune]

If the show does end up being cancelled that stinks because it was rather good to say the least. However, I wonder if other networks would have even put the show on the air in the first place. Can you see it on CBS unless it was CSI: Arrested Development? Or on NBC unless it was Law and Order: Blah Blah Blah?

Fox may cancel a lot of good show, and it does stink, but part of the reason they end up cancelling so many is because they put more of these types of shows on the air than the other networks. It stinks that these shows get cancelled, but I'm glad Fox, unlike the other networks, actually gave them a chance in the first place.

[staticblue]

About the only good thing I can say about Fox right now is that least they canceled Method and Red...
I agree, but can you really say thats a good thing, considering they put method and red on in the first place?:confused:

[Jaime_Weinman]

First off, it hasn't been cancelled; it's just been cut to 18 episodes because they don't want to run it in May sweeps (they didn't run it in May last year, either). Though I, too, am worried about its fate, it hasn't been decided yet.

Second, why are people so quick to blame Fox, and so slow to blame the viewing public? Fox has treated this show great. They picked it up for a second season despite mediocre ratings, and they gave it their best time slot and left it there for the whole season. And it still can't get the ratings. Clearly if it gets cancelled, the people to blame are those who aren't watching the show, not the network.

This is true, I think, of a lot of Fox's shows. Futurama, okay, I'll give you that one. It was a victim of Fox's clumsy and awkward transition to a football-dominated schedule (they put it at 7 and King of the Hill at 7:30, either not realizing or not caring that football would wipe out these shows on the East Coast). But as for most of the others... they were cancelled because they flopped. The network didn't make up the rule that a show needs to get decent ratings to survive.

It's not necessarily about the raw numbers, either, but about how it does compared to what could replace it. If a baseball player hits .250, and you can replace him with a player who hits .270, you're probably going to replace him. Similarly, the reason Family Guy got cancelled the first time around was not that it couldn't beat Friends, but that it actually got worse ratings than the shows it replaced on Thursday night. Same with Wonderfalls: it didn't just get bad ratings, it got worse ratings than even a rerun of an established show would have gotten in the same slot.

So stop blaming the networks and start blaming the public. The bad taste of the public is what kills most of these shows. (Well, Family Guy's initial failure was proof of the good taste of the public, but that's neither here nor there.)

[livingfruitvirus]

http://www.fox.com/arresteddev/pop.htm


Dear Arrested Development Fans:

Thank you for your e-mail and your passionate support of Arrested Development. While the show has finished production for its second season, contrary to the rumors you may have heard or read on the internet, it is NOT cancelled.


We at FOX love Arrested Development and we look forward to having the Bluth family back on FOX in the future – hopefully for many years. You can help make the show a bigger success by getting as many people as possible to start watching the show this Sunday and every Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.


Sincerely,
Fox Broadcasting Company
Phew. Guess I jumped the gun a little. Good to know FOX responded, but it sucks that the season got cut down to 18 episodes.

[ClockStomper]

That's good news, makes me cautiously optimistic, but it was posted on another board (no linking allowed) that one of the reasons AD is getting cut short is because it has the same initials as American Dad and marketing was concerned about viewer confusion. Talk about adding (intelegence) insult to injury.

What sucks is that Arrested was beating the Family Guy/Simpsons repeats in ratings.

[Lord Dalek]

So can we close this excerise in hair pulling now?

[PaQ]

Finally something from Fox to calm people's nerves a bit. I'd hate to see this series go away. :D

[Sigma]

Thankfully Arrested Development isn't canceled because it is the best sitcom on televison today IMO and obviously many others.

P.S. Fox still sucks for canceling Firefly after one short season!

[Jaguar]

*LOUD SIGH OF RELIEF* False alarm. ;)

Still, let's pray that's still the case in May.

[Youko Recca]

Thank God. But the guards of us all should never be let down....

[Master Moron]

And Master Moon, how can you say House isnt going anywere. Its one of FOX's higest rating shows, and it was coming on before American Idol came back. It did that success on its own. It didnt need Idol. Thats like saying 24 needs Idol to hold on to its success. But all of that is moot because FOX will cancell house and 24 anyway, cause thats how they do. I notice everytime I post or edit a post, I remember another Cancelled show. Anyone Know what happened to Quintuplets?

Ummm...when I say it isn't going anywhere, I meant, it won't suddenly dissapear from the lineup. It's staying where it is, it won't move, hence, it isn't going anywhere...and they just ordered 3 more episodes of House, extending it's season to 22 episodes, if I counted right, so they won't be cancelling it any time soon, but well, then again, they did order a second season of Tru Calling and canned it after four episodes were completed...

By the way, is Jonny Zero actually any good? I remember TV Guide gave it a 1 out of 10, so I've been avoiding it.

[Space Cadet]

By the way, is Jonny Zero actually any good? I remember TV Guide gave it a 1 out of 10, so I've been avoiding it.
I haven't seen it but it's the "ex-con turns good and helps stop bad guys" type show. It comes from the guy who created The West Wing.

[tigerrunner]

First off, it hasn't been cancelled; it's just been cut to 18 episodes because they don't want to run it in May sweeps (they didn't run it in May last year, either). Though I, too, am worried about its fate, it hasn't been decided yet.

Second, why are people so quick to blame Fox, and so slow to blame the viewing public? Fox has treated this show great. They picked it up for a second season despite mediocre ratings, and they gave it their best time slot and left it there for the whole season. And it still can't get the ratings. Clearly if it gets cancelled, the people to blame are those who aren't watching the show, not the network.
I couldn't agree with you more. Considering Arrested Development's abysmal ratings in it's first season, the only things keeping it alive were great reviews and Fox's determination to make it a hit (possibly only because it was, and still is praised by critics). But there's only so much that Fox can actually do without the public catching on fast. The simple fact is that if fans don't catch on quick, Fox will cancel the show after this 2nd season- it just doesn't make sense (buisness wise) to keep it alive for season after season in hopes that the viewing public as a whole will eventually develop some taste and watch the show. Just because this case was a flase alarm doesn't mean that Arrested Development isn't out of the danger zone just yet.

[Killtacular]

At times the only show lower rated than Arrested Development was FOX's own Andy Richter Controls the Universe which would often place 40TH or WORSE in premiere ratings for the night. Regardless of what awards a show wins or how much critical praise it gets-- and the show has gotten plenty of advertising as well-- people aren't interested! Noone that I know likes Arrested Development. I think it's the somewhat smug Sorkinesque "do we really need jokes?" humor that pushes people away because the advertising has trouble finding funny pieces to highlight as most episodes don't really have STANDOUT scenes. These are the kind of hurdles AD should've expected from the start.

And yes FOX -does- support the series and likes it. Just as they do with Family Guy. There is no conspiracy here. They don't WANT the show to fail. Do you see them changing its airday/timeslot every week? Do you ever see a Sunday night promo that DOESN'T spotlight AD for a decent length? Including football-game announcer promos? There's nothing more FOX can do to help the show if noone's watching it.

[Fone Bone]

At times the only show lower rated than Arrested Development was FOX's own Andy Richter Controls the Universe which would often place 40TH or WORSE in premiere ratings for the night. Regardless of what awards a show wins or how much critical praise it gets-- and the show has gotten plenty of advertising as well-- people aren't interested! Noone that I know likes Arrested Development. I think it's the somewhat smug Sorkinesque "do we really need jokes?" humor that pushes people away because the advertising has trouble finding funny pieces to highlight as most episodes don't really have STANDOUT scenes. These are the kind of hurdles AD should've expected from the start.
I agree. If the show had just been less creative and more pandering it wouldn't be in this mess. :rolleyes::p

I realize the above statement is a little flame-baity but you've got to realize that Seinfeld didn't become a hit until the middle of it's fourth season. (And it had similar warped sensibilities as AD.) The fact that networks won't allow creative programs the needed time it takes for them to become hits nowadays is one of the biggest problems with television.

[Jaime_Weinman]

I think it's the somewhat smug Sorkinesque "do we really need jokes?" humor that pushes people away

While I hate Sports Night (indeed, one of the few jokes I liked on Family Guy was their jab at Sports Night as "the sitcom that's too good to be funny"), I think Arrested Development is nothing like that. It's got tons of jokes, probably more jokes per minute than most sitcoms. And they constantly do funny cutaways that put Family Guy's to shame (e.g. a sudden cutaway to Lindsay doing a fundraiser for an anti-circumcision group, H.O.O.P. - Hands Off Our Penises). Because of the deadpan way it's shot and played, it doesn't always seem like it's very jokey, but it is. Whereas Sports Night just plain didn't have jokes.


you've got to realize that Seinfeld didn't become a hit until the middle of it's fourth season.

That's just really not true. Seinfeld was getting pretty good ratings by the end of its first 13-episode midseason run (after its brief 4-episode summer run the year before, which doesn't count as a full season). It became a blockbuster in the middle of the 1992-3 season when it was moved back to Thursday nights, but the reason NBC moved it there was that it was building an audience, it was seen as a potential candidate to replace Cheers. That's not the Arrested Development situation; it's never been able to build the sort of audience that Seinfeld got in less than a full season. Sad but true.

[Fone Bone]

While I hate Sports Night (indeed, one of the few jokes I liked on Family Guy was their jab at Sports Night as "the sitcom that's too good to be funny"), I think Arrested Development is nothing like that. It's got tons of jokes, probably more jokes per minute than most sitcoms. And they constantly do funny cutaways that put Family Guy's to shame (e.g. a sudden cutaway to Lindsay doing a fundraiser for an anti-circumcision group, H.O.O.P. - Hands Off Our Penises). Because of the deadpan way it's shot and played, it doesn't always seem like it's very jokey, but it is. Whereas Sports Night just plain didn't have jokes.



That's just really not true. Seinfeld was getting pretty good ratings by the end of its first 13-episode midseason run (after its brief 4-episode summer run the year before, which doesn't count as a full season). It became a blockbuster in the middle of the 1992-3 season when it was moved back to Thursday nights, but the reason NBC moved it there was that it was building an audience, it was seen as a potential candidate to replace Cheers. That's not the Arrested Development situation; it's never been able to build the sort of audience that Seinfeld got in less than a full season. Sad but true.But Arrested Developments ratings HAVE gone up this year. Seinfeld may not have been a bomb but neither is AD. Seinfeld may have been showing growth but so was Titus and Fox cancelled that anyways. There's a difference between the way TV is run nowadays than the way it was even ten years ago.

[ClockStomper]

American Dad had a 60% audience retention rate after The Simpsons, wherehas Arrested does much better than that on average. I think FOX putting Dad in between Simpsons premires is a no confidence vote.

I am suspicious of FOX's word on AD not being cancelled, since they've often pulled this "we swear it's not cancelled" ***** before.

[Master Moron]

You know, I'm thinking part of the reason for Arrested Devlopment's lack of popularity is that it focuses on a rich family. I mean, in these hard economic times who wants to watch a show about a bunch of rich people? I mean, most sitcoms focus on a middle income family. I mean, I find Arrested Development funny and all, but throughout the show I'm always thinking "Man, I wish I was rish like the Bluths..." Of course, there are all those shows on MTV that focus on rich celebrities...but, who watches MTV anyway?

[Sandoz]

You know, I'm thinking part of the reason for Arrested Devlopment's lack of popularity is that it focuses on a rich family. I mean, in these hard economic times who wants to watch a show about a bunch of rich people? I mean, most sitcoms focus on a middle income family. I mean, I find Arrested Development funny and all, but throughout the show I'm always thinking "Man, I wish I was rish like the Bluths..." Of course, there are all those shows on MTV that focus on rich celebrities...but, who watches MTV anyway?
Well, the Bluths aren't really rich. Even the opening credits say they "lost everything", and a lot of the humor comes from the fact that these spoiled, out-of-touch people are now forced to function in the real world (and they're failing at it). And then there's The Simple Life. Those are real annoying rich people, and it still pulls in ratings.

[Fone Bone]

You know, I'm thinking part of the reason for Arrested Devlopment's lack of popularity is that it focuses on a rich family. I mean, in these hard economic times who wants to watch a show about a bunch of rich people? I mean, most sitcoms focus on a middle income family. I mean, I find Arrested Development funny and all, but throughout the show I'm always thinking "Man, I wish I was rish like the Bluths..." Of course, there are all those shows on MTV that focus on rich celebrities...but, who watches MTV anyway?But people WANT to be rich and they like watching rich people on television. Why do you think there is such a culture if celebrity on television right now? No, I think the answer is more likely that AD takes some time to get into the groove for most people and we are a society of instant gratification.

I think John Kerry might have done better in the election if he hadn't insisted that most of his voting base was poor. Nobody wants to be reminded they're poor. Ironically most of his votes came from well-off people.

[Stewie]

No, if the Bluth's once having had a fortune is an issue for people, they just aren't paying attention. And it's not as though the "middle income families" we are likely to see in a lot of sitcoms actually have any struggles. (Don't bother pointing out examples that conflict, I'm generalizing.) Or when they do, they disappear after a few seasons. The Simpsons seem to have a trust fund to cover for Homer not actually earning a living. Hell, even Roseanne, one of the working class stalwarts, had the family win the lottery.
If anything, your average or popular sitcoms are much more lenient about giving the characters a seemingly unlimited supply of cash. Of course, all of this is looking for reality in a sitcom world.


I think it's the somewhat smug Sorkinesque "do we really need jokes?" humor that pushes people awayI don't see it as that. I thinks it's just that people are used to comedy being much easier to follow. There are a lot of throw-away jokes in AD. There's no time given for the audience to follow the straight line from setup to joke. There are almost two jokes at once.
It's as though the laugh tracks is now a necessity for sitcoms. Sure, it's a crutch, but I didn't it was the leg.

And for the record, Sports Night was a drama that thought it was a sitcom. After a while it stopped that and just became a doomed drama. But that line in Family Guy was great.

[moreysurf8]

here's an interesting (and opitimistic) article on the episode cutbacks for AD. It even has some positive quotes from series creator/producer/writer Mitchell Hurwitz.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/14/DDG23B9R261.DTL

[Fone Bone]

I loved how David Cross said Fox was replacing it with "America's Cutest Retards.":p