Arrested Development has been cancelled

[Great Rumbler]

Haha, just kidding!

Fox has removed one of the biggest mysteries of its fall schedule announcement, saying it has renewed the Emmy-winning comedy "Arrested Development" for a third season.

The quirky show starring Jason Bateman has been a hit with critics, but not with viewers. It is averaging 5.9 million viewers this season, ranking No. 122 on the Nielsen list. Already-canceled shows like "8 Simple Rules,""Committed" and "Complete Savages" did better.

But Peter Liguori, the new Fox entertainment president, said he was making it his first official series pickup since taking the job.

"'Arrested Development' is one of the best comedies on television," Liguori said. "The decision to order another season becomes easy when you consider its amazing cast, creative brilliance, critical acclaim and advertiser appeal."

Fox unveils its fall schedule this Thursday.

:p

SFGate

[Dark Jaguar]

According to you, the reason I can't get into the show is because it isn't FOR people who tune into the middle of a season.

I guess that means I'll need to DVR the next one so I can decide if it's good or not in a proper perspective. After all, if you claim you can fish and I decide to test you by demanding you play baseball, I'm not testing your actual claim am I?

[Great Rumbler]

Just buy the first season on DVD, it costs like $35.

[Paco]

I was really sad for the few seconds between reading the title and the thread loading, and in that moment I was already thinking of the nasty e-mail I was going to send FOX.

Damn you, but hooray for Arrested Development. The season finale had me ROFLMAO.

[OB1]

Haha, the thread title didn't fool me since I heard about it a couple days ago. HOORAH!!

[Great Rumbler]

I figured that you would have heard about this already, but I thought that I'd post it anyway to fool other people who like the show. :D

[Dark Jaguar]

I'm not spending money until I know if I like the show or not. So far, I don't, but I'm being told it's because I saw an episode in the middle of a season. So, I'll just give it a shot when it's just starting out to see if I like it or not.

[OB1]

Eh, do whatever you want.

[Great Rumbler]

You're so weird, DJ.

[A Black Falcon]

Why should you buy something if you aren't very sure if you'd like it? If you don't it'd just be a waste of money...

[OB1]

Yes, that is true. What I'm saying is that I don't care whether or not she watches the show. Her loss. And it's probably not for her.

[Great Rumbler]

Why should you buy something if you aren't very sure if you'd like it? If you don't it'd just be a waste of money...

Sometimes in life you just have to take chances.

[EdenMaster]

Phew! I was worried the show wasn't gonna make it. I'm glad Fox execs can see the brilliance of the show beyond it's poor ratings.

Nothing shall stop the Bluths!

[Great Rumbler]

At least not for another season!

[EdenMaster]

I hope you all remembered to watch on Monday!

http://www.imoscar.com

[Great Rumbler]

I did! It was hilarious!

"I don't have a son, but if I did I'd either take him to the cabin in the woods or promise to take him to the cabin in the woods and then NOT take him! But the one thing that I would never do is not tell him about the cabin in the woods and then not take him!"

[EdenMaster]

"Taste the happy, Michael!"

[Great Rumbler]

"It tastes kind of like the sad."

:D

[Dark Jaguar]

Oh hey GR, old post of yours there I'd like to debate. I believe that in taking a "chance", you should gather all available information so you know what the odds are, and then always pick the one that has the greatest chance for success.

[Great Rumbler]

Your chance of success in choosing Arrested Development Season 1 on DVD is 100%.

[EdenMaster]

For british eyes only!

[Great Rumbler]

:D

[A Black Falcon]

Don't worry, the thread title is true now...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/11...index.html

The Bluth clan of Fox's ratings-challenged "Arrested Development" is also headed for the exit after Fox cut the third-season order on the Emmy-winning comedy to 13 episodes.

As for the demise of "Arrested," it comes just as the acclaimed comedy came back this week after a hiatus to make room for Fox's baseball coverage. The two back-to-back episodes averaged a paltry 4 million viewers Monday, sending Fox to fifth place in the 8 p.m. hour and putting a dent on the ratings of its lead-out, the rookie drama "Prison Break."

There is a possibility that the show will be shopped around, but its high cost is expected to be prohibitive for a cable network.

Fox said Thursday that it will pull "Arrested Development" and "Kitchen Confidential" off the schedule for the remaining three Mondays of the November sweep, replacing them with a rerun of the previous episode of "Prison Break" leading into an original episode of the serialized drama.

"Arrested" and "Kitchen" are set to return to their time slots with original episodes December 5, following the fall finale of "Prison Break" on November 28.

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, it probably won't get a fourth season.

[A Black Falcon]

Low ratings get shows cancelled, even if they're good...

[Great Rumbler]

You guys should send emails to Fox DEMANDING that they not cancel Arrested Development.

[The Former DMiller]

I will definitely do that. I got into the show this season, and I just bought the season 1 DVD a week ago. It reminds me of the Royal Tenenbaums, but a better ratio of laughs:minute.

[EdenMaster]

There is no justice in the world.

[Great Rumbler]

Truly there is not.

[EdenMaster]

Even worse, lame drivel like "Yes, Dear" lasts far longer than it should.

I've come to the conclusion that the American public does not want intelligent comedy. So many great, great shows that wre edgy and smart have been killed before their time. Titus, Upright Citizens Brigade, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and countless others. People need to be told what is funny with a laugh track, otherwise they have no way to know what is funny.

We can only hope that the DVD sales and fan outrage will convince Fox to do what they did with Family Guy. Personally, I'd like to see it go to cable. They're hilarious now, imagine if they didn't need to censor anything. Even last episode, they wer epoking fun at censoring.

"I can't believe we had to bleep that."

"Oh! Me *bleep*(fags) are wet!"

[A Black Falcon]

I've come to the conclusion that the American public does not want intelligent comedy.

Stupid is easier.

[Great Rumbler]

Send emails to Fox!!

[Dark Jaguar]

Or maybe it's just not that funny. I certainly don't get it. You say it's intelligent. Okay, what's the meaning?

[The Former DMiller]

Intelligent comedy doesn't mean it has to have a meaning. Seinfeld was fairly intelligent comedy for a sitcom, but there was no deeper meaning to it. Same with Arrested Development. It's intelligent comedy because the jokes aren't smack-you-in-the-face obvious. BTW, anyone know a good email address to send an email to Fox?

[Great Rumbler]

Or maybe it's just not that funny.

Or maybe the average TV watcher has terrible taste. Evidence to support this is the insane of amount of awful reality TV shows that have been/are being made.

BTW, anyone know a good email address to send an email to Fox?

askfox@foxinc.com

[Dark Jaguar]

I guess... The jokes seemed pretty obvious to me. "Izza goat! Look at how subtle his reaction is! BARELY THERE! THAT IS COMEDY! Also, the goat was mentioned like 5 episodes ago and now we're finally showing you one! Remember that comment? Memory is comedy!"

It just seems like they think you SHOULD laugh at it rather than it actually being funny. I mean, so someone lost their arms and eventually his claw ended up in a guy's backside? That's just blatent humor right there. It IS in your face humor. Only, not all that funny to me. Seinfeld was hilarious though.

And, "it tastes like sad" is a pretty pathetic attempt at "normally, flavors don't taste like emotions, the fact that we mentioned it in that context means it's funny" type of humor. Now on the other hand, "it tastes like happy" coming out of the mouth of a doll in Family Guy, that's comedy. "What are those horrible orange creatures over there?" *response* "Tell them I HATE them!" There's stuff that's funny.

[Great Rumbler]

Arrested Development is hilarious.

[EdenMaster]

Arrested Development is funnier to a dedicated viewer who doesn't need a laugh track or any other indication to know that a joke is funny. Leaving that responsibility to the viewer to find the funny for themselves is something too far above the average TV viewer to understand. AD pulled old jokes out of the closet from past episodes repeatedly, to jam in a laugh during something that wouldn't be funny by itself.

Michael can be having a conversation with George Michael somewhere in the model home, and you can spot blue smudges around walls, from Tobias covering himself in blue paint because he might get a call to be a stand-in for a Blue Man Group show. That's is funny.

Watching Lucille argue with Buster on a beach while seeing spashes of water every so often in the background. Later on you realize, perhaps from a second watching, that those splashes are from the "loose seal" (sounds like Lucille) that would later bite off Busters hand. That is funny.

And so many tiny nuances that only the dedicated fan would understand. At the end of last season, Michael and Gob got in a fight in front of the courthouse. The fought very similarly, and with the same spanish music, as when they fought over Marta in season 1 in the exact same place. Verbal jokes and double entendres come fast and furious. Everything comes so quick that you almost miss some of the jokes because you're still laughing at the previous ones. Even the characters throwaway lines are uproarious.

The fact that you call Arrested Development in your face, or blatant comedy shows how little you understand the show. You can watch it, chuckle at the obvious jokes, but miss so much of what is hidden for the diligent watcher to find. The jokes that aren't thrown in your face, and are left for you to find, are 50 times funnier than the ones they place obviously. This is intelligent comedy.

Okay, I'll take your example and explain why they're funny. It tastes like sad. Gob is angry over never being told about the cabin. Michael knew about the cabin, as his father would routinely tell him they would go, and then not take him. Gob is angry that he isn't as upset as he is and forces Michael to taste his tears of sadness since he isn't crying. When Michael finally agrees to take him to the cabin, Gob starts crying again, this time because he's happy, and then grabs Michael and makes him taste his tears again, this time so he can "Taste the happy, Michael!!". Michael responds with "tastes kind of like sad".

Further proof that a joke isn't funny when you need to explain it. For those of us that do get the subtle humor, it's gold. The normal viewer needs to be told when the laugh though, so legitimately funny shows are often left by the wayside to make room for things like "Yes, Dear", "King of Queens", and "Two and a Half Men". Sickening.

[A Black Falcon]

Scrubs also doesn't have a laughtrack... (and is quite good)

[EdenMaster]

Scrubs is also hilarious. Arrested Development, Srcubs, and Titus probably rank among my top three comedy shows ever. Honorable mentions to Seinfeld, Frasier, The Critic (another gem cancelled before it's time), and Upright Citizens Brigade (likewise).

[UltraMarioMan]

Even if Fox cancels it theres still hope another network will pick it up. Considering Ron Howards involvement. If put in a good timeslot and properly advertised (Things Fox don't do) it could be a hit.

[Great Rumbler]

I really hope a cable network like TBS or USA picks it up.

[EdenMaster]

I was hoping maybe something like HBO or Showtime, someplace where absolutely no censorship is required. As racy and hilarious as it is now, imagine what they could do without censors hanging over their shoulder. They even poked fun at their censors in the last episode!

[Great Rumbler]

If it goes to HBO or Showtime I won't be able to watch it. So, no.

[The Former DMiller]

Yeah, HBO or Showtime would be bad. Comedy Central or any other cable network would be fine, though. I just want the show to continue since it sucks to get into a show the season it is suppose to be canceled.