First Firefly. Then Wonderfalls.
Now Arrested Development?
To quote the blond chick who buys it in the original Matrix flick: No, not like this… Not like this.
Did Fox lose all confidence in “Arrested Development”…? As far as I know, Fox has not formally pulled the plug on “Arrested,” and has at least till mid-May to decide if the comedy will turn up on its 2005-06 slate. Still, giving the borrible “American Dad” its timeslot for May sweeps? Not the best sign.
Keep in mind, this is rumor-central at this point: nothing official has happened, and nothing may be coming down the pike.
But I’m starting to think that Satan himself may be running Fox these days, teasing the foolish mortals with brilliant television, only to cancel the darlings of our nights before our very teary eyes, crushed souls to wander this plane broken and wasted, shattered bodies that had known light only to… okay, you get the idea.
Arrested Development is an absolutely brilliant comedy, the best thing to come to network television since Seinfeld. To not recognize that scientific bloody fact is… miraculous. (Or miraculously evil? I’ll leave it to you, Trusty Reader, to decide.)
I would argue, in fact, that Arrested Development represents the best in American comedy whereas the equally brilliant (and deranged) The Office represents the best of the BritCom. Arrested Development is minute-by-minute, laugh out loud funny. Its characters are unique and manically cynical, over-the-top bizarre (a recent episode in which Buster Bluth skips out on Basic Training to obsess over the Crane Game at the bus station had me rolling for days) and the writing is even better. Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth does a masterful job as the only nearly sane character and anchors a truly remarkable cast that includes Jeffrey Tambor (who plays two roles), Jessica Walter, the lights out talented David Cross, and Tony Hale, who plays the aforementioned Buster.
Please, please Fox, don’t do this. Firefly was resurrected on the strength of its DVD sales (after Fox aired about nine episodes completely out of order before canceling it mercilessly) into the most anticipated movie of the year (okay… for me, anyway): Serenity.
Not like this. Not like this…
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Lono
Good news though. On tonight's pre-view piece for their return in May, the show as Julia Louis Dreyfus. That will bring in a lot of new viewers. However, these viewers will mostly be totally confused by the bizarre world this show has created. This is my favorite show.
2 - simon hb
Basically, Fox's entertainment channel is like Fox's news channel. They don't care about critical acclaim; they don't care if it's any good. It's about if people watch.
3 - Joel Caris
Don't forget, they also killed the live action version of The Tick in short order. The show was awesome.
Frankly, I'm looking forward to the start of their new series, The Inside. It's being run by Tim Minear--of Angel, Firefly and Wonderfalls--and could start airing as soon as March. It will probably be great and it will probably be gone after about five episodes.
4 - Chris Beaumont
Remember the first time Family Guy was around, it got shuffled around so much no one knew when it was on!
As much as I love Arrested, I can't help but wonder why there is also such a lack of love for Scrubs, which between it and Arrested are the top 2 sitcoms.
5 - Eric Berlin
Simon: I'm realistic to know that every company cares primarily about money. On a Big Picture level, though, it's rather astounding that Fox can't recognize the quality it has (and has had) in house and give it a little time to get Out There. Plus, the critical acclaim -- massive in this case -- can only help to bolster the fortunes of the entire network.
But what do I know?
Joel: I never watched the live action Tick, so thanks for mentioning. I absolutely loved the cartoon, however -- one of the most inventive I've ever seen (the Civic Minded Five... genius).
For years now, I've taken the tack of waiting to watch new shows until a great amount of time has gone by so that I know that my time investment will be worthwhile. Therefore, I often will catch up on great shows via the DVD route. I broke that rule this year for Lost, which was definitely worth the risk.
Chris: Scrubs is a very good comedy, but perhaps not great. That said, it's a sitcom that consistently draws laughs, which is really an extraordinary (and extraordinarily rare) thing to pull off in today's TV Land.
Thanks for the thoughts, all.
6 - Dave Nalle
Hey wait, you mean Arrested Development is supposed to be funny? I thought it was some sort of reality show about washed up actors. Let me think back on the episodes I've seen, considering it as a comedy.....
Oh wow, it's still not funny.
Dave
7 - Eric Berlin
Dave - Arrested Development is not about washed up actors, so maybe you're thinking about another show?
Or are you making some kind of joke?
Wait, let me check: hard to say...
8 - Eric Berlin
Joel - Forgot to mention that both Tim Minear (and you) must be a masochist for getting involved with a new Fox project again. I hope the guy's getting paid what he's worth, at the least. Or perhaps he's under contract and making the best of his time? Otherwise it just doesn't make sense that he would develop another show for them.
9 - Dave Nalle
My joke was about as funny as Arrested Development.
I will say this though. Arrested Development is at least as hilarious as Everybody Loves Raymond, and slightly more entertaining to watch. It does lack the paint drying on the wall excitement of 8 Simple Rules, however.
Dave
10 - Eric Berlin
Dave - You've told us what you don't like or think is funny. Give us your Top 3 comedies currently on the air.
11 - Matt
I'll bet Curb Your Enthusiasm is not on his list.
Eric---take heart in knowing that you get it, even if Dave doesn't. Isn't it better that way anyway?
12 - Matt Paprocki
Two things: I fail to see why people are blaming Fox. If it's not getting ratings, then it won't stay on the air. If all the praise in the world won't make people watch, nothing will.
Secondly, I hate this show. I've given it a fair chance, watched it four times, and I think I laughed twice. I just don't find it funny. I completely agree with Dave. It'll die and it's audience will find it on DVD.
I wonder if it sold well enough if Fox would consider actually priducing more episodes just for the DVD market? It would be an interesting market test and save their airspace for things that are drawing ever-so-prescious ratings while keeping the die-hard audience happy.
13 - Tom Johnson
Eric, this has all already been covered by me when the news broke last week here. It's also been resolved - Arrested Development isn't going anywhere according to the email sent by Fox, and again confirmed by Jason Bateman on SNL this weekend in his monologue. Likely, when AD returns in March, it will play straight through til May, then end its season early at episode 18. My guess is we'll see new episodes over the summer.
I enjoy seeing the negative comments from people who don't like this show. What you guys say to dismiss the show says a lot more about YOU than it does about the quality of the show.
14 - Temple Stark
>>> ...The Tick in short order. The show was awesome.
"Tick" and "awesome" in the same sentence and not in a snide fashion? Wow. Oh, look ice crystals in hell are starting to form. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.
Never got the thrill of Seinfeld. Yawner pretty much. Liked Roseanne when it was on - most of the time. Ditto for Cheers.
Frasier for about the first year then .. blah.
Bernie Mac was my favorite for a while - until every episode was about the same thing, with the same expressions and the same scenes.
Malcolm in the Middle is highly underrated.
George Lopez (his show is just called George Lopez right?) is probably the funniest thing in TV right (That's subjective ... I know)
What's that other one - Two And a Half Men. That's pretty good too. But I don't find mylsef tuning in especdially for comedies anymore. Hmm, wonder why.
15 - Matt Paprocki
"What you guys say to dismiss the show says a lot more about YOU than it does about the quality of the show."
I believe I said I didn't laugh. What does that say about me? That I don't have some odd sense of humor? I guess a lot of people don't if the show was close to being on the chopping block. Hey, if you guys love it, great.
While I can't vouch for anyone else, I fail to see what not liking a TV show has to do with me personally.
16 - Joel Caris
Eric, is you care to see The Tick, its short run is on DVD. Perhaps you have Netflix? That's how I saw it.
I agree with Chris that Scrubs is a great show. In fact, I like it a bit better than Arrested Development. It's a shame Scrubs doesn't get the attention it deserves.
Yes, Tim Minear is insane for getting involved with Fox again. I don't know what he's thinking. But I'll watch anyway, I think because I hate myself.
Matt, the reason people are blaming Fox is because they often don't nurture their shows in the slightest bit. Now, granted, that's not really the case with Arrested Development. They've actually allowed it to air for almost two seasons now, they put it in a good time slot and they renewed it after a first year that saw only okay ratings. And it sounds like the show will be back next year, though I won't believe it until I see it annouced for the fall schedule in May.
The annoyance with Fox is more over shows like Wonderfalls and Firefly. Both of those shows were very good, had a committed fan base and got great reviews. In both cases, they started out by dumping the shows in terrible time slots, airing a couple episodes out of order, and then killing them. They aired Firefly nine times and Wonderfalls four. If you have a show that's getting great reviews and has a committed fan base, why not actually put it in a decent time slot and give it a good thirteen episodes to air, and show them in order? Why not give it a chance to find its audience? The complaint is that they basically sabotaged the shows and didn't give them any real chance.
If they had acted that way with X Files, it would have been canceled after a few episodes. Instead, they gave it a chance and it grew into a big hit. I think there's a very good chance that both Firefly and Wonderfalls would have done the same if they had showed patience with the shows and given them better timeslots.
17 - Tom Johnson
Sorry, Matt P., I was lumping you in with Dave Nalle, as I'd overlooked your polite dismissal of the show. Suffice it to say that I've seen more than a few whose reactions are more like Dave N.'s (and worse) and not like yours. People are free to dislike a show if it doesn't appeal to them, but when it turns into stupid insults about a show as universally critically lauded as AD is, that's when the comments are revealing something about the person talking and not the show itself.
Personally, I'm very surprised it's still on the air. It's definitely the best comedy on TV right now, but it's very different comedy than most people are used to. This is dry humor and the majority of people watching sitcoms, as evidenced by what's getting the ratings, don't watch for dry humor. It sounds snobbish, but this is humor on a higher level than most people care to indulge in because it requires more patience and attention than most viewers are willing to give to a show. A series like AD requires viewers to actually think about what's going on, and most people simply want to sit back and have one-liners tossed at them. There is way more than enough of that kind of humor on TV right now. I don't know why people who dislike AD get so combative about it - it's not like AD exists in the vacuum of a show that did appeal to them. The anti-AD people have plenty of options to choose from, so their attacks seem completely unwarranted. Why they feel the need to disparage a show they don't even watch is beyond me. You can have your Joeys. Just leave this one tiny little show for those of us who find the typical sitcom boring and simple. That's all I ask.
18 - Jim Carruthers
I had an email exchange with somebody from CTV over "About Jim" or whatever that visual colostomy which has John Belushi's less talented, less attractive and not as much dead brother. Her whole point wasn't that the unprompted image of a topless Jim Belushi in his underwear while I was switching channels was near causing me to succumb to hysterical blindness, but that a lot of people watch the show by their shoddy metrics.
So, funny, clever, etc. don't enter into it at all. It's a crap shoot which determines the pole position to a race to the bottom.
Anybody who doesn't recognize how brilliant "Arrested Development" is, needs to get a tape recorder and listen to what they say.
19 - RJ
Sooo...
I guess "American Dad" sucked?
20 - RJ
"Everybody Loves Raymond"
This is the most over-rated show on TV. The "plots" are repetitive, and the characters are annoying.
21 - RJ
"Never got the thrill of Seinfeld. Yawner pretty much."
You've got bad taste, friend. Seinfeld is one of the greatest sitcoms ever. (But Cheers was too, as your rightly point out...)
22 - Kujo
I'll never forgive Fox for what they did to Firefly. They have the quickest trigger finger of any of the major networks. It wouldn't surprise if they canceled AD, but I doubt they will. How can you cancel the sitcom that won the past Emmy for best comedy series? I know that they almost canceled AD after season 1, and rumor has it that the Emmy nomination saved the series. I caught on late to AD (casually watched a ep or two (didn't find it that funny at the time), my cousin kept telling how funny the show was, so I decided to give it another chance, and got caught up over the summer (thank God for Bittorrent). I don't know how I didn't get into the show. It's funny as hell, and easily the best sitcom on TV. I watch it religiously now. The only other sitcom I watch is Scrubs. I can't stand sitcoms with laugh tracks.
It's no secret that Fox almost canceled X-Files after season 1, and you would think by now they would realize that you have to give a critically acclaimed series a chance to grow.
23 - Dave Nalle
BTW, I do 'get' Arrested Development. I just don't find it funny enough to justify the love some people seem to have for it. It's reminiscent of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is also not terribly funny but yet praised to the heavens by so many. They're like Seinfeld but with sloppier scripts and less engaging characters.
>>Dave - You've told us what you don't like or think is funny. Give us your Top 3 comedies currently on the air.<<
That's a real challenge, especially if I have to limit myself to actual live action comedy and exclude skit shows? Do I?
My three would be:
Scrubs
South Park
Family Guy
if it has to be all live actors it's:
Scrubs
Boston Legal
Malcolm in the Middle
I do have to admit to not watching an awful lot of TV though.
Dave
24 - Eric Berlin
First, great responses and discussion, all.
Second, Tom: I apologize that I missed your column -- I've had a crazy hectic first and second week on a new career / new job. I saw the Arrested rumor on Ain't It Cool News and felt compelled to write about it (I'm a compulsive-in-general writer, but that's another story).
I wholeheartedly agree with everyone who rightly condemns Fox for playing it massively incompetent with star quality programs. Everyone knows that ratings rule, but you have to cultivate an audience, market an audience, and let the flowers bloom, so to speak.
Joel - I have Netflix (and love it), and I get the feeling that our tastes are similar, so I'm adding the live action Tick.
Dave - Cheers for listing your favorite sitcoms. All good choices... though B Legal ain't no kind of comedy I ever heard of.
For all Scrubs fans: the janitor guy on the show (forget his name off-hand) is part of an amazing improv group -- perhaps the best I've ever seen -- called Beer Shark Mice. They've been performing nearly every Saturday at the IO West improv club in Hollywood. Amazingly funny and professional improv on the super cheap for any LA-ites out there.
25 - Eric Berlin
Finally, my take on the quality of Arrested Development:
Comedy is an extremely subjective subject, perhaps more so than drama. What to some is high comedy, to others is low bullshit.
That being said, it's difficult for me to fathom how anyone can fail to see the innate quality of AD. I don't really see it as avant-garde or "dry" -- I just think it's a fast-paced, finely written, story-arc based show (which is why it's best when you watch the shows in order). It's a little edgy, but we're talking about network television here.
For anyone who might be on the fence: I highly recommend that you rent the first season and watch the first four episodes straight through. Watch the characters come out, the family relationships, the family fortunes build and rise and crumble. There's a basic humanity to the show (which I attribute to Ron Howard) and a basic cynicism and mania that collide against it: that gives the show it's comic gleam and its edge.
Okay, enough said by me. It's funny, it's smart, it's hip. I dig it. I hope it doesn't get cancelled. If other people don't agree, I'll get over it.