SkaroffBlog

Add another log to the bonfire of network comedies that were simply too smart and quirky for the American audience. Fox announced today that they will be cancelling Arrested Development, cutting this season to only 13 episodes and taking if off the air for the rest of sweeps, not to return until December.

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.

I’ve always enjoyed Arrested and I’ve thought this season has been simply brilliant. Yes, it’s strange and at times cold, but the writing is so sharp and the acting is hysterical. I will never get tired of David Cross’ unending homoerotic double entendres, George Michael’s quiet innocence, or Gob’s simple desire for his father’s approval of his “magic.” Much like Sports Night or Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Arrested was simply too good to survive amongst the dreck of primetime network television.

C’mon F/X, do the right thing and produce the show that your big brother won’t. It sure would go well alongside one of my new favorites, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 11th, 2005 at 1:13 pm and is tagged as Humor, TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.