Arrested Development

A couple of Arrested Development notes, before I get back into a blogging grove: First, it is not neccesarily canceled. There is news that both ABC and Showtime are interested in bringing in the show if Fox actually formally cancels it--something it has not done, it has merely reduced its order from a full season to 13 episodes

So I just talked about it, but I feel it is worth a little more attention. Most people know that Arrested Development was kind of canceled a couple of months ago, in fact every time I mention that I have been watching it people remark its cancellation. Of course, Fox is typically very smart with its cancellation policy. One only has to look as far as Family Guy, or the fact that Arrested Development was displaced from its lucrative Sunday slot to a Monday slot in order to make room for the unbearable The War at Home.

But a couple of constructive things: first of all, Arrested Development has not been canceled; it is only not making a full season of episodes this year. This is an important distinction because until it is canceled, neither ABC nor Showtime can pick up the show; something that seems within the realm of possibility.

And it seems that the interest Showtime has may be somewhat serious (as opposed to ABC which most articles dismiss as purely speculative). This is interesting because it would probably be paired with Showtime's fantastic Weeds, which is the embodiment of Showtime's attempt at emulating HBO's successful foray into doing more than constantly airing Groundhog Day.

Of course, all the potential suitors may pressure Fox to retain Arrested Development and actually realize that Arrested's viewership problem has nothing to do with the quality of the show and everything to do with its PR department. Or it may not, in which case Showtime might pick up the Bluth family. Finding this out has made me very happy.

But in the meantime, do two things. Go to Amazon and buy season one and two with that gift certificate you just got for Christmas, you will never think of the Blue Man Group, A Charlie Brown Christmas, incest, amputation, or nudity the same. Also, watch the damn show on Fox, Monday at 8pm. I know everyone makes time to watch a rapidly diminishing Family Guy. Watch a truly entertaining comedy that actually has a plot arc in its episodes and features characters, as opposed to caricatures of characters that may have once existed (think Homer and Peter).

Save our Bluths!

-Mr. Alec