Friday, November 11, 2005

Mr. F takes down the Bluths

Well, this is depressing, but not the least bit surprising. According to Joe Adalian at Daily Variety, "Arrested Development" is basically dead:

Fox has cut back its episode order on one of TV's most critically praised shows to just 13 segs, down from 22. Skein, from 20th Century Fox TV and creator Mitch Hurwitz, has also been pulled from the schedule for the rest of the month, another sign that the network may have finally given up on trying to bring an audience to the show.
And adding insult to injury:

News was nearly as grim for "Arrested's" Monday night companion, the Darren Star-produced "Kitchen Confidential." It's also been pulled for sweeps, and producers have been told the show won't be getting a full-season pickup.

I got over taking these things too hard a long time ago. The very first pilot that I watched in my very first year as a critic was "EZ Streets," which is still one of the two or three best TV shows I've ever seen. Dead on contact. Two years after that, I got my heart broken by "Cupid." Then there were "Freaks and Geeks," and "Titus," and "Greg the Bunny," and... well, you get the point. All my darlings end prematurely, and I've long since accepted my role as the Angel of Death. Frankly, I had assumed that "Arrested" would be canceled in half a season. The fact that I got more than two years of it was a pleasant surprise. Time to pre-order that DVD.

I only wish I had known about the move before I wrote my column about how boring this season has been. And, yes, I already said I probably wasn't going to do it because Melanie McFarland beat me to the punch, but Melanie encouraged me to go for it, anyway, and I didn't have a better idea for Friday, especially since I had already reviewed the "SNL" in the '80s documentary yesterday.

Comments on "Lost," "Veronica Mars," "Survivor" and the rest of Thursday TV later today.

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