CHANNEL ISLAND - Nothing to show but 53 shows

Lame duck ‘Arrested Development’ will expire 47 episodes short of the 100 mark. And, apparently, that spells failure.

By Scott Collins, Times Staff Writer

The strange fate of “Arrested Development” reminds us once again of the odd up-is-down commercial imperatives of American network TV.

Variety reported Tuesday that creator Mitch Hurwitz has decided to bail on the sitcom about a grandiosely strange Orange County family, which won an armload of glowing reviews, a best comedy Emmy after its first season and whispered reverence from Fox executives, who referred to the show the same way nuns might speak of a medieval relic associated with the Virgin Mary. Unfortunately, what “Arrested” could never do is get arrested. Not nearly enough viewers ever tuned in to justify all the heroic attempts to save the show, which is now evidently dead beyond all doubt.

“The fans have been so ardent in their devotion and in return … I’ve given everything I can to the show in order to try to live up to their expectations,” Hurwitz told Daily Variety. “I finally reached a point where I felt I couldn’t continue to deliver that on a weekly basis.”

In the annals of Hollywood, “Arrested” will go down as a tragedy — not because it was a creative flop (its small but intense legion of fans say quite the opposite) but because it committed the unpardonable sin of crapping out after three seasons. To TV executives, that is just about the worst thing a series can do, because it means that the studio has spent big money to keep alive a show that in all likelihood will never produce serious cash in syndication, where it takes about 100 episodes, or almost five seasons, to prosper.

Does that make any sense? Only to accountants at the TV studios. The economic model that American viewers are stuck with tends to encourage painfully incremental storytelling among dramas and formulaic situations in comedies. Why? So the shows can reach the vaunted 100 mark more easily. Producers lean toward that magic number whether creativity dictates it or not. For all the talk of the death of network comedies, precious little thought has been given to changing the financial formula.

This is the not the way it is everywhere. Consider the BBC. One of its most highly regarded sitcoms, John Cleese’s landmark farce, “Fawlty Towers,” produced precisely 12 episodes. Twelve! That’s one-half of an American season. BBC’s “The Office” produced a grand total of 14 episodes. The NBC version, in its second season, has already made roughly twice that many.

“Arrested” lasted 53 episodes. Only in America would that be considered an early death.

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This is another great example of a journalist who wants to write the AD is dead story so bad that he damages his craft in the process.

Check out the first sentence: “It now looks as if ‘Arrested Development’ is officially dead.

If it was officially dead, it wouldn’t “look like” it was officially dead. There would be no need for equivocation. It’s kinda like saying “I usually always do such-and-such.”

And note the gradual lightening of the show’s status as the article goes on. In the title, it’s the end of Arrested Development. No way to misinterpret that, right? But then the first sentence is “it looks like” it’s officially dead. (Michael: “Wait, you mean he is dead, or it just looks like it?” Literal Doctor: “No, it just looks like he’s dead. He’s got blue paint all over him or something.”) And then by the third paragraph, we’re down to “it now seems highly unlikely the show will get another season.”

By the end of the article, the show is renewed, and outlasting The Simpsons. (Just kidding.)

A+E Interactive: The End of “Arrested Development'’
by Charlie McCollum

It now looks as if “Arrested Development'’ is officially dead.

Just days after sources said that a deal to move the Emmy-winning comedy from its old home at Fox (which pulled it off the air earlier this year) to Showtime was all but finished, show creator Mitch Hurwitz pulled out over what were reportedly creative and financial differences. Hurwitz confirmed his departure in interviews late Monday.

Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox, the comedy’s producers, could go ahead with “Arrested'’ minus Hurwitz. But since Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt has said repeatedly he wouldn’t take the series unless Hurwitz was involved, it now seems highly unlikely the show will get another season.

Since making its debut in fall 2003, the often-brilliant satirical take on the lives of the Bluth family of Orange County has been widely viewed as television’s best comedy. It won the Emmy for best comedy in 2004 and was nominated again last season.

But the series never found an audience, despite heavy promotion by Fox after its Emmy win and again last fall. (This is one case where you can’t blame the network for not backing a good show.) At the end, “Arrested'’ was attracting barely 5 million viewers a week and often finished last in its time period.

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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.