Fawlty Towers. The Office (UK). Arrested Development
What's the correlation? Apart from being 3 of the best things ever put on television, they will now more than likely share the status of great shows that never jumped the shark.
Fox announced that they will be canceling Arrested Development after the 13 episodes it already ordered have aired.
I really want to be upset about this, but I'm pretty sure it's for the best. It just so happens that today my wonderful wife gave me season 1 on DVD. We had once already devoured that whole season on DVD (thank you, Netflix), but after watching disc one of three all the way through today I know that nothing about this show becomes any less funny on repeat viewing.
I've only seen two season 3 episodes, but nothing about those episodes struck me as shark-jumping material. I think it'll be quite nice having those three DVD sets sitting on the shelf, next to both season of The Office (UK), without worrying about whether or not being a completist means owning a lot of garbage - that means you, Seinfeld and Friends, among others. I have a feeling bad Arrested Development could be very difficult to watch.
There is always the possibility that another network, cable or broadcast, could pick up the show. There is absolutely no way AD works on another broadcast network - stay tuned for another Yes, Dear followed by Arrested Development and Two and a Half Men. I guess it would work on Comedy Central (Lord knows they could use something to replace Dave Chapelle - David Spade is not it), but as the Yahoo article surmises, the cost of the show may be too high for most cable networks.
Yes, I think this is alright. Leave prime-time to schlock like Prison Break and stride confidently into the sunset. Let's face it - we all knew Ron Howard being involved in something good could not possibly last forever.
Posted by Joel at 11/12/2005 03:45:00 AM
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