OK. OK. Breathe. Breathe in, breathe out. Stop kicking the cat, it’s not even yours.
Reuters says that AD is getting a reduced order so they can start American Dad in its slot. Now, this does not mean AD is cancelled. It does not mean it’s gone for good. I don’t know how fewer episodes than the planned 22 will be made/shown. That still is being worked out.
What I do know is that the usually bubbly David Cross, who just announced this on Jimmy Kimmel Live, is spending the rest of the show subdued and half-slumped in his chair, having found out the news from the Internets rather than the decency of having someone from the network like, you know, call him and tell him. He said “they’re shutting down production.” On one of the most intricate comedies ever. On one whose plotlines take their own sweet time to reach fruition. On one whose creators (Brian Glaser, Mitch Hurwitz, and Ron Howard) were on Charlie Rose just last night, glowing with happiness as they described how much they were enjoying working together and weaving this world and these people’s lives. Ones who had earned the Emmy for their first year show over the swan songs of several long-running hits. Jason Bateman was on Charlie Rose too, and he was articulate and intelligent and obviously having the time of his life playing the heart of soul of it, Michael Bluth. He won the Golden Globe a couple of weeks ago, and this coming Saturday he’s hosting SNL. That’ll be awkward now, huh?
Look. I knew Firefly and Wonderfalls would never make it. I’m happy you’ve kept The Simpsons around and let my beloved Married with Children limp on when it should have been put out of its misery with a fitting hour-long finale show a few years before (a show it never got, BTW, after eleven seasons.) But godammit. This show WON THE EMMY! IT HAS THE BEST ENSEMBLE ON TV! IT’S THE ONLY SPOT OF PRESTIGE ON YOUR SCUMMY NETWORK BESIDES ‘HOUSE’!
And you’re throwing it away for…American Dad? (which I refuse to italicize, not worth the effort).
All hope is not lost. We don’t know the details. It may come back for a third season; the outcry might be too strong for Fox to resist, because the critics almost all love the show and it has Ron Howard behind it.
But dammit. This is Fox. And fuck them sideways for yanking the rug out from under me–again.
This news makes me want to puke all over someone’s head. If it would make a difference, I would send a strongly-worded letter. All I know is this: Fox, you’ve made a huge mistake.
Dude, we gotta send the letters anyway. I plan to exaggerate my income by a few grand, but hey, what would Lucille do? She is my new role model. Granted, I have a lot fewer friends, but the drinking takes away the pain. <sip>
Even if they’ve been good, I think a return like that would be tougher with a live action show. If this is a step toward cancellation or something, I hope another network would pick up the show… anyway I’m going to try not to assume the worst. This puts a real cramp in my night in any event.
Let’s just say that if a show had to be scaled back to make room for it (American Dad), there are certainly shows more worthy of being impinged upon than Arrested Development. Such as The OC, The Simple Life, Bill O’Reilly’s No-Spin Zone…
WTF is Fox’s problem? Every decent show they get - Get A Life, The Ben Stiller Show, even Greg The Bunny - lasts a season and a half, after being put through re-scheduling nightmares and no promotion. Shit, wasn’t Martin on Fox? And wasn’t it on for, like, five years? Sure, they kept The Simpsons, but unfortunately they kept it waaay past its sell-by date (as they did with 21 Jump Street, Married…With Children, etc.). If AD is cancelled, all I’ve got is The Sopranos, and that’s entering its final season. Maybe HBO can pick up AD, since it seems more in tune with Curb Your Enthusiasm than a network sitcom. Fuckers.
It’s Fox. Cancelling a good show when it starts to make its appeal known is in the contract. Makes more room for their disgusting reality shows and its Fair and Balanced news.
I’m kinda disappointed in Seth MacFarlane about American Dad. How could he have produced a show based on obvious, formulaic toilet humor?
While I share your disappointment and do enjoy arrested development myself, I think American Dad is a worthy replacement. I enjoyed the pilot and I’m sure that Todd McFarlane will be able to pull a show that rivals Family Guy in quality and comedic value.
Of course, they should’ve reduced some crappy show instead. It’s not like there aren’t dozens to chose from.
Oh, they won’t cancel it outright. They’ll move it around as much as possible, so that no one knows when it is on and can’t plan to watch it. During football season, they’ll put it in that early Sunday spot that always gets cancelled, since football games last about a half-hour longer than Fox thinks they do. They’ll frequently just pre-empt it entirely to try out new replacement shows.
THEN they’ll cancel it, due to disappointing ratings.