I’d say it’s their policy to cancel shows that few people watch.
Otherwise, you’re insulting fans of The Simpsons, 24, House, etc.
Well duh. I don’t get why Lightnin’ thinks is something to complain about. No shit Fox doesn’t want to drum up viewers. Why would they want to drum up viewers for a show that they aren’t going to run anymore?
–Cliffy
House was just preempted so Fox could bring us the glory of American Idol. Which, to me, is just a snarkier version of the Gong Show. Intelligence loses out over schadenfreude every time.
It may be on it’s last legs, but Fox can still sell the finale(s) and drum up viewers and drum up advertisers and make money. Money is usually a good incentive for Corporate America.
It hasn’t worked so far, why would it work now that they’ve cancelled the show? As far as Fox is concerned, at this point AD is just time filler that they already paid for.
Yeah. If Fox knew how to make money on the show, they’d have done so once during the last three years. Now that it seems increasingly likely that the show could end up on Showtime or ABC, Fox isnt’ going to waste money on promotion that it can’t recoup and which will only benefit another network.
–Cliffy
I agree the structure of the show makes it more difficult to market than, say, Will & Grace where you can play a brief clip of one joke that needs no context whatsoever. Arrested Development has these kinds of jokes which don’t depend on context, but they usually are either too subtle that slip by even the most attentive viewer or simply not commercial material; for example: “Why go to a banana stand when we can make your banana stand?” would give the idea the show is just another dirty comedy (which it is, but to be fair, it’s not the same as others). Fox cannot be blamed for not giving the show a chance (it has had 3 seasons, after all), but they can be for not coming up with an effective marketing strategy instead of letting the show survive on its own.
I’ve been thinking of ways they could improve their ads for this program. Instead of showing a montage of clips that make no sense together and ask people to watch the best-rated comedy on television, they could produce ads that work as comedy on their own. Of course, it would be ideal if the writers could be part of production. A 30 second clip specially produced for advertising to outline the type of comedy in the show written by the same guys who work on it could spark interest in the viewership instead of leaving them cold, not knowing what the it is about, except that it’s loved by critics who also love a plethora of failed television productions.
These clips could include anything from a special situation not having to do with the show’s main storyline (think of the early Simpsons cartoons which prompted Fox to pick it up) to the magic --erhm-- illusion acts of Tony Wonder and GOB. Any AD fan knows the delightful opening of GOB’s act and why I believe its hilarity could drum up viewers.
That’s how I would market it. So, in the spirit of this thread, fuck Fox for not coming up with ads (if any, at all… nobody I know has ever heard of this show) that will interest audiences. And fuck me, for not being a Fox executive.
Here’s some not-so-good news from the Buffalo News today:
So make sure any Nielsen families you know are watching those final episodes, instead of the Olympics.
They did sorta try this at the beginning of this season, such as with the brilliant “Monday” ad. It didn’t work.
–Cliffy
Damn. Maybe part of the problem is I never saw it (and neither did most viewers) and most networks spend more money advertising shows people already watch? I don’t know. I give up. At least we had 53 excellent episodes and, as far as we know, 2 DVD releases.
RIP AD.
Now I actually do find myself in agreement with the OP. They say they’ll consider keeping the show around depending on how these episodes do against the Olympics? Fuck you, Fox network.
If you’re talking about the effort it takes to force yourself to laugh at bad (and obvious) jokes or the effort it takes to mentally block out the annoying (and obvious) narration, then I’m right behind you on that statement.
I gave AD more of a chance than most other shows I initially dislike, simply due to the fact that a lot of people who enjoy the same shows as me are completely in love with AD. Unfortunately, the show just fell flat on every conceivable level.
Fox may have bungled a few shows in the past, but I find myself scratching my head when I see so many rabid AD fans claiming they dropped the ball on this one. Not only did they promote the show heavily, but its initial timeslot was on Sunday night, and too late to be pre-empted by football.
Sorry, but when a show receives incessant promotion (and it was incessant at the beginning - even to the point of annoyance) and the absolute, undeniably best time slot on a network’s schedule, it rises or falls on its own merits. Arrested Development fell. Blaming Fox for that is just grasping at straws.
Bravo, man, bravo.
I love the show, but I completely agree with this. Fox gave the show every chance to succeed.