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ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Headed To Showtime??
I am – Hercules!!
Wednesday morning’s Variety has a story by Josef Adalian suggesting that Fox’s “Arrested Development” could be picked up by ABC or Showtime once the netlet formally cancels it. Both channels have had “conversations” with "Arrested's" production company, 20th Century Fox Television, according to the piece. An excerpt:
… those familiar with the talks described them as serious, with Showtime said to be in particularly hot pursuit …
Read all of Adalian’s story here.
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This show deserves a reprieve! Cancel FREDDIE!!!
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Gob is probably the funniest character on television right now. Then Ricky from trailer park boys.
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Only thing... I hope ABC picks it up. Part of what I think is so fun about this show is how much they push the envelope of prime time bounderies. If those bounderies are gone... I am afraid that some of that creativity will go with it. Then again... WTF am I saying? Curb Your Enthusiasm. Nevermind. Go Showtime. If this gets on Showtime, for the first time in my life, I will pay for a subscription to Showtime.
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Five people I reckon would be excited by this news- if indeed it turns out to be true. Five people, tops.
I hope they get their old writers back though; with the exception of 306 (which was a TOTAL return to S1/S2 glory)- Season 3 has been down.
I'm still pissed at the Golden Globes snub, though. Even when writing is down, AD has the best comic performances around. -
yup, if they get it.
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Dec 14, 2005 12:50:28 AM CST
This is good news, but then again, talks don't mean shit.
by lenny nero
Many shows go through talks. Very few continue. Still, *knock on wood*. And by wood, I mean my penis. Yeah, that's right. My name is Pinocchio.
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remember when Showtime was in "hot pursuit" of Angel? Yeah.
But, I love Areested Development. Here's all my hope -
^Arrested. I need to get to bed.
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that we're finally going to see Kitty's uneven nipples?
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I love AD - it's really one of 3 shows I watch and (as Lost sucks this year, it will soon be 2) - BUT 3 years is perfect for any show. End it and let it be before its schtick wears thin. I'd rather see it disappear early, rather than drag on way too long...take a bow seinfeld, simpsons and cheers
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but never say never.
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I created a petition to encourage Showtime to pick up "Arrested Development" by getting people to pledge to subscribe if they pick it up. Check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/aw9py
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Sorry for the cliche, but I love Arrested Development and will kill myself if the show gets cancelled forever.
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But I'd be a lot happier about this news is Season 3 was anywhere near as good as 1 and 2 were.
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If there's any network that has a worse history with handling a great show than FOX its gotta be ABC, they'd pick it up, shuffle it after the initial ratings dissapointment, and cancel it, all within two episodes.
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Short of raping it in front of its own Mother, there's no horrible thing that ABC could do to AD that Fox hasn't done already. Twice.
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Dec 14, 2005 3:05:08 AM CST
I bet that half the people who praise Arrested Development on he
by coursinlarry
If so many people like Arrested Development, how come nobody watches it? Why do people keep blaming Fox for the lack of viewers? Arrested Development had not just a second chance, but a third. They promoted the hell out of the thing. Still, people didn't tune in.
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I think Arrested Development isn't reflected well in the ratings because, first off, the Nielsen system is highly, highly flawed, as it skews to older viewers. And 2, unfortunately, is that most people download the episodes, without tuning into them. Because you look at AD DVD sales, and they're a lot stronger than most popular TV shows.
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But FOX has given the show a shot, it got a consistent time slot for both its first two seasons, after the first season they did a 24 marathon over at FX to try and drum up some viewers, after the second season they reran the entire season over 2 hour blocks on Fridays, again to try and catch some fans. I like the show, but I think we're just gonna have to face 4-6 million is its audience size, and however horrible you think FOX has been, ABC (look at Dennis Leary's The Job or Sports Night, if you think FOX has been crummy cause they try a new time slot for Arrested each season, that's nothing if you look at how ABC would bounce these shows around the schedule week-to-week, and both those shows got better ratings than AD).
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would be much worse, that's how I meant to finish that thought.
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While there are a lot of fans that speak highly of the show on the internet here on AICN and various other message boards, we'd still be talking something like hundreds of thousands of people. For a network show you need MILLIONS.
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Dec 14, 2005 4:08:18 AM CST
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, let theis happen
by chorleyfm
I am not done with Arrested yet. My only problem is that I am sure some of the cast (particluarly Arnett) don't need to come back as they have film offers coming out of the wazoo.
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It gets about 3 million. It gets 10s of thousands of Downloads. It is also said to be one of the top Tivo'd shows (which doesn't count on the ratings). Most Arrested fans it has been said are the more educated lot, people that are into films, comedy and to a lesser extent sci-fi/fantasy/comic books etc (general geekiness). Those people are more internet savvy, ergo the sample of those who talk about the show on websites such as these is not representative of America in tota.
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My point was the internet doesn't account for an extremely large viewership, so one should tend away from the "If so many people like Arrested Development, how come nobody watches it" logic, its quite possible that everyone we see praising here and elsewhere on the net does watch it AND it still gets low ratings.
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It's true Showtime has made some monumentally stupid decisions. Probably more than any other net. But renewing Weeds is a smart move, and if they pick up AD I will give them another chance.
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Something this fucking brilliant, and has consistently been winning awards does not deserve to go off the air. It'll be a tough call whether things should be wrapped up or not in the finale though, considering they won't know if they're moving or not. I suppose the same could have been said with season 2, and the finale they had then would have been completely fitting as a series finale.
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.. DUUUUHHHHH.. DUUUUUUHHHHHH... um.. ur.. guh.. DUUUHHHHHHH... (end witty impression)
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Imagine a 2 hour comedy block with Earl, the Office, Scrubs and Arrested. Unfortunatley it is too good to be true.
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Dec 14, 2005 8:07:45 AM CST
Is poor writing the reason for AD's average third season?
by the wrong guy
Is anyone else staggered by the fact that writers from season three have included those that have worked on shows such as Just Shoot Me, Larry Sanders Show, Mad About You, South Park, Futurama, Off Centre and Newsradio?
Oh, and one of the guys also wrote for Good Morning, Miami.
I think we should blame him for season three's waning quality.
Still, I hope it gets picked up. Home safely with Showtime, without interference from Fox, I have absolute faith the writers can reinvigorate the show, and put it back to it's former glory.
And second-rate AD is still a whole lot better than the purely evil According to Jim. -
Dec 14, 2005 8:29:49 AM CST
AD bad fit on ABC, I would get Showtime for this, and episode si
by big bad clone
Is ABC going to try and fit AD with Jake in Progress or that new Heather Graham show because they are single camera? Where would they put it? They have a hard time placing their established sitcoms. ---- With Weeds, the L Word and AD, I would subscribe to Showtime---- Watch the first six episodes of this season all in a row with no commercials and tell me it's not the best show on tv, you fickle motherfuckers
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Erm, no. Promotion for AD has been almost non-existent this season, and was spotty before (even after the show won an Emmy). The ads have never succeeded in encapsulating the style of humor of the show. This season FOX put all of its promotional effort into Prison Break and Bones, and left AD and Kitchen Confidential to die on Monday nights.
This season I think I've seen ONE ad for AD, and it came on FOX about five minutes before the actual episode did. -
First off, to whomever said they promoted the hell out of the show? No. There is ZERO advertising for AD, it has been on for over two months but only shown six eps and if I didn't continually check the website I would have had NO idea when it was on at all. But hey, at least Prison break got an uninterupted run in the AD time slot. Does anyone watch THAT show?
As for rating, they continually bring on between 3 and 5 million viewers an episode. Those are known viewers and don't include people taping the show, downloading it, etc. And if "nobody is watching" then why is fox continually bringing it back? Fox KNOWS tons of people are watching, whether it be on DVD, or taping it, or downloading...they are just pissed that they feel not enough people are watching the show as it airs and that hurts their advertising revenue.
I have been a big fan of the show since the begining and I think Season 3 is easily the funniest (except the most recent episode which was weak). The show reveals its genius 9and that of the writers) when there is a ton of crazy things going on all at once. The crazier the better and that is why this season has really shone. As for my theory on why it isn't gaining a bigger audience? Becuase the show is too smart. I don't mean you have to be smart to get the jokes or find it funny. I mean you have to have an attention span longer than 30 seconds to pick up on a lot of the self-referencing humour. You can't just tune in to an episode on occasion and expect to get the jokes. Most of the humour is self-aware, self-referencing and recurring jokes that are funny BECAUSE they keep popping up. Gob doing the chiken once isn't all that funny...but continually coming back to it is super funny but only if you have watched enough to get WHY.
How many people will tune in for more than a handful of episodes if they find their first hard to follow and not funny? Chances are nobody will and that is too bad. -
Dec 14, 2005 10:07:03 AM CST
HOLY FUCKING GOAT TORPS! THIS JUST MADE MY FUCKING DAY!
by darth sticky
I don't give a fuck WHO keeps this on the air - JUST KEEP IT ON THE AIR! Arrested Development is my absolute FAVORITE comedy and for Fox to fuck it like it has is a goddamn travesty! I'm gonna go jump for joy for the rest of the day! BOOYA!
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Dec 14, 2005 10:11:49 AM CST
Would someone just fucking Old Yeller this thing already?
by hypeendshere
Jesus Christ! Why didn't Get A Life have this many chances? This show is more interested in being clever than funny. Ideally, it would be both. But people don't like clever alone.
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Because if I do and it turns out to be incorrect, I might just kill myself.
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I don't subscribe to any premium channels, but I would subscribe to Showtime (or any other) if they picked up Arrested Development.
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Ever since they changed writers. The old episodes were brilliant; taking a hundred random elements and combining them in the last five minutes in a sort of hyper-farce. Lately the episodes have been, no matter how quirky, fairly straight foward by comparison. AD better step up the funny if it wants to get picked up by anyone else.
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Dec 14, 2005 11:13:45 AM CST
I will sign up for Showtime the day they confirm at least 12 epi
by diskatopia
Hell, I would sign up for ANY paychannel that gets it, and I currently sign up for none, which is a hint to certain clueless grandaddy nets concerning the coming decades of TeeVee biz... hint hint, hintedy-hinthint. .....For the slower net suits: if you don't have a paychannel yet, or at least one in dev, and with at least drawing-plans of an internet broadcast channel down the road, you need to look at what the future of TeeVee show dispersal is going to be like, and get on the move before you fossilize into impotence.
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Dec 14, 2005 11:21:01 AM CST
Getting a great comedy would help ABC very much. I can see Arres
by mr. profit
It could totally survive paired up with another hit show. And ABC let Alias live for 5 years before they cancelled it. People hate on ABC, but they did what no other network could accomplish so far. The made a genre show that should have only developed a cult following (Lost) grow into a ratings juggernaut. And a show that is basically a sequel to Sex in the City (Detailing what happens to women when they grow up) Desperate Housewives, into a show that narrowly misses beating CSI everyweek in the ratings. ABC's promo machine works. And I am sure that Arrested would do better on ABC. A network that inexplicably gives Kelly Ripa a horrible TV show. They need a hit comedy BADLY. Don't forget that ABC also has more affiliates than Fox. Showtime is still Iffy for me. I don't like how there is virtually NO promotion for any of their shows except the gay ones.
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all you guys with your "my comedy is high brow an you just dont understand it because its smart" can go suck an egg. if it doesnt get ratings its trash. you cant blame fox, its held on to the show longer than any other Net would, so give it some credit. Personally, i just dont "get" the show. Sure, its funny, but not much funnier than other shows on TV. Earl and Office are just as funny and those two shows get ratings. If it goes to showtime, it will have even less viewers than it has now. lol. who even HAS showtime? besides- im sure producers would want to add swears and other stuff they couldnt do on fox, so it would destroy the show anyhow. I dont see what the fuss is about! its just not a very amazing show. most of america agrees. get over it.
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Three years is a good run. The show has run its course. Dragging it on will only cheapen the show.
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I'm hoping ABC gets it, since I don't have cable. But it doesn't really seem to fit the mold of an ABC sitcom to me (George Lopez, Freddie, etc.).
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does weeds have any gay characters? idonno, i just thought showtime was gay-centric. not slurring here. i honestly thought that was their nitch.
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Or Scrubs and Arrested Development if NBC decide to get involved? Fingers crossed that AD is saved - it hasn't happened yet.
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Dec 14, 2005 1:03:57 PM CST
Almost everybody I know watches Arrested. Never met/heard of any
by bino white
I assume they live in caves or in extravagant underwater cities - I mean, in this digital age, the Nielson system isn't fit to decide what airs; it's fit for a museum.
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Keep it in your pants, man.
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Dec 14, 2005 1:11:19 PM CST
Herc, stop using Variety's idiotic and extremely irritating
by killah_mate
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Dec 14, 2005 1:13:13 PM CST
Spice-Orange: Never underestimate the type of real "trash" the
by chastain-86
Before you get too high and mighty, I think I need to remind you that "7th Heaven" is the top-rated show to ever appear on The WB. It lasted for 10 seasons. And it. Is. And Was. PABLUM. Crapola. So where are those ratings coming from, you ask? My snarky side wants to respond with "probably people like you", but I'll refrain. Instead, it's middle America with its wholesome values and lack of desire for anything remotely challenging in a comedy. So "if it doesn't get ratings, it's crap" doesn't hold water. And if you think it does, I fear for your offspring, unless you manage to impregnate some Stephen Hawking-level poon.
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Dec 14, 2005 1:13:55 PM CST
Some damn net pick it up, I mean, COME ON! Chickens! Chuka-chu
by tall_boy
And so forth.
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Glad to see it getting picked up by another station instead of being lost forever. People at fox are morons.
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Dec 14, 2005 2:01:57 PM CST
Chastain-86: "if it doesn't get ratings, it's crap" does
by spice-orange
like it or not, if a shows not watched, its going to die. deal with it. I've been a fan of a lot of shows that have died too early, but i'm not crying about it. besides, AD has been given a LOT of chances. i like how all you guys are whining when this is about the 3rd time its been close to cancelled. (it pretty much is now) Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Farscape, Firefly, Wonderfalls, etc never did. 7th Heaven was on so long because it was the only show of its type on the air. I never watched the show, but if someone wanted to see a goody-goody family drama, there was only one store on the block to get your Crap-in-a-box, and that was WB with 7th Heaven. I dont like that show, i also dont like either, but there's an audience for everything. The problem with AD is that there's a lot of sitcoms out there that are just as good as- if not better than AD, which are in timeslots that are more well-established. TV is about money and advertising. if a show cant bring in viewers, it dies. the end. There is no TV show in the history of broadcasting that was cancelled because it "wasn't quality programming". Shows get cancelled because no one watches. period. How about you "refrain" and not "snarky"-ly personally attack me? kthanks! be angry at Fox. They are the ones that cant find a timeslot for the damn show. Just watch earl, office and scrubs: good ratings so they wont get cancelled, and arguably funnier. AD is too disjointed and non-linear for its own good. It doesn't translate well to 30-minute-tv. why did it win awards? because all those biffys and buffys didnt have to wait a week to see it. they got tapes and saw them all at once. Im sure it plays better than way, IMO.
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The legit nets are losing their edge.
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.....care a git about reviving their must-see-TV Thursday dominance, then they'll want to get in on this and create an almost unbeatable Earl-Office-AD trifecta. My guess, though, is that it will end up on Showtime, which might mean that even less people will get to see it. ABC, of course is the worst possible fit as they'd try to re-tool the writing style to fit into their family clean channel image.
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It's amazing. Everyone I know watches this show. I'm not talking just my good friends either.....casual aquaintances...co-workers....and yet it just doesn't get the ratings. FOX never has figured out how to promote this show. If I hadn't been convinced by friends to check AD out, I probably never would have. The promos FOX runs (if any) are awful. If AD continues on to another network (and I pray it does), give to somebody who will give it the shot it deserves.
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To quote Homer Simpson, please, please, please, please, please, please, please...etc, etc.
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1 Nielsen household = 300,000 viewers, and will Nielsen begin to track shows that have been Tivod in January.
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I think the serial aspect of it can be a killer for any show (pardon the pun), I know lots of people who've heard AR is great but can't be bothered to jump in because its serial and they dont have a clue whats going on in the overall plot. Not that it doesnt take more than an episode or two to get in.
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The problem with AD is that everyone thinks its some highbrow, haugty taughty show like some upper crust british comedy, when in reality its just well written sex jokes and pratfalls. Oh well. I guess people are just afraid of sitcoms with less than 3 cameras. Lousy conditioning.
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Dec 14, 2005 6:20:09 PM CST
Any show that has the word " AnalRapist" as a punchline IS NOT H
by tallscott
Tobias: "Im a Analist and a Therapist!" than a picture of his card Tobias Funke: Analrapist. That joke made me laugh into a near coma. Oh AD how I love thee. I hope another channel picks it up, its too good for FOX.
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Showtime would be great, but they do need to get the season one writers back.
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You named three sitcoms, one of which currently isn't on the air (albeit Scrubs does return in January), and the other two haven't been on for a full season yet. It just so happens you named the only three sitcoms that I wouldnt think you're a braindead moron for liking more than AD (yes, that sentence was twisted up, but in the end I backwardly say you have good tastes). That's it though, THREE sitcoms that are arguably better than AD. That's 66 minutes of TV, hardly a lot. Other than that though you're right, Fox made a solid effort for the first two years to push AD, and it failed, so they are somewhat justified in cancelling it. Does anyone know if 20th century fox would retain the dvd distribution rights (since dvd sales are based on production company not network). Would moving to Showtime mean a new production company, or would it still be fox? Because if it would still be fox, then fox would not lose out completely on the future dvd sales of a Showtime AD, so the move could actually be seen as quite clever. Just a thought.
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And let that shit show die
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How has Fox made a mistake? Seriouslly, let's say your job depended on it, put your self in an exec's shoes while having everyone breathing down your back while they are losing money. Believe me, I love Arrested Development and own both seasons, but Fox has really committed themselves to AD when compared to their other faltering shows. To see it survive this long (one season and two mini-seasons) has astonished quite a few people. Now Showtime? Weird network. I subscribed to it to catch the Masters of Horror series. It is such a wasteland of a network, that I haven't quite figured out how they have survived as long as they have. I don't subscribe to any premium channels, so I got excited to have one for the duration of the Masters series. I flipped through a week's worth of programming in the guide and didn't really find anything worth watching, even the movies for that matter. I would love to see Arrested Development extend it's life, but I don't know if it is worth continuing my subscription to Showtime.
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Dec 14, 2005 7:55:10 PM CST
"Confused? You Won't Be, After This Episode Of... Arrested D
by flim springfield
I used to love "Soap", and "Arrested Development" seems like the new "Soap".
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This show deserves to go on simply because they had a retarded woman everyone thinks is normal walk on water. The only thing that would have made it more perfect is if she was holding an umbrella and wearing a bowler.
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carnivale is gone, now this gives me a REALLY good reason to switch, i guess i will just download the last season of sopranos
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AD lives! Maybe. By the way- analrapist. Not since E=mc2 was such a profound and brilliant statement made.
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Dec 15, 2005 9:28:56 AM CST
Just so I'm crystal-clear, Spice-Orange... any show that doe
by chastain-86
So should I conjecture that you believe that all shows that GET good ratings are good? Because I'd hate to live in your house with all the "Bachelorette" and "According to Jim" viewings going on, just so you can prove a point. I read your last post, but I've yet to see anything in there that resembles reason. You can't base the quality of a show on whether or not people see it. Early Family Guy was inspired, quality programming, but the show was cancelled, because the network (whaddayaknow? Fox again) couldn't find a good place for it on the schedule. So I guess my point is, you're entitled to your opinion, but it's pretty far off-base from the way things really work.
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Dec 15, 2005 10:48:35 AM CST
That's fuckin outstanding news. Make this shit happen!
by r.c. the "wise"
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I think people are mad at FOX for not being able to effectively advertise the show and fit it in with other good shows. Having to rush home for AD at 8pm on Monday for a half hour, and then having nothing else to watch on Monday is lame. DVD sales for the show indicate it has a bigger audience than is reflected by the ratings, as well as a fanbase that is willing to shell out some cash. Trying to watch anything on FOX is very frustratin when they interrupt seasons, cut them short, and move them around(when was the last time a Simpsons Halloween episode aired around Halloween?). If David Cross wasn't in the cast I don't know that I would have even bothered to check out a new show from FOX. Showtime is perfect and if they can get a cut of the DVD sales and potential syndication, on top of subscriber revenue they could make lots of money. They'll also get their name on the emmys, which is part of what helped HBO grow. They will get some extra attention for an unusual move, and they will get lots of plugs from TV critics. All that attention will at least get people saying things like "what else is on Showtime?" which could help them make money off their other shows. If they do right by AD, they will also grow a reputation as an attractive place to work for, which is something that has also helped HBO.
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I agree with your points completely, but this year the Simpsons actually had an ontime Halloween special.
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-had to do to keep me was keep the original programming running. The shmucks over there couldn't even do that. No new original shows til' March? I'll see you in March then. I just dropped HBO for Showtime yesterday and am currently enjoying Penn & Teller season III and Masters of Horror. By the way- if you still have HBO and have nothing to watch- watch the Epitafios episodes on Demand- subtitled. Amazing television.
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I love this show more than a good happy hour at the strip club, but while at home doing nothing on Monday night, completely forgot it was on due to the fact it's aired like what, 5 times this year on a new night and time? Way to go Fox for not keeping it between Simpsons and Family Guy, instead putting on some utterly unwatchable pile of crap by the idiot True Romance friend of Christian Slater. Can't you just see the buffoons in the program dept, after watching Arrested become this generations Seinfeld on another network, pulling a GOB and saying, "I've just made a big mistake."
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