Fraters Libertas

Arrested Developments

Joe Flint at wsj.com (subscription required) is reporting that FOX will give their brilliant new show Arrested Development another chance to shine after it faltered in the ratings on Sunday night.

By moving the show to Wednesdays after American Idol, FOX is giving it at least a chance to do something with viewers.

If you haven't seen it, well, what's wrong with you? It is completely original, totally offbeat and laugh-outloud funny. The show revolves around a family who has lost it's patriarch (Hey Now Jeffrey Tambor) to jail as a corporate criminal and how they struggle to make their dysfunction (and the family business) work without him.

Jason Bateman is subtle and nuanced as the most responsible of the four siblings who is always trying to get the rest of them on track. Portia Di Rossi (of Ally McBeal fame) plays the daft, yet stunning sister married to former attorney, struggling actor and never-nude Tobias. There's a majician thrown in for good measure, and the matriarch is a drunk old coot intent on sabotaging everything.

Each show dazzles with wit and inventiveness.

But that's not enough to save it from the We Need A Hit Now mentality of broadcast television. Unlike a similar show like HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, a broadcast comedy has to take off faster if it is to survive:

The struggle of "Arrested Development" to get noticed also shows the sharply different measures of success between broadcast and cable. "Arrested Development's" audience is similar to if not bigger than that of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," but that show can prosper on praise alone on pay cable, which isn't dependent on viewers for survival. For all its critical praise, the ratings for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" are small even for HBO. There are a great number of HBO viewers who are turned off by the nastiness of the program. Like "Seinfeld," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" often focuses on awkward situations and social taboos, but unlike the comedy about nothing, Larry David's solo vision is much darker and he is not very likable.

Flint goes on to make the point that precisely because of the lousy ratings of most of FOX's programming the show may live to see another season:

While Fox has shown ratings improvement as of late thanks to the return of "American Idol" and the recently completed reality show "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancée," much of its schedule has struggled this season. This could actually work in "Arrested Development's" favor. A strong network will usually be quick to dump its under performers, but Fox has so many holes to fill it would be wise to bring "Arrested Development" back for a second season in the hopes that critical buzz will lead to a big breakthrough. Otherwise, the message sent to producers and writers is, don't take risks. At a time when the networks continue to lose viewers to more innovative programs on cable, the last thing anyone should be endorsing is conventional programming.