The Bluth clan of Fox’s ratings-challenged “Arrested Development” is also headed for the exit after Fox cut the third-season order on the Emmy-winning comedy to 13 episodes…
As for the demise of “Arrested,” it comes just as the acclaimed comedy came back this week after a hiatus to make room for Fox’s baseball coverage. The two back-to-back episodes averaged a paltry 4 million viewers Monday, sending Fox to fifth place in the 8 p.m. hour and putting a dent on the ratings of its lead-out, the rookie drama “Prison Break.”
There is a possibility that the show will be shopped around, but its high cost is expected to be prohibitive for a cable network.
So Fox has cut down the best sitcom on television in its prime, after previously strangling one of the best sci fi shows on television* in its infancy. If The Simpsons were premiering on Fox today, it would be switched around to different time slots almost at random, be pulled from the air for weeks on end, and then be cancelled after a season.
*Firefly, of course.