sarah showalter wrote:

Thank you, thank you!!!!This is exactly what my family and I are thinking. AD was the best thing on tv so we knew it was going to fail. The funny thing is my family is not who most people imagined watching AD. We are a family of six, in a town of 800 people, surrounded by cornfields who are do not have college degrees. Yet, we got it. Even my 10 year old son got it. So for know we just watch AD on dvd and a channel called G4 which has repeats on at 1:00 in the afternoon and 10:30 at night. We also wait for them to cancel our next favorite show Scrubs, because no one gets it.

posted at September 20, 2006 06:37 AM

Anitia wrote:

I agree. This was one of my favorite shows. It's funny and witty. Unfortunately, FOX condemned it to death by moving it to Monday nights. AD was more at home on Sundays with the Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad. Now they have Grounded For Life. How is this show still on the air. It predictable, unfunny, and a unimaginative. Bring back Arrested Deveopment!

posted at September 20, 2006 09:51 AM

Angela wrote:

I agree!! I think "AD" was a sure hit! I don't understand how people can be entertained by shows that DON'T make you think. I guess some people just want to stare at moving pictures and be told when to laugh so they won't have to even think about thinking. I was always annoyed by the whole laugh track thing anyway, it's a way of saying that people are to dumb to know when to laugh. Or we are only supposed to laugh at certain things that the "network" deems funny. I can think of several shows that are terrible and not funny that SHOULD have been taken off so we can still watch our beloved Arrested Development. The Characters are great! The story lines are funny and crazy. I wish they would bring back this show because it deserves airplay!

posted at September 20, 2006 10:52 AM

Jenny wrote:

I couldn't agree more - my sister and I have had discussions saying the same thing! The general public apparently just can't absorb anything original and witty - guess they'd rather stick with the mind-numbing reality shows.

posted at September 20, 2006 11:27 AM

Lori wrote:

They cancel Arrested Development but Fear Factor is in its, I don't know, 5th season, or some such nonsense--the world is turning upside down.

posted at September 20, 2006 01:14 PM

Terri wrote:

My husband and I just finished the first season of AD (yes, with Netflex) and we are so depressed that there are only two more seasons to look forward to. Why, why, why? Is there any chance another network will pick this termendous show up?
How can "The World According to Jim" be playing every week and this be cancelled? It it like what happened to Sports Night all over again!

posted at September 20, 2006 02:03 PM

leah wrote:

I agree that AD was fantastic, but I disagree about it's demise. To call audiences stupid is a cop out. I loved the show the first season. However, the second season started to get too "soap-y"; and when I had missed a week or two, it was hard to catch up. Which brother was in jail? Which one was sleeping with the mother? I think when it comes to sitcoms, people want to kick back and relax. This doesn't make audiences stupid. It means that they reserve "smart tv" for shows like 24 or West Wing.

posted at September 20, 2006 02:04 PM

Mrs. H wrote:

Thank goodness somebody said it! The average television viewer does not want to think - ever. Cerebrial comedy is a mutually exclusive idea for these people. They will never get it. It's amazing that intelligent programs last at all. Oh, well at least DVDs help shows live on. Oh no, I just remembered JOEY is on DVD!

posted at September 20, 2006 05:51 PM

Apres Ski wrote:

Everything has been so dumbed down, people no longer know how to think . . . nor do they want to . . . that's what they've been told.

I used to tape this show because it was brillant, original, and right on. However, the rest of America failed to see the humor. Oh well, I guess that's what Bush43 is for!

posted at September 20, 2006 06:44 PM

Kerrigan wrote:

The "anonymous critic" is perfectly correct about the whys and hows of AD, including it's inevitable end. Story structure, narration, and the utilization of viewer recall are all seriously lacking in other programming. It strikes me as funny that a project so rich in actual content didn't achieve mass appeal, but any staged reality show with a silicone enhanced hostess gets the majority vote. To our ultimate detriment, as artists and as a culture, the lowest common denominator wins again. Doh!

posted at September 20, 2006 07:08 PM

Tim Sarver wrote:

Amen Brother. The best part of the show to me is that you can watch it over and over and it's still fresh and funny. You pick things up you didn't see the first, second and even third time you watched it. Season 3 with Charlize Theron was fantastic, I never saw it coming. After you find out the truth about her, go back and re-watch the episodes and see how obvious it was that she was an MR F. This show was too subtle for most people who have an attention span of a 8 year old with severe HDAD or OCD, or the "OC" Disorder( Don't call it that) See if you never saw the show you wont get thet joke, but trust me people who've seen it are laughing there ass off. Thanks alot stupid people for taking this show away from us, and to all you other networks out there, pick this show up and bring it back, COME ON!

posted at September 20, 2006 08:50 PM

Tessa wrote:

I think part of the problem is the time slots the show was in. I barely ever got a chance to watch it on the Saturday, by the time they moved it to Monday, it was all over.

posted at September 20, 2006 09:05 PM

Derek wrote:

I loved AD, but most of Americans are the are into laugh tracks, low brow Git-R-Done humor to get this show. Its a wonder it last 3 seasons. Shows like The War at Home and According to Jim get to stay on the air?!?!? I just hope the don't pull the plug on my AD replacement, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia!

posted at September 20, 2006 09:24 PM

Christina wrote:

Although, I didn't go to college, I GOT IT! I will miss it dearly and it's about time someone finally said it out loud about American television viewers! They're more interested in American Idol drivel than something that may challenge their mind.

posted at September 21, 2006 07:27 AM

dyani wrote:

I like AD and I plan to catch the first season-the one i missed entirely--but I like "The War At Home"--it's totally like a modernized "Married with Children". I could stand to see some other crap go that's for sure.

posted at September 21, 2006 11:45 AM

M. McConnell wrote:

I was still cranky over the cancellation of Freaks and Geeks, and now AD. At least I'm not paying $98 a month for cable so I can watch bad tv. Of course, I still watch bad tv for free. We all must be doing it, otherwise good shows like AD wouldn't be getting cancelled. We need to encourage our children to be smart about tv now, so that in our old age we aren't sitting around watching even more bad tv.

posted at September 21, 2006 12:30 PM

Tina wrote:

My brother and I used to watch AD all the time when it was still on the air. He was only in middle school, but he understood all the jokes and was laughing along to everything. Both the audience and FOX is to blame for it being cancelled. People who haven't seen the show have absolutely no idea how much they are missing out on. This is one of those shows that are going to be talked about for a long time. Hopefully AD can pull a Family Guy and come back on the air after successful dvd sales.

posted at September 21, 2006 08:39 PM

Alana wrote:

I agree all the way AD was hilarious! I loved Mike's younger brother the magician his character was so funny. It was like watching David Blaine on crack! The writing was witty and over the top, my only satisfaction I find in the cancellation of AD is that the NBC network finally cancelled "Joey"! Tit for Tat!!!!

posted at September 22, 2006 10:24 AM

Coogs wrote:

Shows like Frazier and Friends are hits??? They
are so bland compared to the ceativeness of AD..
Great cast..... I knew when I first saw it... not
going to be accepted by the mainstream viewer...
But that tells me that it was a great show....
I'll miss it alot... great talent.....

posted at September 25, 2006 04:02 PM

Kim Harrison wrote:

It's not like Fox didn't help AD die. This was the ONLY show on television that my family and I made time to watch. But who could find it? We couldn't PLAN to watch it because we never knew where or when it would show up. I mourn the loss of the show, the characters, the actors, the writers.....

posted at September 26, 2006 07:40 AM

Eric wrote:

AD was a fantastic show, one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of watching. It was unfortunate that it was cancelled. It is also unfortunate that some TV critic doesn't have the integrity to attach his or her name to a piece that is a direct insult to me.

You see, ass, I never went to college. I like to think of myself as being an intelligent person, one who didn't need a professor to explain how I should think. I didn't want to go to college. Apparently that makes me, and many others like me too much of an idiot to understand the premise of a TV show that's really not all that deep to begin with.

Some people might have chosen to avoid this show because of the elitist attitudes of some fans..."you don't watch it? wow you don't get good TV do you, you're just not smart enough to get it."

In fact this little anonymous item seems to carry that same tone doesn't it?

I told people about the show, but didn't feel the need to put them down if they weren't fans, or more likely not aware of the show's existence. However I saw people take a tone like this article with those same people.

I can tell you I would have avoided the show if subjected to the same ranting by people like you out of spite. David Cross, Jason Bateman, Jeff Tambor and the rest will be just fine following the closure of the show. I enjoyed it while it was here. I also applaud the "stupid" people for taking away something people like you enjoyed. :-)

Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the cause...or is applauding the demise of one of your favorite shows simply for the enjoyment of watching people whine about it too "thinky"? I'm not sure, maybe college would have explained it to me. We, the uneducated masses, are bordering on being mentally disabled, a step above Down's Syndrome if you will.

May carpal tunnel strike hard and soon...ass.

Very Respectfully,
Eric

P.S. there is a comment here that Gob was like watching "David Blaine on crack". Again proving your point that only the best and brightest took in this show.

posted at September 26, 2006 09:43 AM

KyL Cobb wrote:

I have to agree with everything you said. Just give the common people their bread and circuses. Just like Firefly the good die young...

posted at September 26, 2006 10:14 AM

vdantev wrote:

OH WAA-WAA-WAA !!!!!

WOULD YOU LIKE SOME CHEESE WITH THAT WINE YOU PATHETIC CRITICS ??

YOU CRITICS CAN CALL PIG VOMIT BALUGA CAVIAR TILL YOUR EYES BLEED, IT'S STILL PIG VOMIT. ARRRESTED DEVELOPMENT WAS ANOTHER DULL SNARKY, OVER-SELF REFERENTIAL, SELF-INDULGENT ARK-LOAD OF _____AND IT'S PASSING IS MISSED ONLY BY PRECIOUS LITTLE ARTSY TWERPS WITH LESS ENTERTAINMENT VIEWING TASTE THAN I HAVE IN MY -----

editor's note: Please kids. Keep it clean! We had to edit this comment before publishing.

posted at September 26, 2006 10:24 AM

Highly Educated Consumer wrote:

Snore. I would rather watch paint dry than another episode of AD.

posted at September 26, 2006 11:02 AM

B wrote:

How in the world does crap like "dancing with the stars" and 7 version of CSI stay on the air, but something that as brilliant as AD get pulled. Fools. I guess pandering to the dangerously low IQ holding masses is easier than to educated individuals. Besides, trying to please an intelligent audience might get in the way of the net execs money-laundering and midnight rendevous with the mistress that suplly thier cocaine habits.

posted at September 26, 2006 11:35 AM

Ianne wrote:

I really want to agree with you, because I love smart television and want programs that don't talk down to their audience. (which SO much of TV does.) But I had a hard time getting into AD because of many of the reasons that you cite. For whatever reason I didn't start watching AD when it premiered, but it had a great word of mouth and I made a point of checking it out into the 2nd season. I thought it was funny, but I was lost. Not because I didn't understand what was going on, but because I had missed so much backstory that I felt well, like the program was some big inside joke that I wasn't getting. I really wanted to get it, trust me...but I remember think "oh, well, I guess I missed the boat." I don't know how shows like this overcome these problems short of asking large segments of America to buy DVD's--and by that time even such an investment may be too late. I've had the same problem with Lost, which I missed at first and consequently have never been able to watch...although I am a huge fan of shows like 24 and Prison Break, which I have seen from the beginning. Serials offer a great opportunity to invest in characters, but you kind of have to get in on the ground floor to appreciate them. Anyway, just a thought. I don't think all of us were too dumb to like AD, some of us just needed to be caught up on what was so funny.

posted at September 26, 2006 05:04 PM

Sasha wrote:

So far from what I've read Arrested Development appeals only to a niche intellectual snob audience who revel in their own observational brilliance and otherwise being *exceptional people* (if only in their own minds) as opposed to any true artistic or creative merits. I'm glad the show is gone and you can return to the collegiate coffee shops and Ambercrombie&Fitch Shops that spawned you.

posted at September 26, 2006 06:09 PM

Louis wrote:

I'm sorry, but I think your views are all wrong. You say that people who don't like AD call people who do like it, snobs. You aren't snobs for liking the show.

People like you are snobs because you call people who don't like the show, are people "who didn't go to college." and are "too dumb" to get it. That's what makes you the snob.

You have no right to tell people what they should and shouldn't find funny. Because you know what? I watched AD, I 'got' every single joke. And I still didn't find it funny. And people like you constantly tell people like me that I'm just "too dumb" to watch it. And that's what turned people off the show.

So it's people like YOU, anonymous critic, that killed Arrested Development.

posted at September 26, 2006 07:07 PM

Diane wrote:

Speaking for the smart but busy crowd, I watch CSI, NCIS et all ecause I have a non-tv related life which means that serials (which are frequently little more than overblown soaps) require too much commitment. Shoot me-I'd rather spend time with friends, family or work than committing to endless hours in front of the tube. But if I do have a free hour than a sharp well written procedurals a perfect way to spend it.

posted at September 26, 2006 07:34 PM

Omar wrote:

Arrested Development is comedy for intellectuals. Obviously idiots need a laugh track to find a show funny. I'd rather choose to laugh at my will, rather than at some corny joke I've heard 100 times.

posted at September 26, 2006 07:35 PM

Bradley Smith wrote:

A "niche intellectual snob audience who revel in their own observational brilliance"..."return to the collegiate coffee shops and A&F shops that spawned you". Not sure what any of those things have to do with liking Arrested Development, I always thought it was funny because the SHOW was exceptional, original, imaginitive, and yes, a little intellectual. I'm glad to know that enjoying a show like this puts me in some sort of intellectual elite, I have always felt quite average until now. Truth is, I understand why a large majority "doesn't get it", while shows like CSI remain wildly successful. David Caruso will never challenge you to remember a previous episode or require character development to keep your interest. The writers, cast, and directors of AD on the other hand appealed to a much smaller audience that was willing to pay attention. Good albums, good books, and films will always do the same thing. The best thing about AD, though, is that I could get done with a double shift at a bar, come home and crack a beer and smoke one, and laugh my ass off at the "high brow" comedy of Gob doing his chicken dance; George-Micheal's cringe inducing awkwardness with cousin lust; Charlize Theron as a "mostly retarded female"...that's so high brow I guess my high school dropout ass shouldn't be getting it, but I do, and damn Fox for cancelling it. And damn all the naysayers who don't get it...that makes them stupid, not me an elitist.

posted at September 26, 2006 10:27 PM

Mr. Stitch wrote:

Where do I go to get the 10 minutes of my life back from reading the long-winded ramblings of fools who measure their intellectual capacity on what they do or do not watch on TV?

posted at September 27, 2006 08:49 AM

Paul wrote:

My only question is, why do people use television to think. Doesnt it speak higher on society that we are debating the values of knowledge gained from a television show, or that that show was cancelled. Who cares either way. The show was good. Didnt have ratings ended up in the dead show bin with tons of "decent", "brilliant" shows.

It is afterall merely television

posted at September 27, 2006 09:58 AM

Rhiannon Brock wrote:

Best. Show. Ever. Watching 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' eases the pain a little, though (in fact, after watching that, the third season of AD looked downright wholesome. Well, maybe not all the incest stuff).

posted at September 27, 2006 11:56 AM

David Jefferson wrote:

Here's the problem: I watched the show, and I didn't like it. That's no big deal to me, people don't like the TV shows I like a lot of the time (as Veronica Mars' ratings prove). People have different tastes, and I can accept that.

I tried to give this show a chance. I felt bad for its fans when it was perpetually under the microscope by FOX for potential cancellation. That is, I felt bad until critics and fans started turning their noses up at the common serfs like me who didn't care for the show. When essays about the show's struggles switched from trying to rally support to self-congratulatory attitudes and snobbery towards those who didn't like the show, I stopped caring. When fans of the show acted like they were better people because of their choice of TV show, I starting wondering if the fans of this show didn't have a part in doing it in -- you don't get people to join your club by sneering at them.

Who killed AD? I think the angry tendencies of the fans didn't help save its life.

posted at September 28, 2006 03:28 AM

Erin wrote:

I was sad to see AD taken off the air. I always tivo'd every episode and usually watched them twice - most programs do not have the high "rewatchability" as AD did. I think that losing the Sunday night time slot is what hurt the shows ratings. At the time our house was not a Neilson home, but now it is and maybe I can help prevent the untimely demise of the next quirly and funny show (e.g. Scrubs - however, I read that Zach Braf does not want to do another season next year). I do not think any other channel will bring the show back b/c the finale really finished the story lines pretty well. But who knows, Fox brought "Family Guy" back (not quite as well written as AD, but laugh out loud funny!!!)so "miracles" can happen....
Take Care TV Fans Everywhere

posted at September 28, 2006 09:51 PM

Tony wrote:

I assume everyone who expresses dissappointment when a show considered brilliant (for whatever reason) is cancelled, makes an annual contribution to PBS.

posted at October 9, 2006 10:06 AM

Josh wrote:

Amen. RIP AD you will be missed.

posted at October 17, 2006 10:19 AM

Bankie Edwards wrote:

I agree. I miss you AD... I miss you soo much. It seems another show is on the same path. I give 30 Rock three seasons before NBC gives it the kaibosh... IMO.

posted at October 23, 2006 07:54 AM

Stacey wrote:

I adored AD - and am so sad it's off the air. Everyone I know loved it - I don't understand how it got such low ratings - it's a sad statement of what our society will watch these days. Smart and funny just doesn't seem to be enough.

posted at October 23, 2006 09:43 AM

Keith wrote:

Everything "Eric" said, ditto. I grew up in a poor neighborhood (that's "disadvantaged" for all you apparently edumacated college dweebs) and I could never get over everyone around me calling rich kids "snobs," denigrating them, and avoiding or assaulting them. I tried in vain to argue with my "ilk" (again, "socioeconomic cohorts" for the intellectuals) that we were snobs as well for judging others not like us.

But maybe they were right and I was wrong. Based on some of the dumbass comments (that's "misquotes" for the dweebs) in there it would seem they were right.

And excuse me, how can someone say something like this: "...the writers would have undoubtedly found new and interesting ways of exploring the hilarity of incest, alcoholism, and ethnic differences." Now, I can find "funny" (humor) in anything, but this idiotic (idiotic) statement suggests that incest, alcoholism and ethnic differences are somehow inherently hilarious. Sheesh.

Keith

posted at October 23, 2006 11:39 AM

Aaron wrote:

Thank you so much for that post Anonymous Critic.

Everything you said was spot on.

posted at October 24, 2006 02:28 AM