Saving Private Bluth

I'm really behind on this, but what the hell.
So Arrested Development is NOT cancelled. Yet. But Fox has indeed cut this season's order from 22 episodes to 18, and other than the past Sunday's episode, it will not be shown during February or May sweeps. In May, the 8:30 post-Simpsons slot will be replaced by the quite awe-uninspiring American Dad, followed by another Simpsons, then Family Guy (SF Gate goes into more detail and explains how this actually may not be the worst thing that could happen).

And amid all the cancellation rumors, Fox posted a "special message" on the official ArrDev site: [click here to continue]

Dear Arrested Development Fans:

Thank you for your e-mail and your passionate support of Arrested Development. While the show has finished production for its second season, contrary to the rumors you may have heard or read on the internet, it is NOT cancelled.

We at FOX love Arrested Development and we look forward to having the Bluth family back on FOX in the future – hopefully for many years. You can help make the show a bigger success by getting as many people as possible to start watching the show this Sunday and every Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.

Sincerely,
Fox Broadcasting Company

Thanks, that's reassuring. So this much we know - ArrDev is not cancelled, but it's not renewed for Season 3 either. And the silence on the renewal worries me.

But there's been quite a bit of ArrDev-related items around lately. David Cross had a fantastic appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, punctuated by his "America's Cutest Retards" quip, and Jason Bateman hosted a relatively not-awful episode of SNL. In the opening monologue, Amy Poehler was great, telling Bateman to keep the show on air because if her hubby Will Arnett lost his job, she wouldn't be able to keep her boat. Unfortunately, the sketch Arnett was supposed to appear in was cut after the dress rehearsal. Boo to you, Lorne Michaels.

Also, the show's creator, Mitchell Hurwitz is interviewed in last week's The Onion AV Club, in which he explains, among other things, the creative process and how he got Cross to play the role of Tobias Funke.

David Cross didn't want to do television. He really avoided it. We were really lucky, because he really responded... to the money we offered. The script factored into it, but, boy, he really perked up when he heard about the money.

H.O.O.S

Balboa Observer-Picayune

Official Site