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May 25, 2013

Arrested Development creator returns to the network that killed him, possibly for vengeance?

by Danny Gallagher, posted Jan 18th 2009 2:03PM
The long, drawn-out cancellation of Arrested Development was one of television's greatest crimes against humanity. It ranks right up there with the approval of a new Knight Rider when the original was already one too many, the spinoff Baywatch Nights, and the made-for-TV movie Knight Rider 2000. That's right, I just hassled the Hoff. If any of you want a piece of me, I also come with a side of "whoop-ass."

But with the Arrested Development movie clawing its way inch-by-inch towards the big screen, Mitchell Hurwitz will at least have one other project on the horizon and on the very same network that tried to destroy him. Either he's showing he's a good guy and can take rejection in stride, or he's trying to bring down the place from the inside. You make the call.

Fox announced that Hurwitz's new show, Sit Down, Shut Up, will air sometime next fall. Critics also got an advance screening at the Television Critics Association conference last week.

The show is actually a remake of an Australian animated show, but the idea seems like it has a better chance to fit in at home here in the states than Yahoo Serious ever did.

It's set in a South Florida high school and focuses on the beleaguered facility and their various problems, all of which come before the students. Each show has animated people with real life backdrops and features an eclectic sounding array of characters in the cast. There is the science teacher who believes in creationism, the overly medicated vice-principal, the Muslim janitor who everyone thinks is Hispanic, and the drama teacher who acts very, shall we say, "drama teacher-ish."

The show also reunites some former Arrested Development cast members with Hurwitz and company, such as Jason Bateman, who obviously takes on the leading straight role, Will Arnett as the "jock English teacher" with the low smoker's voice, and TV's Henry Winkler as the angry German teacher.

Usually, the prospect of another animated sitcom on Fox depresses me. But since this one is being fronted by Hurwitz and former Simpsons writer Josh Weinsten instead of Seth MacFarlane -- who by the end of the 2014 will have enough sitcoms to overtake a small country -- at least I know it will keep me hungry until the AD movie hits the screen.

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tony

The show is set to premiere on 4/19???

Anyway you can't blame fox too much on this one. Yes I would have loved them to keep AD on the air for a few more seasons but ratings wise the show should have been cancelled at least a year earlier. The network I thought promoted the show well and put it in time slots that gave it the opportunity to succeed. I just think it wasn't for everyone. I think Hurwitz knows that a show like Sit Down , Shut up has it's best chance to succeed on Fox and therefore he is willing to take a chance.

I think Fox deserves some credit. I think they handled AD as well as they could have. Terminator is going to have two full seasons when realistically, ratings wise, it should not and Prison Break was given four full seasons and is guaranteed to have a final conclusion to end the story and Fox may even give it two additional episodes (that for ratings purposes it doesn't deserve) to close out the story properly. For all the bashing networks take on how they handle programs (most of it deserved) , Fox has shown that it will stick with a show for more than ratings and to satisfy fans.

January 19 2009 at 11:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jack

"Same network that tried to destroy him"? Please explain. It seems to me they kept the show on for a lot longer than other shows with similar ratings. if anything, they should be commended for keeping it on as long as it did. When all is said and done, the ratings were terrible. Why keep a show on that no one is watching?

January 19 2009 at 9:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jack's comment
jim

Because they didn't advertise it a bit and changed the timeslot each week. Their marketing department was awful! Awesome show

January 19 2009 at 9:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
izikavazo

I don't understand why so many great shows go to FOX. They have such a terrible history. WHy not go to NBC or a cable network. This show will be great which means it will be cancelled.

January 18 2009 at 5:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to izikavazo's comment
Discosis

Joss said that most of the higherups at Fox have changed since the disastrous (for fans) Firefly era of a few years ago. They do seem to have changed their attitude, too - look at the renewal Terminator got for season 2.

January 18 2009 at 10:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joe

"The show is actually a remake of an Australian animated show"

It was actually a live action version in Australia, hence why the change of format was noteworthty.

January 18 2009 at 2:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris Shifty

The show starts in April not the fall.

January 18 2009 at 2:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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