ChrisKnudsen

Oh wait, its mentioned on this page already.

uhftv

Interesting how people compared this show's existence to what Sports Night went through so many years ago. And now it's almost exactly the same situation, as when SN was cancelled several premium cable outlets were interested in picking it up, but once Sorkin pulled out because of a potentially smaller budget and being busy with TWW, all interest dried up. In fact the same producers, Howard and Grazer, were involved with that show as well.

Things look more promising this time, since Hurwitz isnt getting into fistfights with any of the actors.. yet.

ChrisKnudsen

I hope it comes true. I found this crazy stuff when reading Tuesday's Variety about Scrubs:

ChrisKnudsen

It looks like my Scrubs thing started a new thread, I guess as it should.

Decker

Bringing this back :
Next week may be our last glimpse of the Bluths ever

I was searching for news about the possible deal and found this article. Note : Article contains spoilers about remaining episodes in later paragraphs. What's strange is that this guy says the Showtime deal fell apart (which really would be the death knell for the show), but I can't find that report anywhere else. Does anyone else have any info before I hold my wake next week?

shawagg

You need to add a spoiler warning to that artical you linked to.

When you get to tthe paragraph:

"Arrested Development was quirky, if low-rated, and won five Emmys in its first season. Fox bounced it around for three years..."

Stop reading, he gives away the plot lines of the last 4 eps.

Decker

Ok, spoiler warning added. I'm still upset about the news, if true. Why can't I find any info on this elsewhere?

shawagg

Well it is a column... columns are opionion pieces and maybe the entertainment writers haven't noticed it yet or have determined that they can't confirm it so why report it.

JuryDuty

Will Arnett (GOB) was on The Daily Show last night and said in passing that this was the last four episodes on FOX. Don't know if that's official, but certainly worth noting for those of us who have been wondering...

mrpayroll

Wow, it's been a month since the last post. Sorry, no new news, except this:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5283

Arrested Development - The final (?) season announced


Posted by Gord Lacey
3/10/2006


Producer Ron Howard's critically-acclaimed, fan-favorite series about the weird and wacky Bluth family returns for its third (and possibly final) uproarious season. Emmy winner for Outstanding Comedy Series, "ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT" has attracted a cult following of die-hard fans with its uniquely witty characters and outrageously funny storylines.

With the fate of the series still up in the air (there's talk of Showtime picking it up), Fox is planning to release the third season on June 13. This 2 disc set will contain the 13 episodes produced for season 3 (286 mins). The set will sell for $29.98

Disc 1:
The Cabin Show
The British Bombshell
Forget Me Now
Notapusy
Mr. F
Ocean Walker
Prison Break-In


Disc 2:
Making A Stand
S.O.B.s
Fakin' It
Family Ties
Exit Strategy
Harboring Resentment

The Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) picture will be accompanied by an English Surround audio track, and English, French and Spanish subtitles. We haven't heard what the bonus material will be, but there should be some on the set.


Chris

Y2K Falcon

Well, in the interim, there was a different, though extremely similarly named thread that didn't get merged into this one:

Arrested Development renewed? NY Post Online rumor PAGE SIX

Lateralus

There will probably be a third thread when the show offically gets picked up:

OMG! Showtime picks up Arrested Development LOL LOL LOL LOL

mrpayroll

This was actually the thread that I was looking for. But I don't remember seeing it under search.

Chris

mrpayroll

Are you cyber squatting that url?

Chris

Tracer Bullet

Wasn't the last episode of the third season called "Development Arrested"? What's with the name change?

mrpayroll

Yeah, when I saw that it didn't seem right to me.

Chris

Jay G.

The season finale was originally titled "Harboring Resentment," but shortly before FOX decided to air all 4 episodes together, it was changed to "Development Arrested," probably in anticipation of it possibly being the series finale. Either the name got changed back for the DVD set, or the spec sheet for the DVD set was written with older information.

Tracer Bullet

Hey, thanks!

mrpayroll

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr..._id=1002199854

March 21, 2006

Still no 'Development' in Showtime's future

By Ray Richmond

A cat has nothing on "Arrested Development," which has to be somewhere in the double digits when it comes to lives amassed. Simply surviving for the better part of three abysmally rated seasons on Fox was worth a good half-dozen life spans alone. And lately, the rumor mill has been working overtime to give the Emmy-winning comedy another handful or so.

The show's traveling to Showtime has been trumpeted in various media as a done deal repeatedly since late last year. And then, somehow, it doesn't get done, giving us all license to write cutesy headlines like "Showtime Can't Get 'Arrested' -- Yet."

So fervent is "Arrested Development's" cult following that the mere possibility of Showtime's picking it up and producing more originals has proven a badge of enormous goodwill for the pay cabler. Arguably, the ongoing scuttlebutt is at least equally beneficial to actually ordering and running the show.

Never before has so much been written about and speculated upon with regard to a program that averaged a 6 share. It's the underachieving stalwart that we won't allow to die, an ongoing symbol of art triumphing over commerce. Yet for the moment, it remains simply another homeless property stuck in neutral.

Be that as it may, let's take a moment to separate "Arrested Development" fiction from "Arrested Development" fact.

n Fiction: The show has already been snapped up by Showtime to the tune of a 26-episode order, which will be announced any day. Fact: Showtime's hands are tied, pending a decision by "Arrested's" creator and executive producer, Mitch Hurwitz, who is said to be physically and mentally drained and undecided whether he wants to come back for more.

n Fiction: FX is also in the bidding for "Arrested Development." Fact: There is no bidding. ABC was once in the mix but is thought to have dropped out, leaving it a Showtime-or-nobody proposition.

n Fiction: Hurwitz can take his time making a decision because the actors and writers love the job so much they'll wait it out. Fact: Contractually, Hurwitz has basically until June to go forward (or not). After that, he loses most of the cast and writing staff.

n Fiction: If Hurwitz wants to keep the show in production, Showtime is on board no matter what. Fact: The word is that Hurwitz would require huge wads of cash to be lured back, and there are surely limits to Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt's largesse (even at the "No Limits" network). But if a deal can be worked out, the cabler is apparently indeed on board to commit to 26 new originals over two seasons.

Hurwitz -- difficult to snare for interviews over the past year and pretty much impossible lately -- couldn't be reached for comment, while Showtime merely confirmed its ongoing interest in the property. But it's as easy to see this thing falling apart as coming together, given the guru's ambivalence and the fact an agreement would require Showtime to lay out upwards of $60 million for a series with iffy mainstream appeal at best.

Showtime would naturally be counting on "Arrested Development" to bring in scads of press and a sizable bump in its subscriber base so as to justify such a pricey proposition. But it has already shown it will put up big money to turn out projects it believes in, such as the drama "Huff" (which launches Season 2 on April 2) and the limited-run series "Sleeper Cell."

As Greenblatt has previously stressed, his network has the luxury of attracting a niche audience to a quirky show like "Arrested" and claiming it a major success. The bigger question in the meantime is whether the man who fathered it will ultimately succumb to the dreaded Bluth Burnout or answer the bell for Round 4. If he knows, he's not telling.


It's not looking good!

Chris

Lateralus

If they think 12 episodes a year are going to bring "in scads of press and a sizable bump in its subscriber base" they are kidding themselves.

Oh well, I guess my new favorite show is The Office.

Jay G.

The Sopranos gets scads of press every year when it launches, and they only make 13 episodes a year. Likewise, Rome got a lot of press, and that was a 12 episode season. I don't know how many subsribers the shows themselves pull in, but The Sopranos gets very good ratings for a cable program, let alone a pay channel one.