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Fox Cancels Arrested Development,7th Heaven Also Gone
Reuters | 11-11-05

Posted on 11/11/2005 10:11:58 AM PST by My Favorite Headache

'Arrested Development' gets the ax '7th Heaven' also ending run

Friday, November 11, 2005; Posted: 12:47 p.m. EST (17:47 GMT)

The cast of the Emmy-winning "Arrested Development." The show was never a ratings winner.

Manage Alerts | What Is This? LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter)Reuters -- The Camdens will bid farewell to viewers in May when the WB Network's top-rated family drama "7th Heaven" ends its run after 10 seasons in what sources said was largely a cost-cutting move.

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.

Also getting the ax at Fox is "Arrested's" companion on Monday, the freshman comedy "Kitchen Confidential," whose order will not be extended beyond the initial 13 episodes.

"7th Heaven," whose debut on August 26, 1996, marked the first-ever Monday broadcast of the then-fledging WB Network, will bow out as the longest-running family drama on television.

After 10 seasons, the show is still a top draw for WB, averaging 5.1 million viewers this season to date. Creatively, the show also will go out in style, creator Brenda Hampton said.

"I think this is the best season we've ever had, and we're planning a very exciting and heartwarming conclusion to the series," she said. "On the show, we talk about choosing your feelings, and we chose to feel happy and blessed to have been on the air for so long."

There is talk about a potential "7th Heaven" spinoff, but Hampton admits that would be hard to do.

"('7th Heaven') is a family show," she said. "I think the success of the show is that the family is intact with the mom, the dad and the children, so it is a very difficult show to spin off."

Sources indicated that the reasons to take "7th Heaven" off the air were primarily financial. As series age, they get more and more expensive, with the price tag especially high for a show with a large cast like "7th Heaven." The cancellation of the long-running series also comes during a process of extensive cost-cutting across all Warner Bros. divisions.

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.

Fox said Thursday that it will pull "Arrested Development" and "Kitchen Confidential" off the schedule for the remaining three Mondays of the November sweep, replacing them with a rerun of the previous episode of "Prison Break" leading into an original episode of the serialized drama.

"Arrested" and "Kitchen" are set to return to their time slots with original episodes December 5, following the fall finale of "Prison Break" on November 28.

Copyright 2005 Reuters.


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 7thheaven; arresteddevelopment; fox; foxtv
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To: Bob J

I love AD. Maybe Bob Lobla can file a suit to save it. I guess going from Fonzie to Chachi was a bad omen...


21 posted on 11/11/2005 3:41:01 PM PST by secret garden (<= easily amused)
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To: secret garden

This is indeed bad news about AD! The day after I saw the episode featuring Bob Loblaw, his name ran around in my mind like a song you can't get out of your head. The show was positively inspired and wonderfully silly. If true, I hope some other station will pick this gem up and put it in a timeslot it deserves.


22 posted on 11/11/2005 4:59:15 PM PST by uvular
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To: LanPB01
Arrested Development

A very good show, and I will have the DVD's.

Just try to explain an episode to someone sometime :)

Super-Dave Osborne even was on there the other night.

23 posted on 11/11/2005 5:07:23 PM PST by lawnguy (Give me some of your tots!!!)
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To: lawnguy

It is outright impossible to explain it to someone even if they know the characters. If they don't know the characters you don't stand a chance. Which I think is one of the reasons it struggled. You can't build a fan base when your fans have to have seen everything. Hopefully a cable network of some kind will pick it up. Preferably one that shows a new episode several times during the week. What would really be nice is if a different network did for it what MTV does for its show on the ten spot, and show the last 3 or 4 episodes before the new one. That way you could get people to watch and they would have a better chance of getting what is going on.


24 posted on 11/11/2005 8:47:17 PM PST by Mr. Blonde (You know, Happy Time Harry, just being around you kinda makes me want to die.)
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To: My Favorite Headache

Damn shame. AD is hysterical.


25 posted on 11/11/2005 8:48:32 PM PST by Stew Padasso ("That boy is nuttier than a squirrel turd.")
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To: Mr. Blonde

Unfortunately, it is difficult to just switch it on and know what is going on. I'm sure that hurt attacting new viewers.


26 posted on 11/12/2005 10:59:05 AM PST by Bob J (RIGHTALK.com...a conservative alternative to NPR!)
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To: secret garden

I was waiting for Joanie to show up...


27 posted on 11/12/2005 10:59:50 AM PST by Bob J (RIGHTALK.com...a conservative alternative to NPR!)
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To: secret garden

We didn't start watching it until this season. Have already watched the first season and now have the second on DVD.


28 posted on 11/12/2005 11:01:39 AM PST by Bob J (RIGHTALK.com...a conservative alternative to NPR!)
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To: My Favorite Headache
RIP, Arrested Development

from the other thread, a gift for your iPods.

In case you didn't know it, they used the theme as the ringtone for the characters' cell phones.

~sniff~

29 posted on 11/14/2005 6:56:51 PM PST by lainie
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