[opendtv] Can This Man Save the Sitcom?
- From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: undisclosed-recipient: ;
- Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 00:00:13 -0400
Can This Man Save the Sitcom?
By ARI POSNER
August 1, 2004
TWO weeks ago, the little-watched Fox sitcom "Arrested Development"
pulled off a remarkable Emmy coup: it walked away with seven
nominations, including best comedy series, best writing and best
direction. Just a few nights later, the show took top honors from the
Television Critics Association for best new program and best comedy.
"It's been a crazy period of approbation," said Mitchell Hurwitz, the
show's creator and one of its executive producers, last week in his
office on the Fox lot. "Before you know it, I'll be caught smuggling
mushrooms through security at Burbank Airport," he joked, referring
to the infamous drug bust that befell the Emmy-winning writer Aaron
Sorkin, creator of "The West Wing," several years ago.
The honors represent more than just a compliment for Mr. Hurwitz's
innovative, genre-busting show. They may be its last, best hope for
survival. For all its acclaim, "Arrested Development" is barely
hanging on. The series - which stars Jason Bateman as the only sane
member of an Orange County family that loses its real estate fortune
in an Enron-type scandal - finished its first season as only the
120th most popular show (88th among viewers 18 to 49), with a meager
average weekly audience of 6.2 million people. And despite Fox's
efforts to cultivate new fans by broadcasting reruns this summer on
Sundays at 8:30 p.m., "Arrested Development" consistently loses about
a quarter of the audience from "The Simpsons," which precedes it. "An
Emmy would be nice," Mr. Hurwitz said, sighing, "but I'd settle for
an audience."
Ordinarily, he wouldn't get the chance to find one. But these are not
ordinary times for TV comedy. The sitcom is in crisis. The
overwhelming majority fail in their first season; among the few that
became hits over the last decade, "Friends" and "Frasier" ended this
year. Increasingly, they are being replaced by far less expensive
reality shows like "Average Joe" and "Wife Swap" - funny, yes, but
not for the right reasons. Launching a successful sitcom, Daily
Variety recently declared, "is harder than trying to sell buggy whips
in the age of the automobile."
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/01/arts/television/01POSN.html
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