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."Technically, the show is not yet cancelled, only cut back (only the Reuters article says cancelled...it doesn't seem like the official word). But the outlook is not so good, given such a large cutback and the great minds of FOX programming. Hopefully it sells a million DVD's and FOX is left regretting the decision.
There is a possibility that the show will be shopped around, but its high cost is expected to be prohibitive for a cable network.
Update: dave submitted an update with info from the-op.com
"We're not getting a full season. It will be 13 only ... Everyone is pretty upbeat about it, actually. The last thing we wanted to happen was to overstay our welcome and tarnish the experience and prestige of the show. It was a great run and it's great that the network didn't cancel us outright, and they're letting us do 5 more where we can wrap up a lot of story arcs."
Jason also told me via batphone that though nothing is official, the "writing is pretty much on the wall," and it would "be a complete shock if it was picked up for another year." But, also, "it was a shock that we got any more episodes than the pilot. It's been great for all of us, and we're really fortunate for the two and a half years we've had."
