The rumors can be put to rest. Reportedly (by several sources), show creator Mitch Hurwitz has left negotiations for getting Arrested Development picked up by Showtime.

A source close to the negotiations said that creator Mitch Hurwitz had decided after a lengthy period of debating an offer from Showtime that "Arrested Development reached its end, creatively, as a series."

Reached on his cell phone while filming a movie in Toronto, star Jason Bateman said he had mixed emotions about the news, saying he was sad for the series to end but happy that the beloved series will live on DVD for people to enjoy.

"I'm so proud of it and so like it as a TV fan that I'm happy we're not going to get a chance to screw it up," he said, in the deadpan style of his character, Michael Bluth, about the only sane member of the dysfunctional Bluth clan. "Our luck wouldn't have held. There would have been cast fighting. We would have messed it up."

Part of the reason Bateman can joke about it now -- and perhaps it will sting a little less painfully for diehard fans -- is that the fate of the series has been in limbo for so long. Though Fox hasn't even officially canceled the series, Fox entertainment President Peter Liguori said months ago that the network was moving on -- and the last four episodes from this truncated third season were burned off in February up against the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, a sure sign of not being wanted.

Though the demise of one of television's most devastatingly funny comedies deals a blow to the hopes of a diehard audience (not to mention the sitcom genre), Hurwitz and his writers deserve credit for a tremendously effective wrap-up of the myriad story arcs in "Arrested Development." The series would have had to change gears on Showtime.

And as Bateman said about the three-season DVDs: "It's nice that there's a medium to preserve it."

Sounds like Arrested Development was upgraded to a "Don't Buy."