Jason Seaver
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 1997
- Messages
- 9,303
Why would a network give a series one more year when it can't find the time to schedule one more episode?Big Fox/News Corp probably sees Arrested Development as a good long-term investment. It's not terribly expensive to produce, will likely get decent third-run numbers on FX or in syndication if and when it's got enough episodes for that, and given the current buzz on it will likely sell some DVDs this fall. And its ratings have held relatively steady, with a sligh bump after the Tuesday/Julia Louis-Dreyfuss show which didn't disappear a week later.
Fox Network, though, has to please its affiliates, and sweeps are much more important for local affiliates than for the network. And the affiliates don't care what an artistic success Arrested Development is if Simpsons or Malcolm re-runs will get them higher ratings in the short term (which translates into higher ad revenues over the next year).