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Fox pulls 'Arrested Development' for November sweeps

Posted on: Friday, 11 November 2005, 18:02 CST

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In a move that will likely spell the end of a TV show that critics love but never drew big audiences, the Fox network said on Friday it pulled offbeat comedy "Arrested Development" from its schedule for the rest of the month.

Fox plans to air reruns of its popular new jailhouse drama "Prison Break" in place of "Arrested Development" through the end of November "sweeps," when networks go all-out to boost their ratings for the sake of local TV stations' ad sales.

Removing a struggling show during sweeps, while falling short of outright cancellation, is usually a sure sign a network has given up hope on a series.

In addition, Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd., said it had cut back its production order for "Arrested Development" to 13 episodes from 22 episodes for the season.

A network spokesman said the show would return to prime time in December but the show's future beyond that had not been decided.

Insiders at the network and its sister production studio, 20th Century Fox Television, said it was doubtful the series would be renewed for a fourth season next year.

"It probably does spell the end of the show," one source told Reuters.

The comedy, starring Jason Bateman as a widower struggling to manage the affairs of his dysfunctional family after his father, played by Jeffrey Tambor, lands in prison, has been a darling of TV critics since its launch in 2003.

Despite winning an Emmy Award as best comedy last fall, the show has continued to flounder in the ratings, averaging a meager 4.2 million viewers through the five original episodes that have aired this season.

"There was a very loyal and passionate audience that unfortunately never did grow," studio spokesman Chris Alexander said.

Along with "Arrested Development," Fox also is taking freshman comedy "Kitchen Confidential" off the air for the remaining three Mondays of the November sweep.

Elsewhere in prime time, the WB network said on Friday that one of its top shows, family drama "7th Heaven," will end its 10-year run in May in what one source said was a decision determined in large part by economics.

The show, which averages 5.1 million viewers, will leave the airwaves as the longest-running family drama in U.S. TV history, outpacing two hit series from the 1970s and '80s, "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie," the Time Warner Inc.-controlled network said.

Rising production costs for the ensemble drama and the fact that "7th Heaven" was up for renegotiation with producers and cast members contributed to the WB's decision not to renew the series for an 11th season, a person close to the program said.

Source: REUTERS

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