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Daren in Brief - FOX THE ABUSER
by Daren Foster

Shakespeare on TV

Daren Foster PODCAST May 14th 2009

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Daren in Brief
Fox the Abuser

by Daren Foster

Poor Mitchell Hurwitz. He seems to have become involved in an abusive relationship with the Fox network.

The courtship began back in 2003 when he delivered them arguably the funniest sitcom ever, Arrested Development. Despite rave reviews and heaps of awards, at the first sign of low audience numbers Fox returned the love by failing to properly promote the show, constantly changing its time slot and yanking it from the schedule on a regular basis. Instead of doing the right thing and terminating their dysfunctional relationship, Fox renewed the show for two more seasons, with fewer episodes per season and even less promotional muscle before finally bringing down the writ of execution in 2006. With 52 episodes, DVD sales would more than make up for the shortfall in advertising revenue.

Undeterred by Fox’s neglect of his baby, Hurwitz signed on to adapt a live action Australian series, Sit Down, Shut Up, into an animated show for the network. After two weeks in the post-Simpsons Sunday night timeslot, Sit Down, Shut Up was moved to an early spot for another 2 weeks before being cancelled outright. Perhaps Fox was hoping to cash in on another Family Guy scenario where they cancel a show, watch its popularity build on DVD and then bring it back triumphantly to TV. Chances are it takes more than 4 episodes to generate that kind of rabid following.

While Sit Down, Shut Up’s pilot was a little wobbly, the second episode was hysterically funny, promising good stuff to come. Unprepared for Fox’s failure of nerve, I missed the next couple episodes when the show switched time slots and I didn’t program the PVR for that contingency. Until the series is released in its entirety on DVD (which it invariably will be), we’ll never know what could’ve been.

Hopefully Hurwitz has learned his lesson and will walk away from his relationship with Fox for good. While much lesser talents like Mike Judge and Seth MacFarlane continue to ply their trade for Fox, Hurwitz will be on the sidelines watching with the rest of us, wondering why such a gifted writer constantly finds himself on the sidelines in an industry so desperately in need of devastatingly funny minds.

Is it any wonder broadcasters find themselves with ever decreasing audiences?