A couple quick weekend notes before I get too pissed off...

Boston folk, head on out to Harper's Ferry tonite to catch a last minute performance by RANA (9pm), who are opening for Moon Boot Lover.

NYC folk, drop by the ill-fated Luna Lounge on Saturday nite to catch a free show by Brooklyn's Sam Champion (w/openers Frank Bango). Jay Good Times Roll & Loose Record will be continuing the "no cover" evening with an afterparty at The Hanger Bar (217 E 3rd btwn B/C). It'll be good times.

Last reminder: Before you go out, don't forget to Tivo Ted Leo on Conan.



And now I lose my temper. Chromewaves (scroll down) is upset too.

My pal Angie at The Brain Drain first alerted to me to the gathering threat to TV's best comedy series, Arrested Development. Word came down on Wednesday that the post-Super Bowl performance of American Dad, the new cartoon from Seth MacFarlane, was so impressive that it would take over the Sunday 8:30pm ET timeslot following The Simpsons, currently occupied by AD, come May sweeps. Oh yeah, and AD won't be on the May sweeps schedule. And Fox is trimming down its episode order to 18 from the usual 22, so the show's second (perhaps final) season will conclude in April.

Whaaa-wha-whatttt!?!?!

Of course, the first place I went to find out more was The O.P., the source for all things AD. There is a lot of heated discussion going on at the site's boards, with people venting their frustrations & plotting out strategies to save the show. Despite all its accolades, AD still struggles in the ratings department & has not been renewed for a third season, so these recent developments have fans rightly worried about the threat of cancellation.

I am dumbfounded.

So is David Cross. Apparently, he learned about all this on the internet as well, and he went on Kimmel Wednesday nite & cursed out Fox (Defamer has more details). Golden Globe-winner Jason Bateman, who is hosting SNL this weekend (w/musical guest Kelly Clarkson), was on Conan last nite, but didn't get into the issue (though he did lament the show's lack of viewers).

Fox president Gail Berman put out a statement saying AD is not cancelled, but the skeptical folks at The O.P. think that it's "100% pure spin."

Arrested Development is the smartest & funniest sitcom on television, and in just a season & a half already ranks among my favorite comedies of all time. It has almost universal critical acclaim, and awards taboot. If Fox, who don't seem to care about the quality of its programming, really kills AD, I may just give up on the network altogether, O.C. & 24 be damned.

Can you tell that I'm upset? Because I am.

For the latest on all this nonsense: saveourbluths.com & H.O.O.S.

MP3 Mu - "Haters"
This one is for you, Fox. All this AD-cancellation talk has got me mad enough to start swearing my ass off in broken english like Mutsumi Kanamori, aka Mu. This furious & frightening electro track leads-off the new Maurice Fulton-produced Mu disc, Out of Breach (Manchester's Revenge). It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but neither does my Fox-inspired rage.

BTW: Blogger has updated its comments system, so now you can enter a URL & no longer have to register to leave a comment. About damn time.

This entry was posted by mr gilbert at 2/11/2005 10:45:00 AM.