Please watch this show!

So the ratings so far this season shows it wasn’t a Sunday night thing: "Arrested Development" is still failing. Even though critics love it, even though it has won an Emmy and even though there have been numerous attempts to save it by a dedicated fan base – it still could be cancelled by mid-season. Is it that Fox expects too much in terms of ratings? Or is it the viewers?

I blame the latter. Viewers are easy to please – just look at how long “Everybody Loves Raymond” was on the air. I just don’t think they like being challenged by a sitcom. Sure, they’ll happily sit down and unravel a show like “CSI” or “Lost”, but when it comes to comedy, they seem to like it as simple as possible (see “Will and Grace”, “King of Queens” and the aforementioned sitcom for starters). AD is quirky, it has a lot of characters and storylines (all of which usually get tied up off-screen, so you actually have to listen to the narrator, oh gee) and it has an unconventional pace. Most telling, I think, is that it lacks a laugh track. I honestly think people have a serious issue with watching a show that doesn’t tell them when they’re supposed to find something laugh-out-loud funny.

Are people unwilling to become fully engaged in a comedy? Are viewers just unwilling to try a show two seasons in? Or is it that AD just wasn’t meant for network TV? I don’t know. But I certainly hope that if it does end up getting cancelled (*sob*) Fox might consider a new life for it in a place where ratings matter less and quirkiness is encouraged (namely: FX)