Quote:
Originally Posted by Conz
how the hell did someone watch Arrested Development and decide "eh, i dont want to watch this anymore?" absolutely mind boggling. i dont care if Fox aired it once a month at 3am, you find a way to watch it
I think it's pretty obvious why AD never grew a large audience:
1) Sensibility - it was pretty dark for a comedy
2) Ensemble cast - more difficult for audience to "track" characters
3) Relatability - obviously not a very relatable show for most people
4) Serialized story lines (vs. self contained episode) - if you watched a random episode of AD one might be a bit lost w/r/t certain plot points, recurring characters, call-back jokes etc.
5) Single camera format - I could be wrong on this, but I think back in 2003 there were way less single camera comedies then there are today. I wonder, for example, if Modern Family would be as big a hit in 2003 as it is today
Add that all up and it's pretty easy to see why it was never a mainstream hit.
(I get that your question was rhetorical - and I agree AD was brilliant - but obviously it's the type of show that is not for everyone - this may come as a surprise to many on this forum - but for a lot of people, the primary motivation behind watching TV is to unwind after a hard day with work or the family or something - tuning into something familiar and comforting is how a lot of people de-stress.)
-Al