Slowly But Shirley

Interesting eulogy of sorts in today's Sun-Times regarding tonight's final four-episode installment of Arrested Development. In particular, I hadn't even thought of drawing a line between the show and Police Squad, which was also a victim of its relentless comic pacing. Although I seem to remember that some of the problem there was continuing to write at that pace as much or more than viewers' ability to keep up with it. Anyway, that's not the point.

In the big picture, two and a half seasons can be viewed as progress when you consider that Police Squad only lasted six whole episodes. I'd even throw Andy Richter Controls The Universe into the mix as another half-hour comedy that required more attention than most TV viewers will give to a comedy show. And that might have cleared ten episodes, tops. And then there's Sports Night, which really cuts to the expectations of a comedy versus a drama, because similar pacing went over much better when that show was called The West Wing.

The existence of these kinds of shows gives hope to the notion that episodic TV comedies can be smart. The nearly inevitable cancellations dashes those hopes a bit, but the recurrence of the cycle means Hollywood hasn't given up on the concept entirely.