Save Our Bluths is a grass-roots campaign by fans of the Emmy-award winning comedy Arrested Development with two goals: to urge Fox to renew Arrested for a third season, and to introduce the innovative comedy to new viewers.
That depends on who you ask. Here's a quick history: on February 9, 2005, Fox reduced the episode order for Arrested Development from 22 to 18. After a flurry of fan activity following the announcement, Fox issued this letter via its website:
Dear Arrested Development Fans:
Thank you for your e-mail and your passionate support of Arrested Development. While the show has finished production for its second season, contrary to the rumors you may have heard or read on the internet, it is NOT cancelled.
We at FOX love Arrested Development and we look forward to having the Bluth family back on FOX in the future hopefully for many years. You can help make the show a bigger success by getting as many people as possible to start watching the show this Sunday and every Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Sincerely,
Fox Broadcasting Company
Some people read this letter and believe Fox is supporting the show; but many others aren't so certain. For one thing, "not cancelled" does not mean "renewed." And "hopefully for many years" probably has an unspoken "if ratings improve dramatically."
The fact remains: cutting back an episode order is a strong indication that a network does not plan to renew a show. Certainly, if Fox truly loved the show, why cut four episodes? Wouldn't it be confident that it could use those four episodes later?
Frankly, we'd like to believe Fox, but--based on past history--we'd rather not take the chance.
All is not lost. Fox won't announce its new lineups until mid-May--so there's time to fight for Arrested's survival. We believe there are two important aspects to the Save Our Bluths campaign: (1) making sure that Fox is aware of the fervent fan support for this show, and (2) making sure that new viewers continue to discover the innovative comedy.
We believe if everyone does just a few things from the list below, we'll be able to reach our objective and convince Fox to renew Arrested.
While G.O.B.'s strongly-worded letter (written using nothing but natural light) may not have had the best results, a courteous, well-written, professional letter to Fox executives is the most-effective tool for the average, non-Nielsen viewer.
Note that Mr. Liguori and Ms. Ross work at FOX Broadcasting, and are responsible for Fox scheduling; whereas Mr. Newman and Ms. Walden work at Fox Television, and are responsible for producing the show.
Peter Liguori
President of Entertainment
FOX Broadcasting
10201 West Pico Blvd.
Building 100, Room 4450
Los Angeles CA 90035
Marcy Ross
Senior Vice President of Current Programming
FOX Broadcasting
10201 West Pico Blvd
Building 100, Room 4150
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Mr. Gary Newman or Ms. Dana Walden
Twentieth Century Fox Television
10201 West Pico Blvd
Building 88, Room 259
Los Angeles, CA 90035
While a handwritten letter or postcard
is generally considered the most effective,
you may also choose to call
the Fox viewer hotline at 800-369-6848 or 310-369-3066.
Least effective is probably
emailing askfox@fox.com.
We're told that a Fox staffer reads these emails and produces reports
for programmers, so you'll be adding a number to some mindless tally.
Word-of-mouth is the most obvious way you can tell people about the show, but there are plenty of other ways:
By donating to Save Our Bluths, we can pool our resources together for larger projects such as sending bananas to Fox executives or taking out an advertisement in trade magazines.
Whether your interest lies in individual efforts or group activities, there are plenty of things that can be done to help the show. You can join us in The O.P.'s Talk Room for up-to-the-minute ideas, or take a look at a small sampling of recent ideas:
If you have any questions or comments about the Save Our Bluths campaign,
please join us in the Talk Room or you may send an email
to saveourbluths@gmail.com.