The Final Countdown
This morning our weekly staff meeting was held at the new building our company is moving into on the first of the year. Our current space is in Hollywood less than two miles from my apartment and it takes me all of 8 minutes to get here in the morning. Our new building is 8 miles away on the boarder of Culver City and it took me over 45 minutes to commute this morning. I can’t help but be a little unhappy with the change.

The weekend was nice, Pretty low-key and relaxing. We caught an early show of “Jarhead” on Sunday, which was good but not great. The film had a dream-team of filmmakers behind it, and a very talented cast but it wasn’t quite able to live up to my, admittedly high, expectations. It felt like an update of “Full Metal Jacket” and I’m not sure that that film needed any updating. Not to say it isn’t worth seeing, as the performances alone are worth the price of admission.

And finally there are a lot of rumors flying around about the fate of Arrested Development. News broke on Friday that FOX had cut the episode-order for 22 down to a measly 13 and was pulling the show from the line-up for the rest of November. Then there was a short-lived rumor that it hadn’t actually been canceled and would get a reprieve, but now it looks like the axe has, in deed, fallen (though I have also heard that Showtime may or may not be in talks to pick up the show.) The single best show on TV has been killed, not by FOX, but by the American public who would rather watch some jackass eat llama balls. The show was just too smart for its own good, and I’m holding each-and-every one of your who did not heed my pleas to watch the show responsible. Arrested Development was a perfect-storm of talent, writing, technology and zeitgeist and it was struck-down just as it began to realize its potential. But I guess Network Television just isn’t the place for original, smart, and daring programming. I am saddened by the loss.

UPDATE: Russell just sent me a great article from SFGate about the show's situation.