RUPERT, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT AND ME

On May 29 “Arrested Development” returned for a fifth, and now a bit controversial, iteration. I have painful, personal memories of this FOX series, and they pretty much revolved around my relationship with Rupert Murdoch. Looking back, it’s sort of humorous, so I thought I would share my memories with you.

My first exposure to “Arrested” was in winter 2003 when Sandy Grushow, who oversaw FBC and the 20th TV studio, gave me a copy of the pilot script from Mitch Hurwitz. I got to know Mitch a bit from my time at NBC, where he was a showrunner on both “Nurses” and “The John Larroquette Show.” I was a big fan of “Larroquette” and even put it behind the Super Bowl one year. I personally loved the darkness of it, but it never quite got over the ratings hump.

The “Arrested Development” script was intriguing and reminded me, and others at FOX, of a TV version of Wes Anderson’s classic movie “The Royal Tenenbaums.” I loved the narrator, and I believe Sandy told us that Ron Howard (who was also an EP of the show) had agreed to serve that function.

One problem, and it was a big one: The show did not feel like a FOX comedy. In fact, it really didn’t feel like a comedy that fit on any network. Nevertheless, we soldiered on, made the pilot and put it on the end on our Sunday schedule in fall 2003. This was before the return of “Family Guy” and “Animation Domination,” so following “The Simpsons,” we had “The Bernie Mac Show,” “Malcolm in the Middle” and then “Arrested.” That was a pretty eclectic mix of comedies with little flow.

 

In the scheduling room that May, we all agonized over whether to order a second season of the show. The sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of a second season, but we all knew at some point Mr. Murdoch would come into the room expecting us to present him with a fall schedule.

 

Finally, Peter Chernin, who was chairman and CEO of the whole megillah, said, “I am not going to be the person to cancel ‘Arrested Development,'” and it was decided.

 

We put the show back on Sunday night at 8:30, sandwiched between “The Simpsons” and a concoction from our head of unscripted, Mike Darnell, called “My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss.”

 

“American Idol” had now been on for three seasons, and with the “Death Star” on the schedule, we felt that we could afford to give “Arrested” a second chance.

 

It was sort of how we looked at “Homicide” when I was at NBC: With so much success, we could afford to protect a quality show. That was NBC and Bob Wright; this was FOX and Rupert Murdoch. He was about to enter the scheduling room, and my life scheduling “Arrested Development” was about to take a painful turn.

 

On a Monday we were all gathered in the scheduling room at FOX in May 2004, waiting for Rupert Murdoch to come in so that we could present him with our proposed schedule for the 2004-05 season. It was a schedule that included the return of “Arrested Development” for a second season. Let’s just say that this was not one of Rupert’s favorite shows, and the ratings did not help its case.

As we were awaiting Rupert’s entrance, Peter Chernin, who was the big cheese at 20th Century Fox, told me, “You present the schedule, he likes you.” Rupert arrived, and I started walking him through the schedule beginning with Monday night. As I said, “American Idol” was a force and covered many of our sins, so Rupert was nodding with approval, and I was beginning to feel comfortable about the schedule. Then we came to Sunday night, and Rupert immediately noticed “Arrested” sitting in the 8:30 timeslot.

Suddenly his fists hit the table, and we were all lectured about “Arrested Development” and how it reflected everything wrong with us Hollywood-types. Honestly, he wasn’t wrong, but as I have learned several times in my career, once the team has decided, we all need to pull together and present a united front.

I defended the show as best I could with some support from sales, who loved a show like “Arrested.” It was smart and a bit more upscale than most FOX fare. Rupert persisted and continued to yell at me. Finally, Chernin said “Rupert’s right.” I was stunned. We took the show off the schedule, and I can’t remember what went on in its place.

 

Rupert left the room and Chernin told me to put “Arrested” back on the schedule; he would deal with Rupert. Although I was happy that we were giving the show a second season, I was numb from the verbal beating I had taken in defending the show.

“Arrested Development” was announced at the upfront to cheers from the ad buyers, and it went on to win the Emmy for best comedy in September 2004. None of this prevented the show from continuing to be a ratings dud, and Rupert made sure to drive that point home to me whenever we talked. We did everything we could to protect the show from Rupert’s wrath.

Early in Season 2, we were at a current programs meeting where the FOX program exec who covered “Arrested” told the room that Michael Moore (not one of Rupert’s favorite people) was offered a guest-star gig on the show. I looked over at Gail Berman, who was in charge at the time. She showed no reaction to this “exciting news,” but as soon as the meeting was over, Gail asked the exec to stay behind. Let’s just say that Michael Moore never guest-starred on “Arrested Development.”

We only ordered 18 episodes of “Arrested” for the second season, and I called Mitch Hurwitz early in the season and told him to have all the episodes completed so that I could run them off by March. Mitch asked why, and I told him that I wanted the show off the schedule and off certain people’s radar before we put together the 2005-06 plan. He understood, so by the time we got together for pilot season, “Arrested” had quietly disappeared.

There was still some sentiment to bring it back for a third season, so when we entered the scheduling room, we were all set for yet another confrontation. But it didn’t go the way I expected.

As we approached setting the 2005-06 schedule on FOX, one factor that influenced my take on a third season of “Arrested Development” (other than the dismal ratings) was the return of “Family Guy” in May 2005 and “American Dad,” another Seth McFarlane animated series that would be ready in the fall.

We had the beginnings of what we would call “Animation Domination,” our unique Sunday block of animated comedies (which also included “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill”), and “Arrested Development” no longer had a home on Sunday night.

 

The second factor in my thinking about “Arrested” was a pilot starring Bradley Cooper called “Kitchen Confidential,” based on the book by Anthony Bourdain. It was a strong testing pilot and was well-received in the screenings. With “Arrested” no longer secure on Sunday, we would need something to pair it up with, and “KC” was the only smart adult comedy we had developed. Given that there was likely only one direction for Arrested’s ratings to go in a third season, my goal was to protect “Kitchen Confidential” by saving it for midseason and giving it a prized “American Idol” lead-in.

We had “given at the office” regarding “Arrested,” and I believed returning it for a third season would cause more harm than good to the schedule. I also felt that creatively, the show had gone off the rails.

 

When scheduling started, I would generally put up a schedule to start the conversation. It was always pretty close to where we would wind up, but everyone needed a chance to contribute to the conversation. I did not put “Arrested Development” on the fall 2005 schedule. There was an immediate pushback from sales, and I believe my boss, Peter Liguori (Gail Berman had moved over to Paramount Pictures), also suggested that “Arrested” return in the fall. Since there was no room on Sunday, it was suggested that “Arrested” move to Monday at 8 and that we pair it with (you guessed it) “Kitchen Confidential.”

Now I always treated the schedule as my “third child,” and I really believed this was a bad idea on many levels. Most of all, it put a potential future hit in jeopardy when there was an opportunity to give it a midseason push with prime “Idol” real estate. I strongly argued against the fall slot and had the support of my partner-in-crime Mike Darnell, who in addition to being the king of unscripted was a pretty savvy programmer.

The issue became the focal point of the scheduling meeting, and I figured when Rupert Murdoch arrived, he would probably side with me and “Arrested Development” would be off of the schedule. Rupert arrived, and we started the discussion of whether “Arrested” would return for a third season. We all presented our cases, returned from lunch, and I went at it again. I could get very aggressive in the scheduling room. At some point Liguori took me aside and told me to “shut up.” It turned out sales had gotten to Rupert and convinced him that they needed the show on the fall schedule. The fix was in, but no one bothered to tell me. We went back into the scheduling room, Rupert said “fine” and “Arrested Development” got a reprieve for a third season.

I was not a happy camper, but whatever. At least during the meetings, Darnell brought in this contraption where some people can place their finger on a pad and one of us gets shocked. Sort of Russian roulette. Mike, Rupert and I played with it for some time, so at least there was that. 

“Arrested Development” was given a reprieve and remained on the 2005-06 schedule. It was paired up with a promising comedy, “Kitchen Confidential,” and moved to the leadoff slot on our Monday schedule. Fortunately for us, “American Idol” had not peaked yet, so “Arrested” was a luxury we could afford, sort of the way I looked at “Homicide” on NBC during the Must-See TV era.

Back in 2005, we would trek to New York for the upfronts and return to finalize a budget, which we would present either in L.A. or back in NYC. In May 2005, we returned to New York to present the budget to the top News Corp. executives. Of course, Rupert Murdoch was there, and my responsibility was to walk him through the final schedule and try to keep him engaged long enough so that we could quickly run through the budget and get out of town. One problem: The first night I was going to discuss was Monday (in TV the week is Monday-Sunday), and the first show on that night was “Arrested Development.”

Rupert had gone along with a sales request to keep the show alive for another season. Knowing that I had argued pretty aggressively to cancel it, Mr. Murdoch decided to take a different position at the budget meeting and go after me about why the show was back for a third season.

 

Let me digress for a moment. There were two things said to me that guided my career as a scheduler. Early in my scheduling career at NBC, my boss, Warren Littlefield, after I was ranting about some scheduling issue, calmly looked at me and said, “You have the ultimate second-guess job.” That put my whole career in perspective.

The other mantra of my career was offered to me by Jack Welch, who ran NBC’s parent company GE while I was at the Peacock. After the upfront presentation one year, we were at a reception and Uncle Jack came over and asked me why some show was scheduled where it was. I had not agreed with that move. Contrary to popular belief I don’t always get my way. I pointed at another executive and said, “Ask him.” Jack put his finger in my face and said, “You’re the scheduler, you’re responsible and I’m asking you.” I actually have a picture of that moment with David Nevins, who runs Showtime now, looking on incredulously. Bottom line: As the scheduler, people are going to question your every move, and you need to take responsibility for the schedule — all of it.

Back to the budget meeting. Rupert would not let up about “Arrested,” and I could feel the other FBC executives pulling away from the table, unwilling to back me up. I remembered the words of Warren and Uncle Jack and defended the show and the move in spite of my reservations. I don’t know if Rupert was testing me, but it went on for most of the meeting. After we were done, he followed me out and continued the conversation. I was not happy and pretty pissed at my fellow executives for throwing me under the bus.

Fast forward to the fall. “Arrested” performed quite poorly in its new timeslot, but what really bothered me was that we let a solid comedy in “Kitchen Confidential” suffer a quick demise as the “Arrested” lead-out.

A few weeks into the season Rupert called me. “I know that you didn’t want to bring ‘Arrested Development’ back this year,” he said.

I thanked him for remembering that and told him that once we had made the decision, it was my job to defend the schedule. I will always be grateful for the wise advice from Jack Welch and Warren Littlefield. I was also proud that we had given “Arrested” three seasons, even though there was no real place for it on the schedule, and I’m happy it found a second life on Netflix.