The TV Addict 

Common Sense,

Don’t get me wrong, everyone on ARRESTED is brilliant. I just was putting forth my somewhat cynical theory on why an AD movie is looking more possible in the post SUPERBAD/JUNO world!

I CANT WAIT FOR THIS TO HAPPEN AND I PRAY IT DOES!!
I also think there’s millions of fans for this show (now). I was a big fan three years ago (still am) but could never get others watching it. Now all my friends rave about this show, it’s word-of-mouth is so high.
This really HAS to happen for the good of comedy. Nothing comes close. I think it will end up billed as ‘the comedy of the year’, and will be a smash box office success. Simply because of the post-AD careers, the word-of-mouth appeal, the fact the critics will love it, and the fact a film is a completely different beast to TV.

Long live the Bluths! here’s to a series of movies..

And I just re-read your post. Yay for being able to detect sarcasm!

Anyway, I am really excited for this movie.

A movie can be very successful reaching an audience that would be considered very narrow by network TV and, more importantly, their advertiser’s standards. For a film, one fanatic teen who sees a movie 10 times in the theater and buys the DVD when it comes out is worth 10 thirtysomethings who each see the movie once. For a TV network, it’s all about reaching as broad an audience as possible, but particularly, those in “the demo,” which means white people between 25 and 54. Furthermore, fanatic devotion to a show means less in terms of ultimate revenues for TV unless there’s merchandising involved, which isn’t likely for Arrested Development.

Finally, there’s also the actors to consider. On the whole, the show has been a great launching pad (or “re-launching” in some cases) for many of the actors involved, not just Cera. It’s hard to juggle a movie career and a network show’s obligations, and when actors get a whiff of big-screen opportunities, it becomes very expensive to buy back their loyalty to the show, especially when you can’t guarantee it’ll last. An “Arrested” movie is a great compromise for the actors, however — how better to trade on their TV success for cinematic credibility than to bring their beloved characters to the big screen?

So, while I’m sure Cera’s immanent rise to stardom plays a role in Universal’s motives, there are many other reasons why they would consider it a viable movie project, and Fox would consider it a losing prospect as a TV show, and they’d both be right.