SitDownShutUp-related stories
Posted May 13th 2009 9:03AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Animation, Reality-Free
Fox must be really disappointed in this show. Not only is it incredibly unlikely to get a renewal beyond this horrible first season, but now
Fox won't even air Sit Down, Shut Up's finale this weekend. Instead, they're going with a rerun of already canceled
King of the Hill. While Fox is notorious for yanking a show before it gets a chance to find its audience, I think it's safe to say that
Sit Down, Shut Up had found about as much audience as it was going to.
In four short episodes, it managed to undo all the work that Fox had done in the past two decades proving that quality animation could be made for prime time. I don't know why the formula didn't work, but I think Mitchell Hurwitz would have been better off trying it live action, like the Australian original.
Continue reading Fox won't even air Sit Down, Shut Up's finale
Posted May 11th 2009 12:40AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E04) So it's bad when a comedy makes you want to cry, right? I mean, it's not their fault, I'm sure that when they animated the scene of the Knob Haven High staff sitting around eating cheese cake,
Bea Arthur was still alive. But when they played the
Golden Girls music, I couldn't help but think that was a much better show.
The whole
Golden Girls thing was just many of the random, awkward 80s parodies they did this episode. I liked the cold open where they were initially assigning themselves parts in 80s teen comedies, and the later Huey Lewis payoff was pretty funny, but I need help.
I'm not sure if I missed it, but I did not get the bagel thing. For the life of me, I just couldn't figure it out; and no matter what the show said, it wasn't funnier on re-watch.
Continue reading Sit Down, Shut Up: Back in Time
Posted May 4th 2009 12:22AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Animation, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E03) I'm still not completely sure what I think about
Sit Down, Shut Up yet. This is the third episode, and this is what I have so far: it's funny enough that if I were flipping channels and came across it, I'd keep it on FOX, but if I didn't have to review it, I wouldn't set my DVR.
This week's episode, in which Knob Haven High was up for a distinguished school award, definitely had its funny moments -- the very end where Ennis realizes that he slept with Miracle's mother made me chuckle. However, it wasn't consistent enough to keep my mind from wandering in the middle. I had to rewind a couple of times because I completely spaced out and missed a few scenes.
Continue reading Sit Down, Shut Up: World's Greatest Teacher
Posted Apr 28th 2009 9:10AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, Reality-Free
In a move that should come as no surprise to anybody, Fox has
shifted the air time for the new Mitch Hurwitz animated comedy
Sit Down, Shut Up to 7PM, also known as the "Sunday Night Fox Animated Death Slot." Given the startlingly low ratings the series has gotten in its first two weeks, I can only wonder if anybody will even notice.
Seriously, I watched the premiere (which we
reviewed here on TV Squad) and honestly, the rumors are true. The show is cute and quirky (it would probably do well on Adult Swim), but it doesn't have the right kind of funny for Fox Sunday night animation.
In an even bigger insult, Fox is switching the cartoon with its timeslot predecessor
King of the Hill, which is now in its final season on the network. It says something when Fox offers greater support to a show that they know won't be back (which, at this stage, now includes
Sit Down, Shut Up).
Posted Apr 27th 2009 1:47AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E02) Last week, when I rewatched
Sit Down, Shut Up for my review, I said that while I still wasn't enthralled by it, the show was much better upon the second viewing. Since I thought episode 2 was much better than the pilot, I expected to like it even more upon rewatching. Oddly enough, I didn't.
As stellar as this cast is, I'm trying to separate my feelings about this show from my feelings about them. I love
Kristin Chenoweth on
Pushing Daisies, so I don't really want to admit that her work on this show reminds me of a more grating
Amy Sedaris with none of the humor, but it kind of does. I don't know if it's the way her character is written, or the fact that Chenoweth's particular brand of pixie cuteness doesn't translate unless you're looking at her, but she just sounds shrill to me.
Continue reading Sit Down, Shut Up: Miracle's Are Real
Posted Apr 20th 2009 3:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free
What do you call an animated show whose premiere is sandwiched between two other highly-rated animated shows yet still
manages to be third in its timeslot? You could call it a lot of things. You could call it "poor" or "slow". You know what I call it? A one-season show.
Seriously, I watched the premiere of
Sit Down, Shut Up (and it was
reviewed here on TV Squad), and while I thought some bits were funny, I don't see it lasting more than a season on Fox, if that. This is a network that is quick to pull the plug on many quirky shows (including Hurwitz's previous work,
Arrested Development).
I could be wrong.
Arrested Development lasted three seasons and animated shows are only a fraction of the budget of live-action ones. If his last show is any indicator,
Sit Down, Shut Up is probably one of those shows that rewards loyal viewers with various Easter eggs and hidden double-meanings. Hopefully Fox will give it time.
Posted Apr 19th 2009 9:31PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Animation, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E01) I still stand behind the
early look of Sit Down, Shut Up I did a few days ago: the pilot was underwhelming. For everything that works about it, there seem to be at least two things that don't. However, before I did this review, I decided to watch the pilot again, so it would be fresh in my mind. What I found is that the show definitely grows on you.
While I didn't really laugh at all the first time through, re-watching it allowed me to pick up on some of the more subtle things that I missed. That, combined with the fact that I've seen the second episode, which is much better, really made me appreciate this episode more.
Continue reading Sit Down, Shut Up: Pilot (series premiere)
Posted Apr 17th 2009 5:02PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Animation, Early Looks, Reality-Free
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has been breathlessly anticipating
Sit Down, Shut Up (premiering on FOX Sunday at 8:30 PM ET), the newest series from
Arrested Development creator
Mitch Hurwitz.
SDSU is an animated series based on a live-action Australian show by the same name. It follows a group of under-performing teachers at a Florida high school.
The teachers are all flaky, disinterested in their students, and with the exception of Larry Littlejunk (
Jason Bateman), highly under-qualified for their positions. An example? Miracle Grohe (
Kristen Chenoweth), the science teacher, beat Larry out of the job by stripping off all her clothes and yelling, "I ain't come from no monkey!"
The humor manages to be both broad and subtle at the same time, much in the way
Arrested Development managed to be. However, though Bateman himself calls this show an animated version of
AD, that's overstating it a bit.
Sit Down, Shut Up, is more like
Arrested Development's annoying younger brother.
Continue reading Sit Down, Shut Up -- An early look
Posted Apr 16th 2009 10:04AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, Animation, Reality-Free, Press Kits Unwrapped
I don't know about you guys, but I've been super-excited about the premiere of
Mitch Hurwitz's new animated show,
Sit Down, Shut Up. It seems like I've been hearing about it forever, but it finally premieres this Sunday night on Fox. Recently, the screener came up for grabs, so naturally I jumped at it. What I didn't realize is that I would be getting the whole press kit with it.
All press kits are not created equal: I'd definitely enjoy a
talking Barney bobblehead from
How I Met Your Mother, but a busted picture of
Eliza Dushku's face from
Dollhouse really wouldn't do a whole lot for me. The press kit for
Sit Down, Shut Up is kind of low-rent, but it
is for a Mitch Hurwitz show on FOX. The low-rated
Arrested Development didn't exactly make FOX a boatload of cash while it aired, so they're probably waiting to see how the ratings go for this one before they shell out any more dough on fancy tschotkes for the press.
Continue reading Press Kits Unwrapped: Sit Down, Shut Up
Posted Mar 11th 2009 12:15PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Video, Animation, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Reality-Free
The fact that
Will Arnett may not actually be the father of wife
Amy Poehler's baby is just one of the shocking tidbits you learn from
Jason Bateman on the soundstage for
Sit Down, Shut Up,
Mitch Hurwitz's upcoming animated comedy in which he and Arnett both lend their voices. We heard about the
mini Arrested Development reunion almost a year ago, and while the series doesn't premiere until April 19th, FOX has given us a taste of what to expect.
The video is great because it's not even a preview of the show, nor does it talk about the animated series in any way. Instead, it's three minutes of Jason Bateman and Will Arnett talking about height, "hair hats" man boobs, and intelligence (or lack thereof). It's blatently aimed at rabid, drooling
Arrested Development fans who are clamoring for any smidgen of a hint of the show's former glory-- and it works.
Continue reading Amy Poehler is "surprisingly promiscuous" - VIDEO
Posted Jan 18th 2009 2:03PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
The long, drawn-out cancellation of
Arrested Development was one of television's greatest crimes against humanity. It ranks right up there with the approval of a new
Knight Rider when the original was already one too many, the spinoff
Baywatch Nights, and the made-for-TV movie
Knight Rider 2000. That's right, I just hassled the Hoff. If any of you want a piece of me, I also come with a side of "whoop-ass."
But with the
Arrested Development movie clawing its way inch-by-inch towards the big screen, Mitchell Hurwitz will at least have one other project on the horizon and on the very same network that tried to destroy him. Either he's showing he's a good guy and can take rejection in stride, or he's trying to bring down the place from the inside. You make the call.
Fox announced that Hurwitz's new show,
Sit Down, Shut Up, will air sometime next fall. Critics also got an advance screening at
the Television Critics Association conference last week.
Continue reading Arrested Development creator returns to the network that killed him, possibly for vengeance?
Posted Jul 14th 2008 6:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
Between the sessions for
So You Think You Can Dance and
Fringe, FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly happily took answers from the gathered critics. Perhaps the most interesting piece of news he unleashed on us was that the network is officially going to have two development seasons: the traditional one that ends in May with the upfronts, and a new one that ends in December, which will position the network to air pilots in the January/February time frame, a time Reilly called the network's "high season." (Which it is, of course, given the presence of the BCS and
American Idol).
In fact, Reilly has eight pilots currently in development for consideration in December, far more than he had for this past May, due to the writers' strike and other reasons. Other interesting bits after the jump.
Continue reading Kevin Reilly announces two development seasons for FOX - TCA Report
Posted May 15th 2008 11:33AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Industry, Programming, 24, American Idol, House, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Prison Break, Bones, King of the Hill, Upfronts, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, New Amsterdam, Reality-Free
FOX announced its plans for the 2008-2009 season today. Here are the highlights:
Returning: The Moment of Truth, So You Think You Can Dance, The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, American Idol, America's Most Wanted, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Bones, Cops, Don't Forget the Lyrics!, Hell's Kitchen, House, King of the Hill, Kitchen Nightmares, MADtv, The Moment of Truth, Prison Break, Talkshow with Spike Feresten, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 'Til Death
Out: Back To You, Canterbury's Law, K-Ville, Nashville, New Amsterdam, Next Great American Band, Return of Jezebel James, UnhitchedNew: Sit Down, Shut Up; The Cleveland Show; Dollhouse (Midseason)
; Fringe; Do Not Disturb (formerly
The Inn)
; Secret Millionaire (Midseason)
Schedule and detailed descriptions of the new shows after the jump.
Continue reading The Upfronts: FOX
Posted May 12th 2008 11:03AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Boston Legal, Scrubs, Smallville, Supernatural, Pickups and Renewals, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, New Amsterdam, Reality-Free
Ok, it is after midnight here in the Jet City, and as I sit down to bang this post out on my beloved Model M it would appear that my tasty glass of juice is half empty. Maybe I'm just not in the right frame of mind to spin this news in a positive direction that will lead to a 2009 full of Dollhouse win.
Tucked away in a report on various network goings on over at Hollywood Reporter is a little line that says "Dollhouse is expected to launch mid-season." This is me shaking my fist in the general direction of Fox and screaming "Khaaaaan!" Just, because. Doesn't this seem like a road that has been traveled before? It's one that usually leads to a pretty disappointing destination. We haven't seen the finished fall schedule yet, but I would wager that most of us could easily find three or four hours where the network would be better served by inserting Dollhouse. Highlights of what the networks have planned are available after the jump.
Continue reading Dollhouse to midseason... and other network news
Posted Apr 16th 2008 11:02AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Casting, Reality-Free
It's an
Arrested Development reunion! Well, not quite. But Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler
will be lending their voices for a new Fox animated series called Sit Down, Shut Up.
The show centers around staff members at a high school where the student needs become secondary. It is based on an live-action Australian series. Also joining the voice cast are Cheri Oteri, Will Forte, Regina King, Nick Kroll, Tom Kenny and Maria Bamford.
It's a common strategy of television shows to bring together two or more cast members from previous successful series and call it a "reunion." I've seen
Lost In Space reunions on
Babylon 5 and
Dukes of Hazzard reunions on
Smallville.
Arrested Development has its own cult following, which I do not count myself among. I enjoyed episodes of the show, but don't go out of my way to see it or own it on DVD. However, given
AD's following, it may mean more viewers for
Sit Down, Shut Up.
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