Arrested on death row

With running jokes about cousinly incest, bizarre chicken imitations, and a rare psychological disorder known as "never nudism," Arrested Development is the smartest and funniest comedy on television since BBC America started showing The Office. So naturally, Fox is giving it the ax. (Call it divine compensation: on the same day, the WB announced the cancellation of the wholesomely icky 7th Heaven.) The news isn't surprising; AD's end has been in sight since its first season (it's currently in the middle of its third), when low ratings kept the show's future in question. Then came a fatal scheduling shift from Sunday to Monday night. Although Fox is chucking out the Emmy award winner, the network is hanging on to shows that draw a more mainstream audience, like The War at Home (Michael Rapaport as bigoted family man) and Stacked (Pam Anderson as bookseller with large bosom and moderate intelligence). Once the home of television's most cutting-edge comedy, Fox now gets its chuckles from a bargain-basement Archie Bunker and tit jokes.