narrowcast shows don't cross over

there's a reason fox decided to cancel arrested development...
a marginal reality show of c-listers skating nearly triples arrested development's meager ratings

the show appealed to the same people as fellow critically acclaimed but similarly 'unrobust' audience of jon stewart. "the smugness, superiority and entitlement" (quoting me) surrounding both shows doesn't play to broad audiences.

the ny daily news' richard huffs sums up

Take a look at the Nielsen figures for the show, and the numbers are startling. This supposedly terrific program, with its high hipness factor - people actually say they get their only news from "The Daily Show" - is averaging 1.3 million viewers in January, most of them men between the ages of 18 and 49. During November, the political high season in which Stewart and his cohorts supposedly thrive, the show averaged 1.45 million viewers.
For comparison, Nielsen estimates there are 218 million people over the age of 18 in the nation's 112 million homes with televisions.
That's a lot of people not getting Stewart's comedy.

i'll go on record to predict (despite my sometimes good-sometimes bad record) the lowest rated oscars