Somewhere back there, I believe it was on a comment thread, I said that Arrested Development had been canceled. This was incorrect:

Fox started the cancellation rumors by slotting the May 1 premiere of the animated sitcom “American Dad” at 7:30 p.m. Sundays, the “Arrested Development” time slot. The Hollywood trade papers reported that along with the news that Fox would buy only 18 episodes of “Arrested” this season, rather than the standard 22, and that it would end its season on April 22, before the start of May sweeps.

Fans working via the Internet responded by bombarding Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman with “save our show” e-mails. Then, in possibly a first for a network programmer, Berman shot off a “not canceled” note to fans, saying, “Thank you for your e-mail and your passionate support of ‘Arrested Development.’ While the show has finished production for its second season, contrary to the rumors you may have heard or read on the Internet, it is NOT canceled.”

Berman’s e-mail added, “We at Fox love ‘Arrested Development’ and we look forward to having the Bluth family back on Fox in the future — hopefully for many years.”

She concluded that rather than complaining, “You can help make the show a bigger success by getting as many people as possible to start watching the show.”

But that’s what’s so frustrating for “Arrested Development” fans, many of them TV critics. We’ve done everything we can to get as many people as possible to watch.

Arrested Development is the best sitcom on TV since Sports Night. Fox is to be commended for sticking with it.