In the previous post, I admitted to a Crankypants moment. Easing it considerably is my review copy of "Kitchen Confidential." …

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I was looking up something else on the Fox Web site today and saw that "Kitchen Confidential's" return proved horribly brief. After bad ratings for Monday's telecast, the network has yanked the show again, and this time it won't be back. Fox will double-run "Arrested Development" this Monday to fill the "KC" time slot.

What a bummer. If this weren't the holiday season, when people's schedules are overflowing, I would set up a screening/wake for the seriesand show you a couple of episode that haven't aired. Oh, well. I guess we really do need to hope for a DVD…

"Arrested Development" and "Kitchen Confidential" are back on Fox's schedule tonight, for what appears to be their last stand. Neither show is on the network's January 2006 lineup, and it would take a miracle — like everything else on Fox failing — to guarantee them an extended life.

That's especially unfortunate for "Kitchen Confidential," which hasn't had much of a chance to find an audience and which is raw, funny, unbridled — it's really good, OK? Tonight's episode, with guest star Michael Vartan of "Alias," is pretty wild but I have seen two other episodes beyond that, and they're even better.

You're running out of opportunities to see the show, so take the ones you have.

After bringing back "Arrested Development" for a week, and with "Kitchen Confidential's" return planned for next week, Fox has again yanked the two comedies.

Well, I guess it didn't yank "KC." Fox just left it in whatever cobwebby corner of the network library it reserves for funny shows it has no confidence in.

"Prison Break" is Fox's Monday flavor for the rest of sweeps, with back-to-back episodes running through November, and "AD" and "KC" now slated to return on Dec. 5.

This is an especially big drag for "Kitchen Confidential." "Arrested Development" has had several seasons of chances to find an audience, while "KC" is struggling to get some traction in its first. Moreover, I have seen the episode that had been planned for its Nov. 14 return, and it was fall-down funny. In fact, a lot of the show is hilarious.

Maybe you'll get to see how hilarious on Dec. 5. But I doubt that it will continue into 2006; Fox will go through its annual January retooling then, with "American Idol" and "24" returning.

It may not be too soon to start hoping for a "Kitchen Confidential" DVD…

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This was in today's e-mail, from Fox:

The Emmy Award-winning comedy ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT returns to the schedule with a full hour Monday, Nov. 7 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. 

[KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL will be pre-empted for this night only. It will return to the schedule on Monday, Nov. 14.]

In the “Notapusy” episode (8:00-8:30 PM), Rita (guest star Charlize Theron) calls Michael (Jason Bateman) a word that he thinks means “weak or cowardly” when – in the British sense – it actually means “sweet or gentle.” In an effort to prove to Rita he’s not one of these, Michael tries to convince George-Michael (Michael Cera) to join him in some manly activities, but George-Michael is too busy prepping girlfriend Ann (Mae Whitman) for an “Inner-beauty Pageant” at the Church and State Fair. So Michael and his recently-discovered nephew Steve Holt (Justin Grant Wade) enter a triathlon, only to discover Gob (Will Arnett) is the one who stumbles at the finish line. Meanwhile, George Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor) tries to get some good P.R. by volunteering to speak at a “Scared Straight” meeting, but ends up giving advice about his prison days to the wrong group. Scott Baio returns as Bluth family attorney Bob Loblaw and Dave Thomas as Trevor.

In the “Mr. F” episode (8:30-9:00 PM), Michael must deal with a huge mole problem in order to salvage a major real estate deal with Japanese investors. In an effort to help Michael, Gob and Buster (Tony Hale) team up with George Sr.’s surrogate, Larry (guest star Bob Einstein), to devise a plan and save the deal, but their plan falls apart in a big way. Meanwhile, Tobias (David Cross) mistakes a CIA agent for a CAA agent and inadvertently betrays the family, and Michael makes Rita a proposal she can’t refuse. Frankie Muniz makes a cameo as himself.