The Jew Hork Slimes FartsBeat wrote:

Q. But you were persuaded a second time to star in a network series, when you did “A Minute With Stan Hooper” for Fox.

A. Oh, yes, I did. I wrote that for someone else, too. I had Jason Bateman in mind. They wanted me to do that show, and then he did “Arrested Development,” so it was actually better for him. I knew “Arrested Development” had no chance as soon as I saw it. It was too good. But with “Stan Hooper,” I thought I could make a subversive show that looked like a regular show. When I was a kid, I loved “Green Acres,” so that was the blueprint I stole for that show.

Q. “Green Acres” seems like the archetype for a traditional sitcom. How do you make that subversive?

A. Well, the plan was to subvert it gradually, but it was never given the chance. At the end of the first season the wife was going to be murdered by a drifter.

Q. Did Fox know this when they picked up the show, or did you spring this on them?

A. Oh, no, they signed up for it. They loved it. But they were all over the place. They wanted to do it in the first episode, and I was like, no, no, that would make no sense. We’ve got to trick the audience. We’ve got to lull the audience into complacency. And they were more like, let’s go crazy, like a “Married With Children” kind of thing. That was problematic, but I can understand that they don’t really have time for a five-year joke.