UPDATE 1/18/07: "Idiocracy" liberated! According to Amazon.com, the film was released on DVD January 9, 2007. So movie fans can see for themselves if shelving the film was another bad decision Fox has made (along with agreeing to publish that O.J. Simpson book, which they then had to withdraw).

One of my favorite comedies of recent years is Mike Judge's "Office Space." As a worker bee in the corporate world for more than two decades, I could identify with its Dilbert-like send-up of the absurdities and depersonalization of modern office life. So when I heard that Judge (best known as the creator of "Beavis and Butthead" and "King of the Hill") was coming out with a new live-action feature called "Idiocracy," I was eager to see it, and was sure lots of other people would be, too. Unfortunately its distributor, 20th Century Fox, decided otherwise and seemed to be intent on letting the film die of neglect. What was Fox afraid of?

"Idiocracy" was released in fewer than 150 theaters in early September, and didn't stick around long. I've read several reviews that gave it positive if not glowing praise. "Idiocracy" stars Luke Wilson as a soldier who is chosen to go into hibernation and emerge hundreds of years in the future. Though a dim-wit in his own day, Wilson's character finds himself considered among the world's most intelligent people in a future society that has become progressively dumbed down. How dumbed down? The year's best picture at the Academy Awards(R) is a film called "Ass" which–you guessed it–shows a person's rear end and nothing else for more than 90 minutes.

Maybe Fox thought everyday American consumers would think they were being insulted by "Idiocracy." Maybe it didn't like the fact the Fox News is among the many entities that gets skewered in the film. Maybe the studio just didn't thing "Idiocracy" would appeal to a large enough portion of any demographic group to succeed. I don't get it, though–the studios put of plenty of stinkers that they know are bad (which is why they don't screen these films for critics). What would they have to lose by giving "Idiocracy" a chance? Even if it bombs at the box office, "Idiocracy" will certainly get people talking, which can only help future DVD sales.

If you like Judge's style of humor, you'll want to check out "Idiocracy."