Trivia / Arli$$

• Adored by the Network: HBO produced seven seasons of the show despite its consistently low ratings and reviews well below the station's standard. HBO appears to have believed that it targeted a niche audience that otherwise would not subscribe to HBO, although it's widely rumored that Wuhl simply knew the right people at the network.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Despite the show running for seven seasons and being modestly popular, its only DVD release was a "Best Of" collection that was released in 2001, and only featured 13 episodes from different seasons (but it's very easily acquirable as a $2 discount DVD collection at Walgreens thanks to extreme overprinting). Not only were no episodes from the second or third season featured, but it didn't bother to include the pilot or series finale. There has been no interest from HBO as far as releasing the series for the longest of time, and it was impossible to find online until the entire series was resurfaced on HBO's streaming services and every other place HBO is available as an add-on in 2018, many years after the show ended.
• Real Song Theme Tune: Varies between "I Only Want to Be with You" by Dusty Springfield and "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" by Four Tops.
• Referenced by...:
  • On 30 Rock, Liz notes with disgust that Wesley has a parrot named Arliss. In another episode, Kenneth states that 22 years is half the time it felt like Arliss was on the air.
  • In the The Simpsons episode "Half Decent Proposal", Marge and her sisters are watching BHO and Nookie in New York is followed by this.
    Announcer: Coming up next on BHO, it's Arliss! (Patty and Selma scream and scramble for the remote.)
  • MADtv (1995) had a sketch mocking the show, citing it how it was HBO's redheaded stephchild and even tried to bribe viewers to buy the show's DVD by including vouchers for a Sopranos DVD and two five-dollar-bills.

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