The rise of the fractional industry in Aspen led like a bad sit-com to the demise of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival presented by HBO. “Read between the lines and the conclusion is almost inevitable,” writes Post blogger Michael Conniff. “HBO pulled the plug on the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in part because of the impact of fractionals on the Aspen hotel market. Now nobody is going to come right out and say it that way, and maybe the demise of the laugh fest had more to do with the charges of sexual assault against former HBO chief executive officer Chris Albrecht, or the decision made of late to put on a more boffo comedy fest in Las Vegas.”