Arrested Development

So I finished watching the new season of Arrested Development on Netflix. Regardless what other people have said, it is good. I think the problem people have had with it is that most people have expected more of the same from the previous seasons, but it was never going to be the same. For one thing, the characters have all moved on with their lives, and whilst the decision to tell 7 years worth of stories from 9 different characters does make the narrative a little overwhelming, it still is a story of the Bluths. They're all still hilarious, just they don't all do it in the same room.
I've got to say, I understand that they couldn't get all the actors in the same place to film, but I would have preferred that they made episodes into smaller groups of characters. For example (Spoilers if you haven't watched the series yet) when Lindsey, Tobias and Maeby all end up going to India, I would rather they made those three into one episode, instead of telling the same events over 3 episodes from slightly different viewpoints. It would have at least reduced the amount of catch-up flashbacks from previous episodes that we had already seen.
I think people are upset because they have overhyped it over the years, and the fact that you can easily binge watch the season in one day can't help. I chose to watch a couple of episodes every day, which helped me to remember previous shenanigans but also not be overwhelmed by the amount of content that they crammed into every episode.
The season ends on several massive cliffhangers (more spoilers) with Buster arrested for murder, Gob fleeing from the Mongolians, Michael being punched by his son, George Michael because they are after the same woman, Lucille and George Sr getting a divorce, and many more. I read somewhere that Netflix would be interested in making another season, which I would much prefer to a film, and hopefully another season would convince the actors to devote more time to the show, therefore allowing them all to interact with each other more. The only downside to this season was the lack of interaction between the main characters.
Actually I did have one more quip, Ron Howard. In the third season, he appears briefly right at the end after three seasons of narrating. This season however, he appears quite a bit interacting with Michael. It does seem very strange that there are a few scenes where Ron the narrator is recapping events whilst Ron the actor is talking about the same thing on screen. It feels a little bit uncomfortable.
I feel like I've talked a lot of shit about the season. Personally I really loved it, I overhyped it a lot in my mind, I spent the last few weeks before season 4's release rewatching the previous seasons, and even though I knew this season would be quite different, I still went in with very high expectations. And honestly, they hit my expectations bang on.
We even get a bit of Bob Loblaw and his Law Bomb.
So go watch it on Netflix, it might help persuade them to make another season, and regardless of whether you enjoy it or not, you won't be able to just leave the series hanging.

Today has been a good day

As you can probably guess from the title, today has been a good day. Not only does the deadline for my work draw closer, but we also had some great news. 24 will return!
I loved 24, I didn't get into it until the seventh season, but it gave me the great chance to watch tons of episodes back to back. I was gutted when it finished, and even more so when the likelihood of a film dwindled away. But today we get the news that 24 will return in a new fashion. Whilst the other seasons were a 24 hour format, the new season will see only 12 episodes, each sticking to the 1 hour format, but skipping the unnecessary episodes. Any fan of 24 can relate that some seasons just dipped a little, so taking the low moments out of the show can only improve it. I'll eagerly await the next season, especially since it's set a few years after the last season. I had dreaded the film might not address the events of the last season as there wouldn't be enough time to pack it all in, but I'm confident they will make a satisfying continuation, even if it is to be the last.
The other great news is the arrival of a new Arrested Development season 4 trailer. I've been so excited for the new season since I heard about it, and the trailer inspires confidence that this season will be as good as the others. Since the new season is set to focus on one character per episode, with occasional appearances from other members of the cast, it will certainly be a different formula to the original series, but just like 24, I have confidence in it. They know how to be silly, and there was rarely a time in the other seasons when I wasn't laughing at the Blooths whether they were together or not.
Season 4 is set to release all at once on Netflix on the 26th of May, check out the trailer below.
If you haven't seen Arrested Development, go watch it all now, then by the 26th you'll be caught up.
Finally, as I mentioned earlier, I've been working hard on my coursework. The final piece is handed in on the 21st, so that night I'll get horrendously drunk, and then a few days later I'll be powering through all of Arrested Development.
But after that, I'll be putting all my focus into Second Solace (my graphic novel). I'll be updating the Second Solace blog weekly and I'll be figuring out how to distribute it in preparation for the kickstarter. I cannot freaking wait!
Anyway, farewell for now.