Author David Taylor Black

A good friend of mine, and an amazing poet, had two of his poems featured on the blog: The Friday Influence. Germán’s poetry is subtle, nuanced and moving. Check it out here.

So, I’ve been watching the fourth season of Arrested Development on Netflix—the redone/recut version. I’d watched the fourth season back when it was first released and was pretty disappointed. And, I didn’t want to be.

I loved the first three seasons, although I’m not actually sure when I first saw the series. I’d like to think I was one of the smart, hip first adopters. But, I’m not sure that’s true. Regardless, Arrested Development has some of the smartest, most nuanced writing of any program on television, especially for the time.

The new edit/shoot/not-sure-what-all-they-did of the fourth season is so funny and so full of hidden jokes that I find myself laughing harder than in the first three seasons. I keep thinking I should pause the stream and read all the signs if there’s ever an outdoor shot, or a busy indoor shot because some of what I do catch is clearly meant to be a joke. Even in Spanish, some of the signs are clearly meant to be humorous.

Anyway, it’s great. Can’t wait for the fifth season to be released next week.