The density and complexity of the humor exhibited in “Arrested Development” brings with it an equally well-written plot. Seasons one through three of the series coincided with the first four years of the Iraq War, which made one of its main plot arcs even more opportune and outrageous: George Sr., CEO of a housing company, sold mini-mansions to Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, which the character describes as “light treason.” Further plots in the first three seasons include cousins George Michael and Maeby having a confusing attraction for each other; George Sr.’s twin, Oscar, revealing himself to be Buster’s real father; and Tobias and Lindsay's troubled marriage, complete with a impressive number of double entendres that lead others to question husband Tobias's sexual orientation. Season four also showcases a thorough plot that involves George Sr.’s purchase of land on the US-Mexico border, along with the family’s involvements with a congressional candidate and Ron Howard’s fictional daughter. Admittedly, the plot is almost too complicated; critics say the new season focuses more on telling an overly tangled story instead of on presenting witty, back-and-forth dialogue. However, this might be due to the show’s producers not having all of the actors present at the same time to film group scenes.
Mark Sappenfield
Dear Reader,
About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:
“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”
If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.
But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.
The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.
We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”
If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.
