I'd be interested.
S4 got a bad rap for what I think was mostly for the format change rather than the writing, which was great as ever.
Having episodes follow only one character just doesn't capture the same feeling, while having big jumps forward and back in the timeline could make it feel less cohesive.
I think the season still worked and was clever in how they did the timeline stuff with call backs being actual flashbacks and flash forwards and then having interweaving plots be a scene in one time period that has a pay off or a gag in a later episode or add something that completely changes the context or explains a scene from a previous episode. I'm glad they made season 4 the way they did since some of that stuff will be lost in a more structured, and perhaps more standard chronological episode format, but I think reformatting it could add a whole new perspective to seeing how everything unfolds.
For instance, there was a lot of call back to Lucille's maritime trial showing why each family member didn't show up when it eventually happens, but if you watch it all happening to see that no one showed up all at once, it would make the build up have a better payoff than it did in the original cut where the reveal in each episode was how another family member didn't make it.
On the flip side, a gag like the family meeting in Lucille's apartment where they reveal a new family member that attended every episode, wouldn't have the same impact when you see everyone at once.
I hope they release it. It's one of my favorite shows ever just for the writing alone.
I'd go as far as to say people shitting on Season 4 just didn't get it. It was quality.
Speaking of which...
A recut can't save them from assassinating Michael Bluth. Sorry.
It wasn't a character assassination. There was an arc for every character that took them to very uncharacteristic, perhaps even opposite places with their personality.
I think it was supposed to be the curse that Marky Bark put on George Sr. as the Divine Spirit when he says the strong will become weak and the weak will become strong.
Michael who is always thinking of his family, especially his son, becomes selfish even going as far as to try to sneak behind his sons back while dating the same girl he knows his son is with. George Sr. becomes sensitive and feminine to the point he actually dresses like a woman. George Michael becomes successful with the ladies and so on. I took it all as a set up for the movie (since I've read that season 4 was basically written as a prequel for all the change that has happened in the years after the show was cancelled and the time the movie takes place in) and since we still haven't gotten a movie, all those character arcs don't really have as good of a payoff as they were intended.
