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The Good Place

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The Good Place
Title card for The Good Place, with "The Good Place" written in white writing on a plain green background
GenreFantasy
Comedy
Created byMichael Schur
Starring
ComposerDavid Schwartz
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes18 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Editors
  • Colin Patton
  • Matthew Barbato
  • Eric Kissack
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 19, 2016 (2016-09-19) –
present

The Good Place is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur. The series premiered on September 19, 2016 on NBC.[1]

The series focuses on Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a recently deceased young woman who wakes up in the afterlife and is sent by Michael (Ted Danson) to "The Good Place", a Heaven-like utopia he designed, in reward for her righteous life. She realizes that she was sent there by mistake, and must hide her morally imperfect behavior (past and present). William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil and Manny Jacinto co-star as Chidi Anagonye, Tahani Al-Jamil and Jason Mendoza, other residents of "The Good Place", together with D'Arcy Carden as Janet, an artificial being helping the inhabitants.

The Good Place has received positive reviews since its premiere, with many praising its performances, writing, originality, setting and tone, as well as its first season finale's twist ending. On January 30, 2017, NBC renewed the series for a second season of 13 episodes, which premiered on Wednesday, September 20, 2017, with an hour-long premiere, before moving to its normal time slot Thursday at 8:30 pm, beginning September 28, 2017.[2]

Synopsis

After she is struck by a collection of runaway shopping carts, pushed into traffic and run over by a truck, Eleanor Shellstrop (Bell) is welcomed into the afterlife by Michael (Danson), the facilitator and architect of Eleanor's new neighborhood in a "utopia" called "The Good Place". When Michael tells Eleanor she made it into "The Good Place" as reward for her life of selfless devotion to helping others, she realizes she must have been mistaken for someone else (an individual whom she later learns shares her name and died in the same accident that killed her, leading to the confusion). She also learns that each person in "The Good Place" has a soulmate with whom she or he is matched and (accordingly) with whom she or he will live for eternity.

Hoping to stay in The Good Place, Eleanor decides to hide her morally imperfect past behavior from everyone else, confessing only to her assigned soulmate, Chidi Anagonye (Harper), a university ethics professor. Chidi agrees to teach Eleanor to become a better person and avoid eternal torture in "The Bad Place". She also interacts closely with a particular group of other people in "The Good Place", notably Tahani Al-Jamil (Jamil), a wealthy philanthropist who dedicated her life to helping the poor and raised billions through charities, and Tahani's soulmate Jianyu Li (Jacinto), seemingly a silent Buddhist monk from Taiwan, who turns out to be Jason Mendoza, a misplaced music DJ from Florida. Michael and the inhabitants are assisted by Janet (Carden), an artificial being in charge of helping and informing the inhabitants.

Each episode of the first season features flashbacks from one of the five main characters (Michael or one of the four human inhabitants) and ends with a cliffhanger leading into the following episode. In the first season finale's twist ending, Michael reveals that he is a "demon"; "The Good Place" is a new experimental form of "The Bad Place" designed by Michael; and Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason are the only human inhabitants; they were placed together with the idea that they would torment each other, proving the argument that "hell is other people." The plan backfires when they become friends and Eleanor realizes the truth.

In season 2, Michael erases their memories and attempts the experiment again, but Eleanor (and on one occasion, Jason) figures out the truth over and over again. Because it is disallowed by his supervisors, Michael is lying to them and pretending to still be on the second attempt, even though he wipes their memories and reboots them repeatedly. As his demon colleagues also demand changes, one of them (Vicky) blackmails Michael, demanding he wipe the humans' memories and reset the neighborhood again, but putting her in charge and enacting all the demands of the other demons. Desperate to retain control and avoid "retirement" Michael offers to work with the foursome and not erase their memories if they agree to work with him. Eleanor reluctantly agrees (after Michael says he can get them to the real Good Place if they do so), but says that she will only do so if Michael agrees to join them for Chid's ethics lessons. Since he has no choice, Michael agrees.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop, a deceased saleswoman from Arizona who entered an afterlife utopia called "The Good Place" seemingly after being mistaken for a human rights lawyer by the same name.[3] With the aid of her alleged soulmate, Chidi, she attempts to reform by learning about ethics, believing she still has a chance to earn a legitimate spot in The Good Place. Now that Eleanor knows about Michael’s experiments and the memory wipes, Eleanor became the de facto leader in the group “Team Cockroach” after she makes a truce with Michael to keep Shawn from finding out about the reboots in exchange for helping the humans get to the Real Good Place.
  • William Jackson Harper as Chidi Anagonye, a deceased ethics professor who was born in Nigeria and raised in Senegal, supposed to be Eleanor's soulmate. Reluctantly, he had hope to meet a soulmate he could bond with, but soon discovers that he and Eleanor were meant to be soulmates because he was always there for her. He is the first person to learn her secret and begins teaching her about ethics to reform both her and Jason. He died on earth when an air conditioner fell on his head outside his apartment building. [4] Chidi speaks French, but in this afterlife, his speech is translated into whatever languages people who listen to him speak; therefore, he appears to speak English to Eleanor and the audience.
  • Jameela Jamil as Tahani Al-Jamil, a deceased, wealthy philanthropist who traveled extensively around the world. She was born in Pakistan, raised in England, and went to school in France. Tahani, whose full name means "Congratulations Beautiful," is a seemingly-good-natured soul with a cheerful and helpful attitude who was constantly overshadowed by her younger sister, Kamilah during her time on Earth. She died on Earth when a statue of her sister fell on her at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. She gradually learns the truth about Eleanor and Jason following Eleanor's arrival. Initially, Eleanor dislikes Tahani, finding her positive attitude, condescending manner, and her tendency to name drop obnoxious, but the two eventually become friends.[5]
  • D'Arcy Carden as Janet, a programmed guide who acts as the neighborhood's main source of information, analogous to an intelligent personal assistant. Despite being a robotic being, she wants to be referred to as a human. She is the 25th generation of "Janet" programs like her, dating back to a predecessor featuring a click-wheel. She has infinite knowledge of the universe, can provide residents anything they desire, and details everything of what is happening in the Good Place but does have some flaws in trying to act more human. Since she is the only individual who came from a true Good Place (Michael admits to having stolen her in the season 1 finale), Janet is subject to numerous reboots; she pleads with whomever tries to push a red button that shuts her down not to kill her, even going as far as showing pictures (like an ultrasound of an unborn baby or showing off her “children”) before she falls to the ground. These reboots give Janet increased abilities as well as programming capabilities that compel her to make humans happy, as she’ll only answer to what the humans want her to do, including keeping their secrets to escaping the Bad Place.
    • Carden also plays "Bad Janet", Janet's counterpart from The Bad Place.[6]
  • Manny Jacinto as "Jianyu Li", a silent Buddhist monk from Taiwan and Tahani's soulmate. Eleanor discovers he is actually Jason Mendoza who's from Florida, and has also seemingly been mistaken for someone else.[7] At first, Jason develops feelings for Janet because she is the only one who is nice to him but later forgot after they rebooted everybodies memories, but later ended up sleeping with Tahani in season 2.
  • Ted Danson as Michael, the architect of The Good Place where Eleanor and her fellow humans reside. In the first season finale, Michael confesses that he is a Bad Place demon who constructed a fake "Good Place" to torture Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason. Unfortunately, he ends up repeatedly restarting his experiment due to Eleanor (and one time Jason) always figuring out that “The Good Place” is “The Bad Place,” leading to his routine failure, as well as hiding the constant resets from Shawn in order to avoid "retirement". As part of a truce he makes with Eleanor so his failing project will not be exposed and a chance to reform his behavior, Michael agrees to let the humans keep their memories and help them get into the true Good Place as well as to take Chidi’s ethics lessons.

Recurring

  • Tiya Sircar as the "real Eleanor Shellstrop", a human rights lawyer mistakenly sent to The Bad Place, who was killed trying to save Eleanor from a traffic accident, causing confusion because the two Eleanors were close to one another and died almost simultaneously. In season 2, she is revealed to be a demonic colleague of Michael's, who had agreed to act as part of the experiment. In one of many reboots in the second season, Michael gives Vicky a significantly smaller role as Denise, a restaurant owner, to Vicky's dissatisfaction. After having to go through hundreds of Michael's failed attempts, Vicky blackmails him, saying he will reboot the neighborhood and blank the memories of the humans again, and put her in charge of the new neighborhood, saying that if he does not agree to her terms (and to meet the demands of the other demons, who all want something different out of this newest attempt), she will alert Shawn to her documentation of his many failures, and request that he initiate Michael's retirement. This makes Michael desperate enough to team up with the humans, whose memories he only pretends to blank.
  • Adam Scott as Trevor. In season 1, he is portrayed as a sinister figure representing The Bad Place, sent upon Eleanor's true identity being revealed, vowing to take her with him. He leads an entourage of demons that parties endlessly and bullies Michael.[8]
  • Marc Evan Jackson as Shawn, Michael's boss. He is introduced season 1 as an all-powerful Eternal Judge sent to hear Eleanor's fate. In the season 1 finale, his true nature was revealed as one who believes Michael will fail in his second attempt, and he makes it clear that Michael's failure in this regard will result in Michael's retirement, and that only one more chance will be given.
  • Maribeth Monroe as Mindy St. Claire, the only resident of The Medium Place, a neutral plane of existence between The Good Place and The Bad Place. She is a former real-estate lawyer, cocaine addict, and is somewhat sexually depraved, as evidenced by the fact that she has taped and kept track of times when Eleanor and Chidi shared intimacy during their repeated visits. Regarding those visits, she told a reluctant and disbelieving Eleanor that she (Eleanor) and Chidi have been romantically linked for a long time, even though it may seem to Eleanor as if she and Chidi just met. Because of her location and existence, Mindy is a real person and not subjected to the experimental nature in which both places are being run. It is implied that Mindy died in the 1980s as evidenced in her environmental surroundings (such as having a TV set with recordable VHS tapes which enabled her to record one of the sex tapes over Cannonball Run 2; she also has a People magazine cover featuring Pierce Brosnan that she keeps reading).

Episodes

Main article: List of The Good Place episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedRankAverage viewers
(in millions inc. DVR)
First airedLast aired
113September 19, 2016 (2016-09-19)January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19)775.72[9]
213September 20, 2017 (2017-09-20)February 1, 2018 (2018-02-01)775.78[10]
313September 27, 2018 (2018-09-27)January 24, 2019 (2019-01-24)994.57[11]
414September 26, 2019 (2019-09-26)January 30, 2020 (2020-01-30)923.56[12]

Production

Development and casting

NBC issued a press release on August 13, 2015, announcing it had given the then untitled show a 13-episode order based purely on a pitch by Michael Schur.[13] On January 12, 2016, it was announced that Kristen Bell and Ted Danson had been cast in the lead roles for the series. The first synopsis of the show was also released, stating that the show was set to revolve around Eleanor designing her own self-improvement course with Michael acting as her guide[3] – although the afterlife element had always been a part of the series, as Kristen Bell has stated she was aware of the first-season finale twist when she signed onto the show.[14]

William Jackson Harper was cast as Chris on February 11, 2016,[4] though the character was renamed Chidi. Jameela Jamil was cast as Tessa on February 25, 2016,[5] and her character was renamed Tahani. On March 3, 2016, Manny Jacinto was revealed to have been cast as a "sweet and good-natured Jason" whose "dream is to make a living as a DJ in Southern Florida."[7] On March 14, 2016, D’Arcy Carden was cast in the final series regular role as Janet Della-Denunzio, a violin salesperson with a checkered past[6] – though the character was completely reworked, she retained her original first name in the series.

The final premise for the show, including the afterlife element, was ultimately announced on May 15, 2016, when NBC announced its schedule for the 2016–17 TV season.[15]

Filming

According to Schur, the premise and idea was to include religious elements into the series after doing research on various faiths and groups, but he decided to scrap the plans, instead going for a concept that included all faiths that was diverse and free of religious views. "I stopped doing research because I realized it’s about versions of ethical behavior, not religious salvation," he says. "The show isn't taking a side, the people who are there are from every country and religion." Schur also points out that the setting (shot in San Marino, California's Huntington Gardens) already had the feeling of a pastiche of different cultures, stating that the neighborhoods will feature people who are part of nondenominational and interdenominational backgrounds that interact with each other regardless of religion.[16]

The series' setting and premises, as well as the serialized cliffhangers were modeled on Lost, a favorite of Schur. One of the first people he called when he developed the series was Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof. "I took him to lunch and said, 'We're going to play a game [of] 'Is this anything?'" He then added "I imagine this going in the Lost way," with cliffhangers and future storylines".[17]

The first season's surprise twist, that the Good Place was the Bad Place, and Chidi, Eleanor, Jason and Tahani were the four souls chosen because they were best suited to torture each other indefinitely, is very similar in premise to philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's stage play No Exit, in which three strangers die, are escorted to a single room by a friendly bellhop where they are informed they must co-exist together, but ultimately determine they are entirely incompatible and thus come to the conclusion that "hell is other people". The only actors who knew the truth from the start were Danson and Bell.[18]

Critics have also suggested resemblances to 1960s surreal TV show The Prisoner in its isolated, rule-bound setting.[19][20][21]

Broadcast and release

Since the start of season two in September 2017, Netflix distributes the show to various international markets with new episodes being released less than a day after their original American airing.[22]

Home media

The first season will be released on DVD in region 1 on October 17, 2017.[23]

Reception

Seasonal ratings

Season Time slot (ET) Episodes Season premiere Season finale TV season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
Date Viewers
(in millions) 		Date Viewers
(in millions)
1 Monday 10:00 pm (premiere)
Thursday 8:30 pm 		13 September 19, 2016 8.04[24] January 19, 2017 3.93[25] 2016–17 #77 5.72[9]
2 Wednesday 10:00 pm (premiere)
Thursday 8:30 pm 		13 September 20, 2017 5.28[26] TBA TBA 2017–18 TBA TBA

Critical reception

The Good Place has received positive reviews from television critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a rating of 90%, based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 7.84/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kristen Bell and Ted Danson knock it out of the park with supremely entertaining, charming performances in this absurd, clever and whimsical portrayal of the afterlife."[27] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 78 out of 100, based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[28]

The editors of TV Guide placed The Good Place second among the top ten picks for the most anticipated new shows of the 2016–17 season. In its review from writer Liam Matthews, "NBC's new comedy has an impressive pedigree" (referring to Mike Schur, and stars Kristen Bell and Ted Danson, the latter cited as "arguably the greatest sitcom actor of all time"). Matthews concludes that "The hope is that their combined star power can restore NBC's tarnished comedy brand to its former glory. It won't be the next Friends, but it's something even better: a network comedy that feels different than anything that's come before."[29]

Jason Martin, a critic for Outkick the Coverage, placed The Good Place on his list of best comedies of the year for 2016.[30]

The second season has received highly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a rating of 100%, based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "By voluntarily blowing up its premise, The Good Place sets up a second season that proves even funnier than its first."[31] On Metacritic, the second season has a score of 87 out of 100, based on reviews from 9 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[32]

Accolades

Year Association Category Nominee Result
2016 TV Guide[29] Most Exciting TV Series The Good Place Runner-up
Critics' Choice Television Awards[33] Most Exciting New Series The Good Place Won
IGN Awards[34] Best TV Comedy Series Nominated
2017 Gold Derby Awards[35] Comedy Lead Actor Ted Danson Nominated
People's Choice Awards[36] Favorite New Comedy Series The Good Place Nominated
Television Critics Association[37] Outstanding Achievement in Comedy Nominated
Outstanding New Program Nominated
Individual Achievement in Comedy Kristen Bell Nominated
Saturn Awards[38] Best Fantasy Television Series The Good Place Nominated

References

  1. ^ O'Connell, Michael (June 15, 2016). "NBC Sets Fall Premiere Dates, Gives 'Good Place' a Choice Preview Slot". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  2. ^ Ausiello, Michael (July 31, 2017). "NBC Tweaks Fall Rollout: Good Place Gets Early Talent-Boosted Premiere, The Blacklist Return Moved Up". TVLine. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  3. ^ a b NBC press release (January 12, 2016). "Ted Danson and Kristen Bell Join Cast of Michael Schur's New NBC Comedy "Good Place"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (February 11, 2016). "'Good Place' NBC Comedy Series Casts William Jackson Harper". Deadline.com. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (February 25, 2016). "'Good Place': British Presenter Jameela Jamil Cast In Mike Schur NBC Series". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (March 14, 2016). "'Good Place': UCB Performer D'Arcy Carden Cast In Mike Schur NBC Series". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Petski, Denise (March 3, 2016). "'Good Place' NBC Comedy Series Casts Manny Jacinto; Julie Goldman Joins ABC's Weeks/Mackay Project". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  8. ^ Blevins, Joe (October 21, 2016). "Adam Scott is ascending into The Good Place for multiple episodes". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  9. ^ a b de Moraes, Lisa (May 26, 2017). "Final 2016-17 TV Rankings: 'Sunday Night Football' Winning Streak Continues". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2017. Cite error: The named reference "entertainment2017" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (May 22, 2018). "2017-18 TV Series Ratings Rankings: NFL Football, 'Big Bang' Top Charts". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  11. ^ "2018-19 TV Season Ratings: CBS Wraps 11th Season At No. 1 In Total Viewers, NBC Tops Demo; 'Big Bang Theory' Most Watched Series". Deadline.com. May 21, 2019. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  12. ^ Porter, Rick (June 4, 2020). "TV Ratings: 7-Day Season Averages for Every 2019-20 Broadcast Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Michael Schur Returns to NBC with Series Order for Untitled Comedy". The Futon Critic. August 13, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  14. ^ "Kristen Bell on Twitter". Twitter. January 19, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  15. ^ "NBC Augments Its Stable Schedule with Ambitious New Dramas, High-Concept Comedies and Unpredictable Unscripted Series". The Futon Critic. May 15, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  16. ^ Ostrow, Joanne (September 15, 2016). "How Will NBC's 'The Good Place' Tackle Religion?". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  17. ^ Birnbaum, Debra (August 16, 2016). "'The Good Place' Boss Mike Schur: The Model in My Head is 'Lost'". Variety. Retrieved October 11, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  18. ^ Spendlove, Jacqueline. "With a twist: 'The Good Place' returns after last season's surprise ending". TV Media. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  19. ^ Squires, Bethy (October 25, 2016). "The Refreshing Artifice of 'The Good Place'". Splitsider. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  20. ^ Adams, Eric (September 16, 2016). "Kristen Bell and Ted Danson find a great home in a Good Place". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  21. ^ Jensen, Jeff (January 20, 2017). "The Good Place season 1 finale: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  22. ^ Munn, Patick (August 23, 2017). "Netflix Picks Up UK Rights To NBC's Comedy Series 'The Good Place', Sets September Premiere". TVWise. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  23. ^ Lambert, David (September 12, 2017). "The Good Place - Official Studio Press Release for 'The Complete 1st Season'". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  24. ^ Porter, Rick (September 20, 2016). "Monday final ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' and 'Gotham' adjust up, 'Kevin' and 'Good Place' hold". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  25. ^ Porter, Rick (January 23, 2017). "'The Big Bang Theory' ajdusts up, 'My Kitchen Rules' adjusts down: Thursday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  26. ^ Porter, Rick (September 21, 2017). "America's Got Talent,' 'Big Brother,' 'Masterchef' ajdust up, 'The Good Place' and 'Salvation' adjust down: Wednesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  27. ^ "The Good Place: Season 1 (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  28. ^ "The Good Place: Season 1 reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  29. ^ a b Zalben, Alexander (September 16, 2016). "Our 10 Most Anticipated New TV Shows of Fall 2016". TV Guide. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  30. ^ Martin, Patrick (January 3, 2017). "Outkick's Top Comedy Shows of 2016". Outkick the Coverage. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  31. ^ "The Good Place: Season 2 (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  32. ^ "The Good Place: Season 2 reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  33. ^ Prudom, Laura (September 7, 2016). "Critics' Choice Awards Reveal Most Exciting New Series Honorees". Variety. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  34. ^ "Best Comedy Series - Best of 2016 Awards". IGN. 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  35. ^ Beachum, Chris; Montgomery, Daniel; James Dixon, Marcus (July 26, 2017). "2017 Gold Derby TV Awards nominations: 'This is Us,' 'Veep,' 'The Leftovers,' 'Stranger Things' among top contenders". Gold Derby. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  36. ^ Naoreen, Nuzhat (January 18, 2017). "People's Choice Awards 2017: Full List Of Winners". People's Choice. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  37. ^ Otterson, Joe (June 19, 2017). "'Atlanta,' 'This Is Us,' 'Handmaid's Tale' Lead TCA Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  38. ^ McNary, Dave (March 2, 2017). "Saturn Awards Nominations 2017: 'Rogue One,' 'Walking Dead' Lead". Variety. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
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