The Good Place (#18)

This show may have slipped under your radar. It shouldn't have.

I recently read Michael Schur’s excellent book “How To Be Perfect,” which essentially is him summarizing the major schools of philosophy with his usual humor and insight. Schur is, of course, the showrunner behind such gems as Parks & Recreation, Brooklyn 9-9 and, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, The Good Place. Indeed, this book stems from the questions he asked himself that eventually led to The Good Place.

It started with him feeling good about himself for always tipping his barista at a Starbucks - until he realized he only would put money in the jar when he was sure the barista noticed. Was he tipping to be a good person, or to receive a nod of thanks from someone?

Now, I don’t really believe that this alone got Schur to ask himself the deep questions that created both this book and the show, but I’m glad he asked those questions. Because I started rewatching The Good Place and guys, I’m telling you this show might be perfect.

And yet, it’s “only” my 18th favorite TV show. That’s right, I’ve ranked them, and I’m going to break them down over time. The list is 25 shows long, but I may or may not dive into each of them. Like any list, it’s personal - and there are a few rules. I’ve discarded shows with only a single season, but every season that does happen has to count. This will impact shows that started great and ended weak (and you know who you are).

But today, I want to talk about The Good Place, so here we are.

If you don’t know the show, the premise is this - Eleanor Shellstrop (Kirsten Bell) finds herself in a new, strange place. She’s told by Michael (Ted Danson) that she has died, and in The Good Place because of how good she was while alive on Earth. There is, of course, a Bad Place where one really, really doesn’t want to be.

Only, here’s the thing - Eleanor knows she shouldn’t be there. She describes herself as an “Arizona trash bag” - she wasn’t a good person. In many cases, she was a BAD person. But she also doesn’t want to go to The Bad Place. What to do? Well, she’s soon paired with her soulmate, Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper) who coincidentally enough, was a professor of ethics.

That’s enough setup, though they are soon joined by fellow paired soulmates Tahani Al-Jamil (Jameela Jamil), Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto) and Janet (D’Arcy Carden), the latter who is an all-knowing being who assists Michael and all the residents of The Good Place with whatever they need.

As Eleanor learns about philosophy, so do we. Would you find discussions about moral contractualism, Aristotelean virtue ethics or nihilism to be laugh out loud funny? How about deeply sweet, and often moving? And of course, how about a show that actually makes you think about the meaning of life?

The Good Place is all of that. And in the second year of a pandemic, amidst a level of intolerance between neighbors for things we all used to agree upon, at the cusp of what could be a global war … it’s a perfect show for right now. Or for anytime you want to just smile.

It’s hard for me to really say who the star of the show is - clearly, Danson and Bell are the “stars” - and the other four main actors have very limited exposure prior to this (in Jamil’s case, this is her first acting job, which stuns me as she’s pitch perfect). It’s hard not to love both Manny Jacinto as Jason or William Jackson Harper as Chidi - they have so many good lines it’s bonkers.

And Harper especially has some of the funniest reaction moments.

And Bell and Danson are amazing as well - especially Bell who has such good comic timing it’s almost easy to forget about it.

But the reality is that this show is more than the sum of its parts, which of course includes the writers and all the secondary characters, which includes Maya Rudolph, Jason Mantzoukas, Adam Scott and more.

It’s a really, really great show that somehow never got as popular as I think it deserves. It’s my 18th favorite show of all time, and I implore you to watch it.