NBC premiered The Good Place, a new show that I was eagerly waiting for, as it stars Ted Danson and Kristen Bell and comes from the pen of Michael Schur, who brought us Parks and Recreation.
In this show, Bell plyas Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman who, in her afterlife is mistakenly sent to The Good Place instead of The Bad Place where she belongs.
Ted Danson, meanwhile, plays the wise architect of The Good Place and he does not know of the mistake. That way Eleanor will try to avoid getting caught in the mistake and in the meantime find the good person within her.
To have things started, the first dialog between Ted Danson and Kristen Bell sets the tone for the show:
Elleanor: One question. Where am I? Who are you? And what´s going on?
The Architect: Right. So. You. Elleanor Shellstrop are dead. Your life on Earth has ended. And you are now on your next phase of existence in the universe.
Elleanor: Cool. Cool. I have some questions.
Architect: Thought you´d have.
Elleanor: How did I die? I don´t remember.
Architect: Right. In cases of traumatic or embarrassing deaths we erase the memory to allow for a peaceful transition. Are you sure you wanna hear? Ok. So you were in a grocery store parking lot, you dropped something called “Lonely Gal margarita mix for one” and when you went down to pick it up a long line of shopping carts that were being returned to the shopping carts collection area rolled out of control and plowed right into you.
Elleanor: Pff… that´s how I died.
Architect: Ohhh there´s more…
I won´t spoil it for you… check the rest of the story on the show!
The architect explanation on how every religion got about 5% of afterlife right is great, and the bit on Doug Forcett´s stoner hypothesis getting it 92% correct also is.
The architect´s orientation video on what happens in afterlife and the score system to decide who ends up in The Good Place or The Bad Place showcases Ted Danson´s comedy chops and has us very excited for what´s to come.
All in all the pilot is an interesting premise, that I wish NBC gives enough time to develop and that audiences on broadcast are willing to support. Hopefully this one sticks; so far it seems like a good comedy to add to our TV.
Have you watched The Good Place on NBC? Let me know your thoughts. Also, you can follow me on Social Media or subscribe for more TV Shows scoop, reviews and news.