TV Shows and other addictive things

#CurrentlyWatching: The Good Place

Kat Impossible76 Comments

By some miracle, I am able to keep having a theme for each week of #CurrentlyWatching posts and this week is all about sitcoms with depth. I can’t exactly say what it is with sitcoms, but usually they are terrible at holding my attention. It’s not so much that I don’t enjoy watching them, but they rarely have a compelling overarching theme or storyline that compels me to watch every single episode. Well, until the shows came around that I am going to present to you now, starting with The Good Place.

The Good Place airs on NBC, has currently 2 seasons available and is already renewed for a third one (Major YAAAS! for that). As I mentioned, it’s a sitcom, so episodes are usually about 20 minutes long.

Eleanor died and made it to the Good Place. Or has she? A seemingly small mix-up that Eleanor refuses to clear up in fear of having to go to the bad place, leads to consequences for all the inhabitants of her new neighborhood.

Is everything really fine? No, it is not and it’s hilarious. Surprisingly enough, I keep meeting people who haven’t even heard of The Good Place yet, but for me it was such a breakout star when it premiered at the end of 2016. While it is funny at all times, it also manages to carry a life message or get an ethical point across without ever turning really heavy. I can appreciate that, because there are days you don’t want the heavy stuff on your screen.

Also, while the concept may seem formulaic, I can promise you that there are tons of twists and turns that you won’t be expecting. Obviously I am not going to give anything away here, but let’s just say it’s big and very good!

During the past two season, I’d say we’ve gotten a pretty good look at the main characters, without having seen ALL there is to them. With flashbacks (that are thankfully not overused) we discover more about the humans, but also Michael – the architect of the this particular neighborhood in the Good Place.

I like that there is such variation in the personalities. You are bound to recognize both, good and bad, traits in each of them that you are probably also able to find in yourself. Eleanor, for example, may be rude and selfish, but it’s mostly because she had to fend for herself from a young age on and therefore knows the world doesn’t hand out freebies. Or Chidi, the ethics and moral professor, who is so flustered by the idea of making the right choice that he sometimes fails to make any choice at all. I’d like to go more into detail, because these characters are absolutely fantastic, but I just realised how many spoilers are potentially in their description, so I’d rather have you discover them yourselves.

There is so much to love about this show. Janet, who can’t technically be classified as a person, is definitely among the favourite parts of the show. However, there was always something about Eleanor and Chidi’s relationship that fascinated me the most. Actually, all relationships Eleanor has are interesting, because they don’t just make her but the other person a better being as well. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that there are several main characters, with Kristen Bell’s Eleanor kind of being the main main character among them.

So, that’s it for today. I hope I could pique your interest for this show a little bit. Again, it is funny, explores some moral issues but never fails to surprise and stay interesting as it continues on the long run (seriously, the season finales are the bomb!).

Have you watched The Good Place? Do you like it as much as me? Who else is pumped for Season 3?

76 thoughts on “#CurrentlyWatching: The Good Place”

  1. I watched the first episode of this a while back and enjoyed it but never continued. I usually don’t like sitcoms all that much which is why One Day at a Time surprised me.

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  2. Yesss I absolutely love The Good Place! I had only found out about it sometime in December I think? On one hand I wish I had found out sooner, but now I could immediately start season 2 after season 1’s cliffhanger so I’m not going to complain haha. I love Eleanor and Chidi’s relationship so much – I’m usually not into soulmates, but these two? Soul fricking mates 😛 (though I also can’t help but ship Eleanor and Tahani haha)

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  6. AAAAAAAH THE GOOD PLACE. I am so happy that you (and other people as well) made me want to watch this show so badly, as I have absolutely no regret now. Maybe I do have one, and it’s, why aren’t the seasons longer, why did I catch up with it so quickly and now I have to wait?? Now THAT makes me really sad, haha.
    I love all of the characters so much, I think Chidi has my heart right now, but I also love Tahani so much? She is so much fun and I completely ship her and Eleanor. In another life, let’s be serious for a second, I am so team Eleanor and Chidi no matter what, haha. And Janet, OH JANET is so much fun, I love her soooooooo much.
    I could rant about this for hours. I should stop right here haha, but I love this post ❤ ❤

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    • I love how much you are on board with this show! And I think most of the credit for this one goes to your boyfriend 😉 he deserves it and apparently also has good taste in TV shows.
      I knoooow, I wish there were more episodes too. But at least they are making quality content with the ones they do release.

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  9. I really really need to start watching this show! I love sitcoms and based on the trailers I’ve seen for The Good Place it seems like the kind of show I would really enjoy. The only reason I haven’t gotten around to it is because my to-watch list is nearly as long as my to-read list and for some reason I seem to be procrastinating when it comes to TV shows. 😀
    Great post Kat. 🙂 ❤

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  10. I found out about this 2 days ago but I’ve already binge watched season 1 and am halfway through season 2. It’s just so funny! The censored swearing is great. Everytime Eleanor says bullshirt or fork I’m like yes. I love all the characters, especially Jianyu who’s literally a marshmallow and surprisingly Eleanor too. Watching her grow into a “good” person was really touching. And of course, that killer plot twist hooked me in so much ❤️

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  12. I recently started watching The Good Place after someone recommended to me. Like you, I really like how it’s a sitcom with depth as I find sitcom’s that don’t carry any bigger messages in them quite boring after a few episodes. I haven’t yet finished episode 1 but I’m really interested to see where it’s going to go. Also Chidi is adorable!

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  13. Love your review! I didn’t know anything about The Good Place until a friend recommended it to me, either! It’s definitely a fun show, and so binge-worthy. I love the characters as well, like you said, all of them are so flawed and unique ❤

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  14. I have seen a lot of people online who love The Good Place, but I never actually knew what it was about – until now that is. I don’t know if that show is for me, I don’t tend to enjoy sitcoms (never have). Though I might give it a chance and see if I will enjoy it. Great post!!

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  19. I love what you said about this series! I agree too that while it is light hearted and has the sit-com structure it still brings to light ethical issues. Kristen Bell’s performance is what really made me fall in love with this show. It’s one I’ll be recommending in a couple of weeks 🙂

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