I read some info about the s1 finale and thought "this sounds super interesting, let me watch it" and put it on in the living room while my wife (who does not follow tv crit at all) was wrangling our kids.
Five minutes into the pilot, when Eleanor is looking at the clown paintings in her house, my wife looks up and says, "Oh I get it, she's in Hell."
(I lolled.)
― this iphone speaks many languages (DJP), Thursday, 21 September 2017 21:51 (six years ago) link
I also binged the entire season over the course of this week.
Fantastic show, and I'm very, very glad that the non-Bell/Danson cast is getting and producing work this good.
― Marcus Hiles Remains Steadfast About Planting Trees.jpg (DJP), Thursday, 21 September 2017 22:07 (six years ago) link
Love this show, every part of it is great.
Janet happily explaining how she's not a person gets me every time.
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 21 September 2017 22:11 (six years ago) link
I can say without hyperbole that it is my favorite comedy discovery in a long, long while.
― Marcus Hiles Remains Steadfast About Planting Trees.jpg (DJP), Thursday, 21 September 2017 22:14 (six years ago) link
I just read that no one in the cast outside of Danson and Bell knew what the reveal was until after it was shot; apparently the two of them knew the entire season, but they kept it from the rest of the cast
― akm, Thursday, 21 September 2017 22:26 (six years ago) link
Ted Danson laugh after being found out is all time.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 21 September 2017 22:34 (six years ago) link
it's simple, it's not even a joke, but every single time i love janet's (puzzled) you want me to do what? (beaming) okay!
― mookieproof, Thursday, 21 September 2017 23:05 (six years ago) link
Ugh, week to week sucks.
― louise ck (milo z), Thursday, 21 September 2017 23:44 (six years ago) link
i love real eleanor / denise
― na (NA), Friday, 22 September 2017 02:43 (six years ago) link
i love janet
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Friday, 22 September 2017 03:02 (six years ago) link
janet is spectacular
― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 22 September 2017 03:05 (six years ago) link
Penis flattener
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Friday, 22 September 2017 03:12 (six years ago) link
i want to talk about specific janet moments in series 1 but i don't think enough people here have seen it all the way through
― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 22 September 2017 03:23 (six years ago) link
Butthole spiders
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Friday, 22 September 2017 04:06 (six years ago) link
janet with the potted cactus plants last season made me lol SO MUCH
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 22 September 2017 04:23 (six years ago) link
i love chidi
also every detail about anthony's irl life is so beautifully, majestically dumb & perfect.
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 22 September 2017 04:25 (six years ago) link
http://68.media.tumblr.com/f984d7637accc881706e531c45fdbd48/tumblr_okh55n69AT1teep5ro5_250.gif
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 22 September 2017 04:26 (six years ago) link
double ep was v enjoyable
god this show is such a delight
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 22 September 2017 04:27 (six years ago) link
yessssss the whole cactus thing
― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 22 September 2017 08:29 (six years ago) link
wow i have to watch all this again
I always thought that the etiquette for specific show threads was that it was fine to talk about anything that has been broadcast already.
― trishyb, Friday, 22 September 2017 09:51 (six years ago) link
oh cool, because i want to talk about the whole arc where she and jason got married and she proclaimed love and interest for him in the most detached and mechanical and brutally honest way possible, but he bought it because he's jason
― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 22 September 2017 09:53 (six years ago) link
and the cactus thing
I feel like even after just one season a character poll would be impossible
Shout out to "real Eleanor" though
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, 22 September 2017 11:56 (six years ago) link
if michael was all-knowing AND had watched every episode like he said then he would know that the apartment belonged to monica's grandmother and that it was rent-controlled.
― scott seward, Friday, 22 September 2017 12:36 (six years ago) link
look everyone loves janet, but i love the turn they're doing with "real eleanor" from being perfect in s1 to being an annoying diva in s2.they're taking a big risk with s2 though, how it's basically incomprehensible without having watched all of s1. sitcoms usually encourage people to drop in on any episode.
― na (NA), Friday, 22 September 2017 14:43 (six years ago) link
would totally watch Good Janet/Bad Janet spin-off.
― scott seward, Friday, 22 September 2017 15:16 (six years ago) link
"they're taking a big risk with s2 though, how it's basically incomprehensible without having watched all of s1"
is anything really a risk anymore when you've got the binge dollars coming in? it's on netflix and hulu. and probably amazon and wherever else.
i wonder how much a network makes letting netflix show their show.
― scott seward, Friday, 22 September 2017 15:19 (six years ago) link
michael is clearly not all-knowing
― mookieproof, Friday, 22 September 2017 15:20 (six years ago) link
GF noted how nice it is to be gently lowered back into reality after Twin Peaks via The Good Place
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Friday, 22 September 2017 15:21 (six years ago) link
honestly this is the only aspect of the show's world that bugs me, like people can have private conversations that the architects can't see or hear? this is a tiny quibble, though.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, 22 September 2017 15:31 (six years ago) link
I interpret this as Michael not having been given the resources to properly monitor everyone, because he's working on a project his supervisors don't approve of, even though if it's successful it will really help the organization -- when everyone is torturing him or herself, you don't need such a huge staff.
― trishyb, Friday, 22 September 2017 17:44 (six years ago) link
"when everyone is torturing him or herself, you don't need such a huge staff."
uh, except for the town of people who are in on it? that's a lot of overtime.
― scott seward, Friday, 22 September 2017 20:41 (six years ago) link
That's just for now, though. Initial outlay to get the project up and running.
― trishyb, Friday, 22 September 2017 21:32 (six years ago) link
honestly this is the only aspect of the show's world that bugs me
Well, they keep suggesting that Michael is actually terrible at his job, so that's seems like a good enough explanation.
My guess is that the season will work towards the gang and Michael teaming up against the larger aggressor (being Holt's husband from Brooklyn 99).
There is a typically TV critic indulgent thread on Twitter at the moment - they've decided it's a TV show about storytelling and other TV shows. I get the inclination but that is a godawful boring take on it.
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 22 September 2017 22:43 (six years ago) link
i'm rewatching on netflix and it definitely works better as a binge. a chapter a week is fine but less satisfying.
― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 22 September 2017 22:49 (six years ago) link
Michael isn't supposed to be omniscient - he's the guy setting up the Sims world and letting it run.
― louise ck (milo z), Friday, 22 September 2017 23:17 (six years ago) link
they've decided it's a TV show about storytelling and other TV shows. I get the inclination but that is a godawful boring take on it.
"Area stoner thinks everyone on TV also stoned."
― trishyb, Saturday, 23 September 2017 08:10 (six years ago) link
That speech Michael gave to his minions was all-time! “Sure, we could fire up the penis-flattener...”
― DJI, Saturday, 23 September 2017 16:28 (six years ago) link
Just blew through the entire series this weekend. I paid no attention to the episode count so I was shocked when I realized the first season was over.
Not much to say that hasn't already been said. It's great, and I wish I hadn't sat on it for so long. Recognizing glimmers of oneself in the main characters is kind of a 'fun' game (the familiarity of Eleanor's relationship with her coworkers stung a bit).
― Gewgaws for Meemaw (Old Lunch), Monday, 25 September 2017 12:25 (six years ago) link
DJP spoiled this for me on Twitter is it still worth watching?
― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 25 September 2017 12:33 (six years ago) link
Yes
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Monday, 25 September 2017 12:38 (six years ago) link
for janet alone, yes
― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 25 September 2017 12:40 (six years ago) link
I spoiled myself by peeking at this thread. The impact was lessened slightly but the twist almost seems to be the jumping-off point of the series rather than a Shyamalan-esque 'DID I BLOW YOUR MIND?!?' moment. So, yeah, definitely worth watching.
― Gewgaws for Meemaw (Old Lunch), Monday, 25 September 2017 12:46 (six years ago) link
yeah, and upon rewatching the whole first series takes on a whole new tone
― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 25 September 2017 13:01 (six years ago) link
Main cast aside (all excellent), it's lovely to be reminded how amazing Adam Scott is at playing a total douche. He has such a range, that one.
― Gewgaws for Meemaw (Old Lunch), Monday, 25 September 2017 13:16 (six years ago) link
That's really his best mode
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 25 September 2017 13:20 (six years ago) link
It took me way too many hours to realize that this is No Exit: The Sitcom.
― Gewgaws for Meemaw (Old Lunch), Monday, 25 September 2017 13:58 (six years ago) link
This is the only show for which I will wade through ads on nbc.com (which continually crash the stream)
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 25 September 2017 14:56 (six years ago) link
I am hopeful for more amazing Jianyu/Jason content
― mh, Monday, 25 September 2017 15:01 (six years ago) link
lmbo kinder
― maura, Monday, 3 February 2020 15:25 (four years ago) link
wood watch
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Monday, 3 February 2020 15:53 (four years ago) link
I admit my attention wandered a lot during the finale, it wasn't bad but felt like a lot of foregone conclusions.
also thought it was weird that at no point did the show explicitly acknowledge it's thematic undperinnings: transition from standard Western theology of the afterlife (heaven/hell) to an Eastern one (reincarnation/wheel of karma). I mean the final door, for ex, was obviously the achievement of nirvana/stepping off the wheel of karma and reincarnation and yet... no one mentioned it.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 3 February 2020 16:00 (four years ago) link
Chidi did make a comment to the effect that "for spiritual questions, you need to look to the East" and cited a Buddhist conception of death as a wave rejoining the ocean.
― With considerable charm, you still have made a choice (Sund4r), Monday, 3 February 2020 16:02 (four years ago) link
There was something unsatisfying about it for me too, though.
― With considerable charm, you still have made a choice (Sund4r), Monday, 3 February 2020 16:06 (four years ago) link
Christian theology and Western ethical theories worked for a simpler world but life on Earth has become so complex that reincarnation and karma is all that works now?
Lol @ The Wood Place btw.
― With considerable charm, you still have made a choice (Sund4r), Monday, 3 February 2020 16:08 (four years ago) link
given where they went with it, i was a little disappointed that the door didn't let worthy spirits who felt complete back to the world to help the rest of us get it right i.e. good place buddhism didn't find a mahāyāna expression
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Monday, 3 February 2020 19:09 (four years ago) link
Also jason spent 1000s of Jeremy Berimies ‘like a monk’ before going through the door with Chidi.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, 3 February 2020 20:44 (four years ago) link
I wish they hadn't felt the need to underline that with the dialogue tbh
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Monday, 3 February 2020 20:48 (four years ago) link
I noticed that too - but the thing is those are, at best tangential asides. At no point does Chidi (or anybody) say anything along the lines of "huh, maybe Saint Augustine was wrong and D.T. Suzuki was right!", not even when they were "designing" the new afterlife.
xps
― Οὖτις, Monday, 3 February 2020 20:50 (four years ago) link
Has it ever been that heavy handed? As Chidi got more sure of his own moral philosophy he referenced people less and less. Surely his ‘enlightenment’ would transcend all earthly philosophies and wouldn’t need the references and we wouldn’t comprehend it anyway.
It was kind of there in the first episode, everyone got the afterlife a bit right and it was Doug Fourcet who got it e most right (17% IIRC).
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, 3 February 2020 22:55 (four years ago) link
St. Augustine is referenced in the final episode!
― Οὖτις, Monday, 3 February 2020 23:00 (four years ago) link
Just finished. I really liked it and the only thing that bothered me was being confused about Tahani's parents inexplicably being loving. We guffawed at the "keep it sleazy" because it was so unexpected and Danson sold it.
The couplings never bothered me; I actually may have liked them because they seemed pretty simple and straightforward.
I kind of thought they subtly underlined the wave/water/rejoining the earth thing with the little light dropping to Michael's storyline after eleanor walks through the door? I think it's nice to have more entertainment that isn't about fear of death and the unknown (like Coco).
― Yerac, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 18:52 (four years ago) link
being confused about Tahani's parents inexplicably being loving
well they had gone through the process already of becoming better people in purgatory
― Mordy, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 18:54 (four years ago) link
the only thing that bothered me was being confused about Tahani's parents inexplicably being loving
The idea is that by the time they finally "make it" to the actual Good Place to reunite with Tahani, they've been reset countless times until they've finally truly corrected their personal defects. (xp!)
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Tuesday, 4 February 2020 18:54 (four years ago) link
but Tahani and her sister were also surprised!
― Yerac, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 18:55 (four years ago) link
I kind of can't keep the episodes in the last season straight and have a feeling I may have missed one.
― Yerac, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 18:57 (four years ago) link
I think it's nice to have more entertainment that isn't about fear of death and the unknown (like Coco).
?! Man I thought Coco was incredible.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 18:58 (four years ago) link
I read that as a compliment to Coco actually.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 4 February 2020 19:47 (four years ago) link
oh yeah, I was wondering what the ? was for. Coco and The Good Place don't treat death as a horrifying, fearful event.
― Yerac, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 19:53 (four years ago) link
sorry, my bad, I misunderstood
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 4 February 2020 20:00 (four years ago) link
If you could push a button and simply cease to exist, would you press it?
― mookieproof, Friday, 7 February 2020 04:03 (four years ago) link
This was great when it remembered it could be sad *and* funny at the same time (Chidi’s calendar!) but I still kind of preferred the earlier, funnier, smarter ones
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 8 February 2020 23:12 (four years ago) link
A treat to get 4 seasons of Ted Danson doing this, though (even if evil Ted was better). WJH seemed v poorly served by this season, mind
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 8 February 2020 23:15 (four years ago) link
What’s Ted danson doing next?
Still bummed by the oh so short run of Bored to death. George is probably my favourite character he’s played.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Saturday, 8 February 2020 23:21 (four years ago) link
Love that show
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Saturday, 8 February 2020 23:23 (four years ago) link
What’s Ted danson doing next?Tina Fey & Robert Carlock sold a direct-to-series project to NBC about Jack Donaghy running for mayor of NYC. Alec Baldwin spent a year on his usual hardball negotiating in the style that got 30 Rock cancelled mid-season, and now the series will star Danson as a businessman running for mayor of LA.Agree that Bored To Death is apex Danson.
― Fantastic. Great move. Well done (sic), Sunday, 9 February 2020 00:17 (four years ago) link
The republican convention moving to Jacksonville made me want to bump this thread
― joygoat, Sunday, 14 June 2020 03:43 (three years ago) link
pic.twitter.com/67GErFIWyK— no context the good place (@nocontexttgp) March 1, 2019
― fatuous salad (symsymsym), Sunday, 14 June 2020 03:49 (three years ago) link
Just started watching this show, incredibly relieved when at the end of episode 3 that the Buddhist monk actually got to speak. Was totally afraid that character would just be a running joke.
― Nhex, Sunday, 17 October 2021 15:49 (two years ago) link
it gets even better!
― Communist Hockey Goblin (sleeve), Sunday, 17 October 2021 15:56 (two years ago) link
that character becomes, shall we say, somewhat integral to the story
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 17 October 2021 20:58 (two years ago) link
honestly one of the all-time great performances
― poster of sparks (rogermexico.), Sunday, 17 October 2021 21:47 (two years ago) link
K i'm just starting the third season and am just completely amazed by this showthat it exists at all (I imagine pitched as Lost: The Sitcom!) and on was on network television, that it gets rebooted effectively every year, and that it's so awesome and the cast is so so good
― Nhex, Sunday, 24 October 2021 22:22 (two years ago) link
it's a very good show!without being a killjoy, allow me to forewarn that i don't think it sticks the landing and gets mired down in its own sentimentality too much for its own good. that said, i watched it weekly and didn't binge so i'm curious what your take is.
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 24 October 2021 22:25 (two years ago) link
Loved this show massively!
I can easily understand how you felt though - if i had to watch this show week to week ala... well, Lost, it could've driven me crazy, especially the last two seasons having the Batman '66-esque cliffhangers for several episodes in a row to end them all. The last season I really kept wondering how the show wasn't ending from like, episode 8 of 13 onward. But it's perfect as a binging show and provided some desperately needed positive vibes for me in this time. (Next up: Ted Lasso.)
Yes the show gets REALLY sentimental, but I was totally okay with it honestly. I wholeheartedly bought into the show's concept - as lampshaded clearly in one of the final episodes - that for all this thought about philosophy and what good and bad people deserve in the afterlife, without that emotional underpinning it would've rung much more hollow. (And just as importantly, as a sitcom, it hit on a pretty much every level - the characters, cast, absurdism, etc. all worked and the show didn't go on past its welcome.) Ultimately, I bought in.
Still feeling a little wistful sadness from the finale, but ultimately very happy to go through all those Jeremy Berimys. Gonna skim through this thread to see how people felt in real time...
― Nhex, Monday, 1 November 2021 00:11 (two years ago) link
JORTLES
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 1 November 2021 02:58 (two years ago) link
all seems fair on that assessment
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 1 November 2021 03:00 (two years ago) link
Former Jacksonville Jaguars QB Blake Bortles says he 'quietly' retired
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 5 October 2022 16:27 (one year ago) link
should've announced it by throwing a molotov cocktail at a boat
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Wednesday, 5 October 2022 16:33 (one year ago) link