Topic: The Good Place

[touchingcloth]

I watched two episodes and thought it was jank

Am i just not getting it. Have I shot-off prematurely?

I wasn’t particularly enjoying it after two episodes but carried on through not having anything better to do, and was hooked by about episode 6 which is when the main characters’ narratives start to weave together. Definitely worth sticking out, because I’m now at the point where I’m waiting impatiently for the next episode having not realised that the second series is going up weekly.

I won’t say much more, because it’s hard to say much without spoilering some key elements, and I’m really glad that I came to this show literally knowing nothing more than it being a sitcom starring Danson and Bell. I will say that it’s not laugh a minute Seinfeld type fare, but that’s not really what they’re aiming for and it’s no less enjoyable for providing an interesting and well realised world rather than just a string of gags.

The cast is very strong, but infant decide if Jameela Jamil is giving a convincing performance of a nuts and aloof privileged woman a la Big Suze, or is just a slightly ropey actor. I’m enjoying her character, but I don’t know if I’m enjoying it in the way that’s intended.

On the “Netflix Originals” thing, apparently they use that for stuff they’ve funded the production of either solely or in part, or - as is the case with The Good Place - for things they are the sole streaming distributor of. Which is dodgy, aye.

New page afterlife cunt.

[remedial_gash]

I didn't know of her before this, but she does seem somewhat ropey, though I'm not sure it matters in this context - she's an alien. I'm not sure Chidi is very good either - but the story is compelling enough.

[touchingcloth]

She was familiar to me, but it took me ages to realise that I recognised her from an episode of Room 101. She’s a DJ as far as I can tell, no real acting credits to her name prior to this.

[phantom_power]

She was a presenter on Channel 4 for a while.

The actor who plays Chidi is great

[Alberon]

I think they’re all forking great.

[touchingcloth]

Part of the fun for me and my partner is that we actually met each other on another forum whilst railing against a newly introduced “won’t someone think of the children?!” policy which saw all swears being swapped for less rude words, one substitution of which was “fork” for “fuck”. The filter they implemented was a bit forked, though, because any string which included a swear was replaced wholesale with the substitute word rather than just the sweary substring so that, for instance, “why the fucking fuck would I want to go to fucking shitty fucking Scunthorpe like some fucking shitty fucking cunt who likes shit like fucking Scunthorpe fuck’s sake” would be rendered as “why the fork fork would I want to go to fucking sugar fork chard like some fork sugar fork chard who likes sugar like fork chard fork sake”.

LOLRANDOM

[Hemulen]

This is a real gem of a show, isn't it? Whilst I'd agree that it's by no means a gagfest, the mix of breezy silliness with rock solid serialised sci-fi/mystery elements totally won me over within a few episodes. Has anything like this ever been attempted before? A kind of comedy version of Lost, for want of a better comparison?

Also, D'Arcy Carden's performance as Janet is a constant delight. She just nails every mad little thing the writers throw at her.

[touchingcloth]

Great shout on it being the comedy equivalent of Lost. That’s exactly what it is, a load of oddball fishes out of water forced to club together in the face of some bizarre supernatural stuff, whilst having to keep their pasts and motivations reasonably close to their chests. Just without all the tedious fucking angst. 

[Ja'moke]

Can’t wait for the episode that explains how Eleanor got her tattoos (let’s face it, she’s the kind of person to have a regretable drunken tattoo).

[mothman]

I blasted through the whole first season last weekend, and did the second-season eps so far today. I’ve been loving it but I was initially trepidacious about starting season 2 as I feared they were going to literally replay the whole first season. So I was delighted with how they then subverted it with another 800 resets. So many ways in which they figure it out, best of all being Michael’s disgust when even Jason is able to. It does limit the show’s life, but then that seems to be a successful model for steaming: more, shorter, better shows.

REALLY hoping Tahani’s sister goes to the Bad Place. What a horrible person.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Another great episode, Ted Danson's various crises gave me a great deal of joy and he better get an Emmy nomination for this episode. I mean he won't win it, I'm sure it'll be someone from Veep or Modern Family again, but he deserves the recognition goddammit!

[touchingcloth]

It does limit the show’s life

I don't think it does. It's a supernatural setting, so anything's possible. Someone's suggested that maybe the whole scenario is Michael's Bad Place, so maybe Eleanor et al are the real demons. What if Shawn isn't really some all powerful evil overlord figure, but has his own boss in the same way that he's Michael's? What if there is no Good or Bad Place, but the whole thing turns out to be some kind of purgatorial waiting room where everyone is being tested to see where they really deserve to spend the rest of eternity?

[BritishHobo]

I'm another one who's rinsed the whole first season and what's been released of the second. Fucking great stuff. I really wasn't sure at first, but the plot and characters have really pulled me in, and it's ended up making me properly laugh out loud several times a week. This episode Jason's scale of 1 to 13 really got me.

Aye, Ted Danson is fantastic. It's been great to see the turn from hapless but well-meaning angel in the first season to evil, arsehole demon now. And still as funny and affable as ever.

[BritishHobo]

I don't think it does. It's a supernatural setting, so anything's possible. Someone's suggested that maybe the whole scenario is Michael's Bad Place, so maybe Eleanor et al are the real demons. What if Shawn isn't really some all powerful evil overlord figure, but has his own boss in the same way that he's Michael's? What if there is no Good or Bad Place, but the whole thing turns out to be some kind of purgatorial waiting room where everyone is being tested to see where they really deserve to spend the rest of eternity?

And I suppose even without a twist you could take it in a number of directions. The gang and Michael manage to escape to a town in the good place, and have to do what Eleanor thought she was doing in the first season, pretending they belong.

[mothman]

I guess. We’ll see.

Funny thing, as I was watching this I wondered if they were setting up Tahani and Jason to (eventually) be together, whether briefly or permanently (I note that there’s no real sign of Janet and Jason recreating their romance). Whichever way it might turn out to be,  I wasn’t expecting anything to happen this soon though!

[phantom_power]

The one negative I would say is that the reset has ditched all the character history and growth that made me love the show in the first place. They are slowly building that back up again but it was a bit jarring at the start of Season 2

[Alberon]

That’s true. I’d have preferred the last realisation that they’re in the bad place to have come later in the cycle when they’re closest to how they ended the first season. But they do seem to be getting back to that point fairly quickly.

[ieXush2i]

Only thing that annoys me is that a load of Chidi's classes are now redundant given that life literally has a meaning now. The Camus stuff in the latest ep for example - the universe isn't cold harsh and indifferent when your actions affect your outcome in the afterlife.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Man, that was a beautiful episode, anyone who says that this show isn't laugh out loud funny is clearly mad. You get things here that I can't imagine ever seeing elsewhere (like the simulation of The Trolley Dilemma for instance) and they have so much fun with all of the various concepts that this is quickly becoming a show I adore, and it might even make my top 10 sitcom list if the rest of the season carries on being this great.

[mothman]

They put a lot of effort into it. There was a literal freeze-frame gag with the cinema hoarding - Now Showing: Strangers Under A Trainf and Bend It Like Bentham.

[touchingcloth]

Man, that was a beautiful episode, anyone who says that this show isn't laugh out loud funny is clearly mad. You get things here that I can't imagine ever seeing elsewhere (like the simulation of The Trolley Dilemma for instance) and they have so much fun with all of the various concepts that this is quickly becoming a show I adore, and it might even make my top 10 sitcom list if the rest of the season carries on being this great.

Chidi recounting Michael talking about Victor Hugo's fate had me in stitches sacré bleu, je suis just pissed in m'pants.

Fabulous episode though. I'd bet that's the one they submit to the Emmy people this year.

[FerriswheelBueller]

I’m a bit surprised to see it on CaB; I thought it was pandering guff with laughably one dimensional characters. “I’m a philosophy professor so I’ll react to this situation using first year philosophy references”, “I’m the privileged one so I’ll respond by saying how privileged I am”, “I’m the non native English speaker so I’ll remind everyone I’m not from the US” etc etc.

It got a few chuckles from me but only because every line is an attempted gag (which gets tiresome) but throw a thousand pieces of spaghetti at the wall and a couple will stick. Reminded me of That Girl plus Two and a Half Men, but with a slightly stronger cast and a more interesting premise.

[Bad Ambassador]

“I’m the non native English speaker so I’ll remind everyone I’m not from the US” etc etc.

Who's this? All the main (human) characters are Anglophones.

[FerriswheelBueller]

Who's this? All the main (human) characters are Anglophones.

Jianyu Li. Apparently he turns out to be from the US but I haven’t watched enough to know if he maintains his accent or if that’s a gag or what.

Sample dialogue

Ted Danson: I just managed to kill 5 out of 10 people in a crowd!
Philosophy one: Oh man that reminds me of the Problem of Evil!
Spoilt one: I haven’t been this sad since someone wore the same expensive dress as me in Hollywood (where I often go)!
Mary-Sue: Jimminy jillickers this place is strange because that doesn’t happen on earth! That’s terrible!
Ted Danson: Yes it’s terrible... because I was trying to kill more of them!

[sardonic music cue]

[Bad Ambassador]

Jianyu Li. Apparently he turns out to be from the US but I haven’t watched enough to know if he maintains his accent or if that’s a gag or what.

Sample dialogue

Ted Danson: I just managed to kill 5 out of 10 people in a crowd!
Philosophy one: Oh man that reminds me of the Problem of Evil!
Spoilt one: I haven’t been this sad since someone wore the same expensive dress as me in Hollywood (where I often go)!
Mary-Sue: Jimminy jillickers this place is strange because that doesn’t happen on earth! That’s terrible!
Ted Danson: Yes it’s terrible... because I was trying to kill more of them!

[sardonic music cue]

I'm not sure you're paying much attention. Eleanor is defintely not a Mary Sue and Jianyu is from Florida.

[kidsick5000]

Inspired to create a shit scribble

[FerriswheelBueller]

Inspired to create a shit scribble

Immortalized... it's all I ever wanted

[ieXush2i]

I'm guessing you jumped in during season 2, and for some reason think Jian-Yu/Jason doesn't have an American accent?

[phantom_power]

Yeah, he is either full-on Florida or silent, depending on whether he is Jason or Jian-Yu.

Chidi is actually African but everyone can understand each other because of special afterlife magic

[ieXush2i]

Ah yeah, and the "jimminy jillickers" thing suggests no idea of the swear filter.

The Good Place is a bit shit for simply dipping into, as the plot and world details are vital to understandingeach new episode.