page_title: The Good Place
section_title: Main
hierarchical_section_title: The Good Place / Cast and characters / Main
caption_attribution_description: Cast and crew of NBC's 'The Good Place' discuss the show in the Indigo Ballroom at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront Hotel during San Diego Comic Con on July 21, 2018. Taken by Dominique Redfearn.
context_page_description: The Good Place is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur. It premiered on NBC on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020 after four seasons and 53 episodes.
  Although the story greatly evolves over the course of the series, the original premise follows Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman welcomed after her death to "the Good Place", a highly selective Heaven-like utopia designed and run by afterlife "architect" Michael as a reward for her righteous life. However, she realizes that she was sent there by mistake and must hide her morally imperfect past behavior while trying to become a better and more ethical person. William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and Manny Jacinto co-star as other residents of the Good Place, alongside D'Arcy Carden as Janet, an artificial being who assists the residents.
  The Good Place has received critical acclaim for its writing, acting, originality, setting, and tone. In addition, the first season's twist ending and the show's exploration and creative use of ethics and philosophy have been positively singled out.
context_section_description: Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop, a deceased selfish saleswoman from Phoenix, Arizona, who seemingly winds up in the Good Place by mistake. In order to earn her spot, she recruits Chidi to teach her the fundamentals of becoming a better person.
  William Jackson Harper as Chidi Anagonye, a deceased professor of ethics and moral philosophy from Senegal. Although he has a kind and supportive nature, his incapacity to make choices frequently leaves him overanxious and indecisive. Assigned as Eleanor's soulmate in Michael's first Good Place experiment, he gives her ethics lessons in an attempt to make her a better person.
  Jameela Jamil as Tahani Al-Jamil, a deceased wealthy British philanthropist who believes she belongs in the Good Place. She forms an unlikely friendship with Eleanor, who initially dislikes her positive attitude, condescending way of speaking, and tendency to name drop.
  D'Arcy Carden as Janet, a programmed guide and knowledge bank who acts as the Good Place's main source of information and can provide its residents with whatever they desire. Later, Janet gains a more humanlike disposition and begins to act differently from the way she was designed.
  Carden also portrays multiple Janet iterations throughout the series. Among them are "Bad Janet", a Bad Place counterpart specifically designed by the demons to respond to residents in an inappropriate and impolite manner; "Neutral Janet", an impartial, robotic version of Janet that works in the Accountant's Office; "Disco Janet" who is "fun, but a lot" and, for one episode, Janet-versions of Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason.
  Manny Jacinto as Jason Mendoza, a deceased amateur DJ and drug dealer from Jacksonville, Florida, who seemingly winds up in the Good Place by mistake. He is introduced as Jianyu Li, a Taiwanese monk who took a vow of silence. Later, Jason proves to be an immature and unintelligent but kindhearted Jacksonville Jaguars and Blake Bortles fan.
  Ted Danson as Michael, a Bad Place architect who runs the Good Place neighborhood in which Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason reside. Michael has a deep affinity for the mundane aspects of human life, like playing with paper clips or searching for one's car keys. In the first-season finale, it is revealed that he has been tricking the four humans all along and is actually a demon torturing them, though he later teams up with and befriends them. "Michael" is a Hebrew name meaning "who is like God". The character of Michael was based on the archangel Michael.
caption: The cast of The Good Place at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
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