The Good Place

## Seasons

***The Good Place*** is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur and the serialized half-hour (22 minutes, the rest being advertising time), which debuted on September 19, 2016 and concluded on January 30, 2020 on NBC.

## Synopsis

When Eleanor Shellstrop finds herself in the afterlife, she's both relieved and surprised that she's made it into the Good Place. But it doesn't take long for Eleanor to realize she's there by mistake. She hides in plain sight from the Good Place's architect, Michael, and his all-knowing assistant, Janet. Her seemingly perfect neighbors, Tahani and Jason, and open-hearted soul mate, Chidi, help her realize that it's never too late to change. With the help of her new friends—and a few enemies—Eleanor becomes determined to shed her old way of life in hopes of discovering a new one in the afterlife.

## Cast

* Kristen Bell as **Eleanor Shellstrop**
* Ted Danson as **Michael**
* Jameela Jamil as **Tahani Al-Jamil**
* William Jackson Harper as **Chidi Anagonye**
* Manny Jacinto as **Jason Mendoza**
* D'Arcy Carden as **Janet**

## About

The series was commissioned by NBC based on a pitch by creator Mike Schur. Because of Schur's track record, he was given a 13-episode season, straight away without having to produce a pilot episode first.

The original announcement of the show gave little away, suggesting only that Kristen Bell's character would be a self-centred character, attempting to become a better person, and that Danson's character would be a mentor to her (which would turn out to be untrue).

There was no mention of the afterlife setting, in the original casting announcements, and even the cast themselves were only told the minimum about the series before signing up.

Schur later explained that the concept of "*The Good Place,*" came from his own habit of assigning point scores, to people who annoyed him. Once he had come up with the idea of the twist ending, he had a start and end point for **Season 1****;** which provided him with the series' structure. Only Bell and Danson were told about the twist ending of Season 1, at the outset.

The show is highly serialized, with strong story arcs and cliffhangers at the end of each episode. Schur had mentioned in interviews that he had a seven-season arc planned out—and according to Bell, Schur had told her how the series will end.

Despite being produced by NBC, *The Good Place* is marketed as a Netflix Original internationally, having different thumbnails and title card to match.

## Casting

Bell and Danson were attached to the project at an early stage, and in interviews have mentioned the prospect of working with each other (and of course Schur) to have been a major reason for signing up.

The other main cast members were less well known, and were cast from auditions.

William Jackson Harper (Chidi) was previously best known for his role in the children's series *The Electric Company.* Manny Jacinto (Jason) was a dramatic actor, whose biggest role had been as a crime boss in the thriller series *The Romeo Section.* D'Arcy Carden (Janet) had a background in improv comedy. Jameela Jamil (Tahani) was an experienced TV and radio presenter in the UK, but had no professional acting experience.

Several other characters are played by actors who had worked with Schur on *Parks & Recreation*: Marc Evan Jackson (Shawn) and Adam Scott (Trevor) were regular cast members in that show, and Jama Williamson (Val) and Maribeth Monroe (Mindy St. Claire) had also appeared in the series.

## Locations

Most of the series was filmed at Universal Studios in Hollywood, with the village exteriors being mainly shot on the Little Europe backlot. Many of the other locations, such as the Chinese Garden, were shot at The Huntington Collection & Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The beach scenes were filmed at Leo Carillo State Beach, in Malibu.

## Trivia

* Kristen Bell (Eleanor Shellstrop) knew how the show would end from the beginning, as she has been told by the show's creator Michael Schur.

## DVD Release

 The Good Place: Season Two
 The Good Place: Season Three
 The Good Place: Season Four

## Links

* The Good Place on Television Fandom
* The Good Place on NBC Wiki (Fandom)
* The Good Place on Wikipedia
* The Good Place on Facebook

## References

1. ↑ Kristen Bell Knows How ‘The Good Place’ Ultimately Ends (September 2017)