The Good Place

Did You Know?

• A six-episode web series titled The Selection (full title: The Good Place Presents: The Selection) was released by NBC in September 2019, directed by Eric Kissack.
• Home media releases for The Good Place were distributed by Shout! Factory, with the complete series released on Blu-ray on May 19, 2020.

Cast and characters

Kristen Bell portrays Eleanor Shellstrop, a deceased American from Phoenix, Arizona, who ends up in the Good Place after being mistaken for a lawyer with the same name. In truth, Eleanor was a selfish pharmaceutical saleswoman, and she recruits Chidi to teach her ethics while hiding her identity. William Jackson Harper plays Chidi Anagonye, a deceased French-speaking Nigerian-Senegalese ethics professor whose indecisiveness often hinders him; he is assigned as Eleanor's soulmate and gives her lessons. Jameela Jamil appears as Tahani Al-Jamil, a wealthy British Pakistani philanthropist and former model who forms a friendship with Eleanor despite initial friction. D'Arcy Carden plays Janet, a programmed guide and knowledge bank for the Good Place, who later becomes more humanlike. Carden also portrays multiple Janet versions, including "Bad Janet," a rude Bad Place counterpart; "Neutral Janet," an impartial version; "Disco Janet"; and Janet-versions of Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason.

Production

NBC ordered 13 episodes of the then-untitled show on August 13, 2015, based on a pitch by Michael Schur. Kristen Bell and Ted Danson were cast in lead roles on January 12, 2016, with Bell aware of the first-season finale twist from the start. William Jackson Harper was cast as Chris on February 11, 2016, later renamed Chidi; Jameela Jamil was cast as Tessa on February 25, 2016, later renamed Tahani. Manny Jacinto was revealed on March 3, 2016, as a sweet, good-natured Jason who dreams of being a DJ. D'Arcy Carden was cast on March 14, 2016, as a series regular announced as "Janet Della-Denunzio, a violin salesperson with a checkered past," though writer Megan Amram later admitted this was a hoax. The final premise, including the afterlife element, was announced on May 15, 2016. Schur originally planned religious elements but decided on a diverse concept free of religious views, focusing on ethical behavior. The setting was shot at Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California. The series' serialized cliffhangers were modeled on Lost, and Schur consulted Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof.

Reception

The Good Place received widespread critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 92% rating based on 74 reviews, with an average score of 7.80/10; the critical consensus praises the performances of Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. On Metacritic, the first season scored 78 out of 100 from 32 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. TV Guide placed the series second among the most anticipated new shows of the 2016–17 season. The second season achieved a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 59 reviews, with an average of 9.0/10, and a Metacritic score of 87 out of 10 reviews, indicating universal acclaim. The third season scored 98% on Rotten Tomatoes from 47 reviews, with an average of 8.35/10, and a Metacritic score of 96 out of 5 reviews. The fourth season received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 53 reviews, with an average of 8.3/10.

Philosophical inspirations

References are made to John Locke, Tim Scanlon, Peter Singer, and Derek Parfit, and the show covers topics from moral particularism to Aristotelian virtue ethics, Kantian deontology, and moral nihilism. UCLA philosophy professor Pamela Hieronymi and Clemson philosophy professor Todd May served as consultants and made cameo appearances in the final episode. The series' beginning draws from Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit and the idiom "Hell is other people. The second season's philosophy aligns with Aristotle's practice-makes-perfect approach to ethics. Chidi's 4,000-page ethical treatise was inspired by Parfit's On What Matters. Tim Scanlon's What We Owe to Each Other forms the spine of the show, presenting contractualism—the idea that acting morally means abiding by principles no one could reasonably reject. The show's overarching thesis, influenced by contractualism, is that the point of morality is to live up to duties to each other, not to accumulate goodness points.