The Good Place

[Sandy Hausler]

A reminder that episode 3 is on tonight at 8:30.

Which I think is dumb. People don't expect a show to be on twice in the same week. A lot of people are going to miss it.

And it's against Grey's Anatomy.

Sandy Hausler

[AndrewCrossett]

I enjoyed the first two episodes that were aired this week, but I don't see the premise as one that can sustain an on-going series. Oh, and you forgot to mention Ted Danson.

Well, in one of my later posts I outlined an example of how it could make an ongoing series... and mentioned Ted Danson. :-)

[Shawn Hopkins]

Another good episode. Real progress, we learned more about other characters and there was a good twist. I especially thought the flashback scenes in this episode were hilarious. And there was a whole B plot solely about Chidi, which I liked cause Eleanor all the time would get old.

[AndrewCrossett]

Even Janet got to bust loose a little in this one.

The twist at the end was pretty funny.

And they seem to realize that Chidi can't spend the whole series standing around looking incredulous, which is a good thing.

[Sandy Hausler]

Well, in one of my later posts I outlined an example of how it could make an ongoing series... and mentioned Ted Danson. :-)

Absolutely true, you did. (Though I have to say that sitcoms are different from dramas. They are not so arc driven. But, heck, you could be right.)

Sandy Hausler

[simbob4000]

I have been seeing commercials for this for months. The are promoting it as heavy as any of the new shows.

Yeah, I don't even really watch NBC, and I've seen tons of commercials for this show. So many it almost feels like the only new upcoming show NBC has.

It's probably not formulaic enough to succeed on one of the Big 4 networks. It's the kind of thing that might run a few seasons on the CW, but not on NBC.

The (positive) TV Guide review says it "feels different than anything that's come before." Which is the kiss of death, right there.

They'll have to find some way to turn it into a procedural.

The show really doesn't seem like some crazy out there thing.

[AndrewCrossett]

Absolutely true, you did. (Though I have to say that sitcoms are different from dramas. They are not so arc driven. But, heck, you could be right.)

There's a difference between the standard single-camera, live audience, in-studio sitcom and this kind of show, though. Those are joke driven, and a show like The Good Place is story driven. Which is why they are a much harder sell for audiences (just ask Bryan Fuller).

[simbob4000]

There's a difference between the standard single-camera, live audience, in-studio sitcom and this kind of show, though. Those are joke driven, and a show like The Good Place is story driven. Which is why they are a much harder sell for audiences (just ask Bryan Fuller).

The studio audience shows are multi-camera. Single camera would be like Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm, where you're shooting more like a movie would. The style of shooting has nothing to do with a show being joke driven or story driven.

You talking about Pushing Daisies? That show works the same basic way something like Seinfeld does, and Seinfeld was a studio audience show like basically all '90s sitcoms were. Pushing Daisies just happened to come out in the late-2000s after stuff like Curb, Arrested Development, and the original The Office; so it gets to look like Amélie because everyone is doing single camera sitcoms at that point.

[steve2275]

http://www.nbc.com/the-good-place?nbc=1
just in case you missed it
i missed ep 2

[AndrewCrossett]

Another good episode tonight. The episodes seem too short... they're like webisodes. I know it's hard to do a sitcom in an hour-long format, but this show seems like it should.

[Kirby101]

I had a thought, what if Michael knows about them. Maybe as an experiment in what makes a person good.

[AndrewCrossett]

I had a thought, what if Michael knows about them. Maybe as an experiment in what makes a person good.

Or maybe the whole thing is a fraud. These "best people in the world" seem to have a lot of flaws. Maybe they're not even dead.

[Sandy Hausler]

There's a difference between the standard single-camera, live audience, in-studio sitcom and this kind of show, though. Those are joke driven, and a show like The Good Place is story driven. Which is why they are a much harder sell for audiences (just ask Bryan Fuller).

What makes you say that? After two episodes (I haven't seen episode 3 yet), I don't think you can tell; I can't. Until the twist at the end of the second episode, I would have definitely disagreed with you, but now I can say it's possible you're right, but not positively. Time will tell.

Sandy Hausler

[AndrewCrossett]

After 4 episodes (yes, two weeks into the season and we're already more than a third of the way through...) I can say that the show's biggest risk is probably that it's an arc rather than episodic. If you weren't there on Day 1 you will have some work to do to get caught up. The network seems to realize this, which is why they pretty much binged the first third of the season, and they're marathoning the first four episodes this Saturday.

I suspect this show may stay with 13 episode seasons going forward. Its ratings are OK so far... on Thursday there's Grey's Anatomy and then everything else clustered behind it, and Good Place is right in the middle of that pack. If it stabilizes around its current rating it will be renewed. Or given a full 22-ep order, if that's what NBC was hoping to do.

[simbob4000]

I keep forgetting what this show is based just on the name. Every time I see this thread pop up near the top, I'm like: What the hell is The Good Place. I know the show, I just really can't remember its name.