The Good Place is special and although I've been incredibly critical of what is, by all accounts, a smash hit, that does not take away from its strongest pieces: a heartfelt focus on acceptance and inclusivity and an aggressive stance on progressive social values. It has a lot of good going for it. The jokes are often incredibly odd, the performances are solid, and it does want to to do something unique.
But in the era of Shur's dominance of television sitcoms, The Good Place always fell solidly in the middle ground for me. I never felt entirely sure that the plotting was executed at a even pace (even though I respect the gamble of the first season), the jokes fall SO heavily on the reference side of things at times, and visually it's a bit garish (even though I do understand it's an implicit play on even lighting of other sitcoms). It's fine. Not my favorite. Falls in line tonally with the last season of Parks and Recreation for me.
Shout by filmboicoleBlockedParentSpoilers2020-02-01T16:46:03Z
The Good Place is special and although I've been incredibly critical of what is, by all accounts, a smash hit, that does not take away from its strongest pieces: a heartfelt focus on acceptance and inclusivity and an aggressive stance on progressive social values. It has a lot of good going for it. The jokes are often incredibly odd, the performances are solid, and it does want to to do something unique.
But in the era of Shur's dominance of television sitcoms, The Good Place always fell solidly in the middle ground for me. I never felt entirely sure that the plotting was executed at a even pace (even though I respect the gamble of the first season), the jokes fall SO heavily on the reference side of things at times, and visually it's a bit garish (even though I do understand it's an implicit play on even lighting of other sitcoms). It's fine. Not my favorite. Falls in line tonally with the last season of Parks and Recreation for me.