Photo: Colleen Hayes
The final season of The Good Place premieres this fall, and Team Cockroach plus creator Michael Schur are on hand at the Television Critics Association summer press tour to discuss it. TV editor Erik Adams is also there; scroll past the recommended stories to follow along with his running commentary (and whatever news might be divulged about the famously secretive, surprised-packed comedy) below, beginning at 3 p.m. EST/2 p.m. CST.
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The TCAs are the type of event where there’s always a little bit of flexibility with the start times, so if we’re not underway exactly at 3, please be cool my chili babies.
And we’re off: Getting a first look at the new season, where Eleanor’s got a new, authoritative wardrobe (“like that chick from Law & Order”), and Michael’s reminiscing about the days of Disco Janet—while regular Janet conjures a magical elephant that reveals the secrets of the universe.
Kristen Bell’s first response to Schur letting her know the show was ending: He had to promise that he’d write her another show. (It’s legally binding now, she adds—the TV press has written it down.)
What’s William Jackson Harper carrying forward from his experience on The Good Place? “The cash.” Now that’s comic timing.
All the gratitude flying around in the ballroom appears to have mingled with some dust, because Kristen Bell is tearing up. She’s been handed some tissues by someone sitting near the stage—after first wiping her face with the hem of her skirt. [CORRECTION: Or maybe it was the sleeve of William Jackson Harper’s shirt? I could’ve sworn she’d gathered up a bunch of her own garment to dab at the tears, but my eyes could’ve been deceiving me. It was an emotional afternoon, folks.]
Schur’s original objective for The Good Place: “Here’s what a good person looks like in the world. Here’s how a person can feel like he or she led a good life.” But that shifted over time: “As long as you’re trying [to lead a good life], you’re on the right path.”
Watch out for the season-four blooper reel, three-and-a-half minutes of which is just Manny Jacinto trying to get a single line out without making his castmates break character.
“The idea that networks don’t make challenging TV shows is a disappearing notion,” says Schur, citing The Last Man On Earth (R.I.P.) pilot as one that helped pave the way for The Good Place’s high-concept. And he’s put that commitment to network TV into writing:
Shooting on the fourth season has wrapped, btw.
“There’s a Janet you’re going to meet in season four, and she is my favorite Janet by a mile,” teases Jameela Jamil.
Danson and Bell were in on the season-one twist, but from that point forward, all six regulars were on equal footing, information-wise. But the door to writers’ room was always open if a castmember wanted to hear about what was on the horizon.
Now Danson needed to take a pause, choking up as he described “the gift” of The Good Place ending on its own terms.
Schur avoided online fan theorizing about the show, just in case anyone came up with a better idea than he had. But he did notice someone on a Reddit thread correctly predicting the end of the first season.
Well that was entirely uninteresting.
Was it really only 30 minutes? Did Erik have a train to catch?