Stars on Screen
‘Good’ comedy: One of the most sinfully hilarious sitcoms on television isn’t about a team of detectives, a group of nerds or a multigenerational extended family.Those all have a home on the dial, but the comedy in “The Good Place” has a unique edge: it’s literally out of this world.
The third season of the critically acclaimed comedy premieres Thursday, Sept. 27, on NBC. As a sitcom, the laughs come first, but both seasons have also featured jaw-dropping twists that practically demand that its audience rewatch the entire series to put things into perspective.There won’t be any major spoilers here, but fair warning: “The Good Place” really is a mind-bending sitcom that makes its viewers think.
Kristen Bell (“Veronica Mars”) is back as Eleanor Shellstrop, a deceased woman who’s sent to The Good Place after she dies in a tragic accident.The first season deals with her struggles to fit in once she deduces that there’s been a mistake — she was a pretty horrible person in life and should have been sent to The Bad Place, but one bureaucratic mix-up later has her living the good (after)life, while trying to evade the insightful questioning of Michael (Ted Danson, “Cheers”), The Good Place’s architect and benevolent overseer.
William Jackson Harper (“The Breaks”), Jameela Jamil (“Animals”) and Manny Jacinto (“The Romeo Section’) star as three other recently deceased people who join Eleanor in
puzzling out the secrets of The Good Place, while D’Arcy Carden (“Broad City”) rounds out the main cast as Janet, an artificial intelligence that provides information and assistance to The Good Place’s residents.
After the wild ride and shocking finale of the first season, it speaks to the strength of the show’s writing that its second one was just as twisty and entertaining. With Eleanor, Michael and the rest of the afterlifers in an entirely unexpected new situation, the third season promises to keep surprising viewers.The new season premieres Thursday, Sept. 27, on NBC.