What is it? The Good Place, Season 1, 13 episodes on two disks from Shout! Factory
How much? $19.97
When? Now
What's so good about it? Everything. It's a utopia. Or heaven. Or nirvana. Pick one. This is it. Maybe.
When Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) dies in a freak accident, genial afterlife administrator Michael (Ted Danson) cheerily welcomes her to The Good Place, a bright, cheery neighborhood with lots of frozen yogurt, mansions and shops like "The Small Adorable Animal Depot." Everyone has a soul mate. A robot-like guide named Janet (D'Arcy Carden) answers all questions. And there is no cursing.
Eleanor even has her own home, specially chosen for her based on her likes and personality: a cottage decorated with clown paintings.
There's just one problem (besides the clowns): Eleanor's pretty sure she doesn't belong in The Good Place. She's right. Considering the kind of person she was -- selfish, lying, morally and ethically bankrupt -- she doesn't belong anywhere near it. Actually, a clerical error led to her being sent to The Good Place so, not wanting to end up in The Bad Place, she has to keep her true self a secret.
To keep up the charade, she enlists her designated soul mate, an ethics professor named Chidi (William Jackson Harper) who agrees to give her "good person lessons."
They find themselves spending a lot of time with neighboring soul mates Tahani (Jameela Jamil), a perky perfectionist, and Jianyu Li (Manny Jacinto), a Buddhist monk who has more in common with Eleanor than it first appears.
The longer she's there, though, the more Eleanor starts to suspect that something isn't quite right in The Good Place.
How is it? Hilarious and brilliant.
This is not a simple, mindless comedy, even though there are plenty of laughs. It's actually deeper than one might first guess -- much more complicated than a "bad person ends up in heaven" story. The bright and sunny surface of the show has a shady undercurrent and that, combined with subtle hints and episode cliffhangers, keep the stories moving ahead.
It's a very clever blend of philosophical study and silly comedy and the cast is excellent at hitting the eclectic tone just right.
Just pay careful attention to details -- there are some great jokes in there.
Are there extras? There are a couple of episode commentaries, a 10-minute gag reel and a very short bit on the show's visual effects. The most interesting and unique feature is a filmed episode table read (when the cast, creators and crew sit around and read the script together for the first time). It's not something that turns up on a lot of DVD sets.
New this week: The Durrells, Season 2; Midsomer Murders, Season 19, Part 2; Teen Wolf, Season 6, Part 2 and complete series; Vera, Season 7; The Walking Dead, Season 7 (Blu-ray)
Next week: As Time Goes By, complete series; Inspector Lynley Mysteries, complete series; Orphan Black, complete series; Outcast, Season 1; Sherlock, Seasons 1-4
Style on 10/22/2017