I’m not into comedy television much, at least not the typical sitcoms. So when a friend suggested I might want to try The Good Place, staring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson, it took me a little while before I got to it. In fact, it wasn’t until a couple months after the first season ended that I finally gave it a try. And then I ended up binging the entire season over a weekend. 

By now, you’ve probably heard about The Good Place – lots of pop culture critics are calling it one of the best shows on television. The second season recently ended and I can attest to it remaining an enjoyable show. The humor is similar to Arrested Development, being snarky, sarcastic and smart.

There’s not too much to say about the plot without getting into spoilers. Basically, when you die you go to either the good place or the bad place. Eleanor Shellstrop wakes up in the good place and quickly realizes, based on her life, that a mistake has been made and she shouldn’t be there. So, of course, she doesn’t tell anyone and things begin to go very wrong. It’s a plot that could become ridiculous and, honestly, it does – but somehow it actually works.

The show has some surprising depth as well. There’s an overarching theme of morality and different philosophical interpretations, which is where The Good Place really separates itself from a typical comedy. There’s intelligence and thought behind it, but it never feels like it’s beating viewers over the head with lessons about being good. And they succeeded in following through in the second season.