5 New Shows to Check Out This Autumn

[TMC]

https://lebeauleblog.com/2016/10/05/...t-this-autumn/

The Good Place – NBC (Thursdays at 8:30 PM and streaming on Hulu)

Can The Office, Parks & Rec, and Brooklyn 9-9 creator Michael Schur do wrong (well, I don’t really like The Office, so I’m off to a good start with rhetorical questions)? In a sea of high-concept comedies comes The Good Place which takes place in the afterlife. In essence, every action you’ve ever taken is accounted for an given a point value, positive or negative, and when you die if you meet a certain threshold you go to the “Good Place,” a utopia based on your personality, and if not… well, you go to the “Bad Place,” which, we don’t know much about other than it sounds awful (literally). Very few make it into the Good Place, only the best of the best, which is why it is strange that narcissistic jerk Eleanor has ended up there. In fact, she shouldn’t be there at all. After some kind of mixup by Good Place super Ted Danson (charming), she is in. Only trouble is there is trouble in paradise–could it be that Eleanor’s presence is throwing everything off? The Good Place moves away from the workplace comedies of Schur’s past, while still keeping the ensemble premise intact. The tone feels something akin to the mystery and obtuseness of Lost with the loose humor of Parks & Rec. Add bonus points due to a winning performance of Kristen Bell, and you have yourself a winner. It’s almost strange to watch a comedy where you’re actually curious about the story.