The good places: The uncommonly decent TV worlds of Michael Schur

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But that belief is the defining trait of Schur’s TV work, as reflected in his subsequent series, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which he created alongside fellow Parks And Rec alum Dan Goor) and The Good Place, which enter their respective fourth and second seasons this fall. Part of what’s inviting about these shows’ settings is their idealized nature: It’s embodied in Leslie Knope, the dedicated civil servant doing everything in her relatively limited power to improve the lives of citizens who insist on wrapping their entire goddamn mouths around water-fountain spouts. It’s in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a cop comedy airing at a time when the face of policing in America is anything but sincere, emotional, or honest. And it’s in The Good Place, a high-concept charmer whose characters spent their first season poking and prodding the virtues expressed and possessed by their predecessors in Pawnee and Brooklyn.

That show’s initial setup was Parks And Rec turned inside out: Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) is the “selfish ass” accidentally admitted to paradise, where she’s surrounded by selfless people who gave their time, their wealth, and in at least once case, their vital organs to those in need. Such good deeds are tallied up to determine whether a person goes to The Good Place or its hellish corollary, The Bad Place, after they die. It was an early indication—along with Eleanor’s bookkeeping snafu—that something might be amiss. Nonetheless, The Good Place differed from Parks And Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine in that it wasn’t just the people who made me want to visit every week. In this case, I wouldn’t have minded living where they lived—at least at first.