Tag Archives: The Good Place

February 4, 2020

TV Endings

This past Sunday I watched and very much enjoyed the last ever episodes of The Good Place (CBS). I’ve avoided articles about it in my newsfeed, but a headline or two suggested some fans weren’t satisfied. (A rant for another time: Clickbait headlines and headlines with spoilers. So annoying.)

Maybe some fans just didn’t want the show to end, which I get, but I appreciate knowing when and how to make a graceful exit. I like the way the show’s creator, Michael Shur, effectively said, ‘This much and no more.’

As it turns out, it’s not the only show I watch that’s ending. Several of them are. (And there’s one or two I really wish would call it quits.)

6 Comments | tags: Fresh Off the Boat, James Spader, Madam Secretary, Michael Shur, NCIS, South Park, The Blacklist, The Good Place, The Simpsons, Will & Grace | posted in TV

January 7, 2020

The Good Place of Oz

By Wyrd Smythe

This TV Tuesday post was originally going to be another rant about WTF is going on with NCIS (I held off on because I didn’t want to kvetch on Christmas). But then I had a really interesting thought about my other favorite (broadcast) TV show, The Good Place.

There’s an old joke about the philosophy professor who says, “Every time I think I’ve had an original though, it turns out some damned ancient Greek thought of it first.” There’s a more serious version in Ecclesiastes: “There is nothing new under the sun.”

It turns out I’m not the first, by a long stretch, to notice how The Good Place echos and references The Wizard of Oz.

6 Comments | tags: Cote de Pablo, Gibbs, Jack Ryan (TV series), Jethro Gibbs, NCIS, The Good Place, The Wizard of Oz, TV Tuesday, Ziva David | posted in TV

December 10, 2019

Madam President

By Wyrd Smythe

I wrote about the CBS show, Madam Secretary, back when it premiered. Interestingly, that post is among those people still sometimes read. In fact, it’s one of the older of my posts people still sometimes read. That post also talked about another CBS show, Scorpion, which (to my surprise) lasted four seasons, so I’m not entirely sure what the attraction is.

Madam Secretary, informally retitled Madam President for its sixth and last season, aired its final episode last Sunday, December 8th. And while nothing is perfect, and all runners stumble, in its six-year run, this show gets an unqualified Wow! rating from me.

I’m really going to miss it.

3 Comments | tags: Madam Secretary, Téa Leoni, The Good Place, The West Wing, Tim Daly, TV Tuesday, Weltschmerz, Željko Ivanek | posted in TV

March 7, 2018

Fresh Off the Boat

By Wyrd Smythe

Last post I mentioned the ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, a show I’m currently mini-binging^[1] on Hulu. When I wrote that, I was still very much on the fence as to whether I even liked the show. In fact I was puzzled about why I liked it at all, since it’s a fairly standard sitcom in many regards.

Ever since I’ve been paying more attention to my reactions while watching, and I’ve come to realize that it’s not a matter of being undecided — it’s a matter of having developed a strong like/dislike for the show. As I wrote with Halt and Catch Fire, my feelings are mixed, not vague.

And it turns out to really tap into what attracts or repels me to sitcoms.

4 Comments | tags: 30 Rock, Assassination Classroom, Community (TV series), Dan Harmon, Fresh Off the Boat, Futurama, Matt Groening, Rick and Morty, Scrubs, South Park, The Good Place, The Office, The Simpsons | posted in Opinion, TV