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The Good Place is giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the cast and crew’s emotional last table read. The Good Place is an NBC sitcom that speculates what really happens after death. People are sorted into “the good place” or “the bad place” based on a complex and confusing scale of ethics. When Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper), Tahani Al-Jamil (Jameela Jamil), and Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto) discover that they were meant to be assigned to “the bad place” and their time in “the good place” was part of their punishment, they are determined to land in ”the good place” for good and realize how much grey area truly lies between good and bad. The show is beloved by many for its in-depth take on ethics and death while being flat out hilarious.
Despite how successful the sitcom was, showrunner Michael Schur ultimately made the decision to end The Good Place at season 4. He explained that a show with such complex themes had to have a very specific lifespan, and all of the writers agreed that four seasons is its natural lifespan. The finale shows The Soul Squad achieve their goal of reaching “the good place” only to discover that its not all that it’s cracked up to be. They make the profound discovery that humans need to know there’s an end in sight in order to make their time meaningful and create a door that allows people to end their time in “the good place” for an unknown fate.
While fans thought they had seen the last of The Good Place content, NBC surprised them with footage of the full finale table read. And yes, it was as emotional as anyone would expect. Schur kicked off the read with a moving tribute thanking all of the actors for their moving work bringing his words to life. The video pairs the table read with corresponding scenes from the finale in case the read alone wasn’t enough to bring viewers to tears. The actors had tissues on-hand and proved early on in the read through that these tissues were certainly necessary.
Fans were ecstatic to relive this emotional series finale through a new lens. When the finale premiered, it was met with mixed reactions. Some wished for a more philosophical ending with less emotional fluff. Others appreciated following each character’s emotional journey in-depth to the very end. However, one thing all fans agreed on is the show ended right when it needed to after watching the finale. Bell even described the series finale as a “satisfying gut punch.” Now fans are able to watch Bell and the rest of the cast and crew get gut-punched in real-time through this video.
While Hollywood isn’t able to release much new content during these times, table reads and other bonus content from fan-favorite series is a great way to keep hope alive. Happier times when brilliant series like The Good Place were created once existed. Eventually, Hollywood will return to a state where more art and moments like The Good Place‘s final table read can be created. For now, actors, creators, and fans alike have these memories to get them through. Hopefully this video will inspire more hit TV series and movies to use this time to release content like this.
Source: NBC / YouTube