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So, watched critical fav, The Good Place, which is basically a surrealistic satire about religious philosophy and morality. I think it's too ambitious for its own good. As an antidote, or basically for an actual laugh, I watched Lucifier - no, really, I fled The Good Place to Lucifier, which was a heck of a lot more fun.
Lucifier has a dry wit, makes fun of Christian mythology, and is absurdly funny in places. The Good Place feels like an absurdist take on Sophie's Journey through a heaven designed by The Prisoner or Disney meets The Prisoner.
I suppose if you're into philosophical debate, you'd enjoy it. There are lots of references to Kant and Aristotle, and whether someone can be taught to be a moral person or you have to be born that way. The whole nurture vs. nature debate is introduced. It's weird, but I think for a sitcom, The Good Place almost takes itself too seriously? (It's definitely the first situation comedy that I've seen tackle philosophy and in particular moral philosophy...outside of maybe MASH and Monty Python, and unfortunately this is not Monty Python nor MASH for that matter. Monty Python and MASH were funny.)
The set-up? Eleanor has died and gone to The Good Place. She is given a soul-mate, Chi, and a cute ultra modern house filled with clown pictures (because she allegedly loved pictures of clowns), and access to all her memories that she can browse at any time. Apparently in life, she was a lawyer who saved people from death row, did multiple peace corps tours and adored pictures of clowns. Michael, the designer of The Good Place, informs her that only 1% of the population makes it to the Good Place. Elvis, Picasso, all the presidents except for Lincoln, are in the bad place. Even Florence Nightengale didn't make the cut. (One of the writers must hate Florence Nightengale?) Except for one little problem, these aren't Eleanor's memories, she isn't a lawyer, she never joined the peace corps and she hates clowns. In actuality, she was a lonely sales clerk who made her living selling fake medication to old people, and was very good at it. But as she puts it, she's not necessarily a bad person - she never killed anyone, she's just a selfish jerk.
Not wanting to go to The Bad Place, Eleanor attempts with Chi's help to pass herself off as a Good person. Unfortunately, she keeps screwing up, and every time she does - The Good Place begins to unravel and represent a surreal video game, complete with giant ladybugs, garbage falling from the sky, and huge rolling vials of medication. Normally, The Good Place resembles the village in the television serial The Prisoner by way of Walt Disney World, without the water, and with lots of frozen yogurt shops (apparently everyone in The Good Place loves frozen yogurt, go figure). No one can curse. And they do little fun things like learn how to fly.
So, Chi's work is cut out for him -- to keep Eleanor on the straight and narrow, so the Good Place doesn't crumble around them.
I can sort of see why Eleanor doesn't want to go to The Bad Place, if this is The Good Place...
Out of curiosity, why is the television and film writer's view of heaven rather hellish?
The whole thing is sort of surreal. There are a few isolated laughs here and there, but nothing to make me want to bother continuing with it. Plus, I can't seem to care about any of the characters. The only likable characters are the Buddhist monk, who never speaks, and Chi, who spouts philosophy every five minutes. He was an ethics and moral philosophy professor in Senegal, in a former life. At one point, I felt so sorry for these guys that I began to route for them to hook up. What did they do to deserve their annoying soul mates? I got the feeling they were asking themselves the same question.
Everyone else in the series is annoying. I don't hate them. I don't love them. I just sort of wish they'd stop talking and go away, which doesn't bode well for a sitcom.
I canceled it from my DVR. I don't know if it will take off or not. (The critics seem to adore it and it has a rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.) I can't honestly tell with sitcoms, since I rarely watch them - most of them tend to annoy me. I think there's only a handful that I've enjoyed in recent years, most have been British. (Well, and "The Big Bang Theory".) Can sort of see why the critics love The Good Place -- it's definitely different than anything else on, and it is smart in places, but I think the satire is a bit overdone. For most part? I was just bored.
Lucifier 's Season 2 Premiere on the other hand, delivered the goods. It was wryly funny in places. And the lead continues to impress - he ended the episode singing an interesting rendition of All Along the Watchtower, one of my favorite Jimmy Hendrix songs. I also adore the by-play between Lucifier and his brother, Annadale, as portrayed by DB Woodside. They've also added a new character, forensic scientist who believes in God and is rather quirky, as a friend and confident to Chloe.
There's less emphasis on Chloe's kid this season, which is a good thing.
It's a smartly written and wryly funny series, that doesn't take itself or its mythology too seriously. The Good Place's writers should take notes. But eh, Your Mileage May Vary.
As an aside, it's a very odd thing to hear crickets in the city. I've been hearing crickets and locusts all summer long. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I moved to the countryside, 77 unit apartment building and all. On the way home from work today, I almost ran into the President of the US's motorcade. Yes, he was in the city today. It's the third time I've almost ran into his motorcade on foot this year. This has got to stop happening. I don't see him, I just see a line of black limos, vans, SUVs, NY Fire Department and police cars barrelling down the road sirens blaring, while pedestrians patiently gawk.
Lucifier has a dry wit, makes fun of Christian mythology, and is absurdly funny in places. The Good Place feels like an absurdist take on Sophie's Journey through a heaven designed by The Prisoner or Disney meets The Prisoner.
I suppose if you're into philosophical debate, you'd enjoy it. There are lots of references to Kant and Aristotle, and whether someone can be taught to be a moral person or you have to be born that way. The whole nurture vs. nature debate is introduced. It's weird, but I think for a sitcom, The Good Place almost takes itself too seriously? (It's definitely the first situation comedy that I've seen tackle philosophy and in particular moral philosophy...outside of maybe MASH and Monty Python, and unfortunately this is not Monty Python nor MASH for that matter. Monty Python and MASH were funny.)
The set-up? Eleanor has died and gone to The Good Place. She is given a soul-mate, Chi, and a cute ultra modern house filled with clown pictures (because she allegedly loved pictures of clowns), and access to all her memories that she can browse at any time. Apparently in life, she was a lawyer who saved people from death row, did multiple peace corps tours and adored pictures of clowns. Michael, the designer of The Good Place, informs her that only 1% of the population makes it to the Good Place. Elvis, Picasso, all the presidents except for Lincoln, are in the bad place. Even Florence Nightengale didn't make the cut. (One of the writers must hate Florence Nightengale?) Except for one little problem, these aren't Eleanor's memories, she isn't a lawyer, she never joined the peace corps and she hates clowns. In actuality, she was a lonely sales clerk who made her living selling fake medication to old people, and was very good at it. But as she puts it, she's not necessarily a bad person - she never killed anyone, she's just a selfish jerk.
Not wanting to go to The Bad Place, Eleanor attempts with Chi's help to pass herself off as a Good person. Unfortunately, she keeps screwing up, and every time she does - The Good Place begins to unravel and represent a surreal video game, complete with giant ladybugs, garbage falling from the sky, and huge rolling vials of medication. Normally, The Good Place resembles the village in the television serial The Prisoner by way of Walt Disney World, without the water, and with lots of frozen yogurt shops (apparently everyone in The Good Place loves frozen yogurt, go figure). No one can curse. And they do little fun things like learn how to fly.
So, Chi's work is cut out for him -- to keep Eleanor on the straight and narrow, so the Good Place doesn't crumble around them.
I can sort of see why Eleanor doesn't want to go to The Bad Place, if this is The Good Place...
Out of curiosity, why is the television and film writer's view of heaven rather hellish?
The whole thing is sort of surreal. There are a few isolated laughs here and there, but nothing to make me want to bother continuing with it. Plus, I can't seem to care about any of the characters. The only likable characters are the Buddhist monk, who never speaks, and Chi, who spouts philosophy every five minutes. He was an ethics and moral philosophy professor in Senegal, in a former life. At one point, I felt so sorry for these guys that I began to route for them to hook up. What did they do to deserve their annoying soul mates? I got the feeling they were asking themselves the same question.
Everyone else in the series is annoying. I don't hate them. I don't love them. I just sort of wish they'd stop talking and go away, which doesn't bode well for a sitcom.
I canceled it from my DVR. I don't know if it will take off or not. (The critics seem to adore it and it has a rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.) I can't honestly tell with sitcoms, since I rarely watch them - most of them tend to annoy me. I think there's only a handful that I've enjoyed in recent years, most have been British. (Well, and "The Big Bang Theory".) Can sort of see why the critics love The Good Place -- it's definitely different than anything else on, and it is smart in places, but I think the satire is a bit overdone. For most part? I was just bored.
Lucifier 's Season 2 Premiere on the other hand, delivered the goods. It was wryly funny in places. And the lead continues to impress - he ended the episode singing an interesting rendition of All Along the Watchtower, one of my favorite Jimmy Hendrix songs. I also adore the by-play between Lucifier and his brother, Annadale, as portrayed by DB Woodside. They've also added a new character, forensic scientist who believes in God and is rather quirky, as a friend and confident to Chloe.
There's less emphasis on Chloe's kid this season, which is a good thing.
It's a smartly written and wryly funny series, that doesn't take itself or its mythology too seriously. The Good Place's writers should take notes. But eh, Your Mileage May Vary.
As an aside, it's a very odd thing to hear crickets in the city. I've been hearing crickets and locusts all summer long. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I moved to the countryside, 77 unit apartment building and all. On the way home from work today, I almost ran into the President of the US's motorcade. Yes, he was in the city today. It's the third time I've almost ran into his motorcade on foot this year. This has got to stop happening. I don't see him, I just see a line of black limos, vans, SUVs, NY Fire Department and police cars barrelling down the road sirens blaring, while pedestrians patiently gawk.