TV SERIES · 2016– · USA
The Good Place
28 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (28)
- #001
Michael Schur asked Ted Danson to play the role of Michael, thinking it was unlikely that someone as famous as Danson would accept the part. When Danson accepted, it came as a pleasant surprise.
- #002
The name "Jianyu Li," which Jason takes when he is forced to disguise himself as a Buddhist monk, means "in jail" in Mandarin Chinese.
- #003
The primary neighborhood in the series is called "Neighborhood 12358W." The numbers correspond to the Fibonacci sequence, in which each number is found by adding the two previous numbers.
- #004
The creators of the series always envisioned that it would run for four seasons.
- #005
Because actress Kristen Bell is a vegetarian, all of the shrimp Eleanor consumes are fake. Bell described them as "rubber nuggets" painted to look like shrimp (although the various dipping sauces were real).
- #006
The series features a number of "Dougs": both Eleanor's and Jason's fathers were Dougs (Shellstrop and Donkey Doug), the stonemason who foresaw much of the afterlife was Doug Forcett, and Michael stole the "Book of Dougs" from the afterlife's accounting office.
- #007
The frozen yogurt they eat is actually mashed potatoes.
- #008
Series creator Michael Schur was a big fan of NBC's Must See TV Thursday lineup while growing up. He said his two favorite actors were Michael J. Fox from Family Ties (1982) and Ted Danson from Cheers (1982). He said that working with them on future projects was his dream, and that Danson agreeing to work on The Good Place made that dream come true.
- #009
This was Jameela Jamil's (Tahani) first role in a series or film.
- #010
Tahani was on the cover of the magazine next to the one Eleanor was reading before her death scene.
- #011
A behind-the-scenes podcast about the series exists, titled The Good Place: The Podcast (2018). Its host is Marc Evan Jackson, who plays Shawn on the show, and he interviews cast and crew members.
- #012
Josh Siegal, who plays Glenn, is also a co-producer of The Good Place and wrote one episode in each season: "What We Owe to Each Other" (2016), "The Trolley Problem" (2017), "Janet(s)" (2018) and "The Funeral to End All Funerals" (2019).
- #013
The exterior locations for "Town" were filmed on the "Little Europe" lot at Universal Studios in California. The location of the Chinese Gardens is at the nearby Huntington Collection and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. The beach scenes were filmed at Leo Carillo State Beach in Malibu.
- #014
The word "literally" is used at least once in every episode of the series.
- #015
The stores in The Good Place include: * All Chocolate Everything. * All the Books. * Endless Light. * Good Plates. * Everything Looks Good on You Clothing Store. * Your Expected Needs. * Warm Blankets. * Childhood Memories. * From Schmear to Eternity. * You Make Hockey Gnocchi and Get Yourself Some Food. * Pesto Hasn't Arrived Yet. * Lasagna Coming Out Tomorrow. * Ziti of the Stars. * Cake Canaveral. * Crushing Intentions. * Beignets and Jets. * Sushi and Banshees. * The Ponzu Scheme. * Chicken Soup for the Mouth. * Foot Lager. There are also at least eight different frozen yogurt stores.
- #016
If Michael rebooted his neighborhood more than 800 times, the longest of which lasted 11 months, and the average reboot lasted only 5 months, it is possible that (from Michael's perspective) this went on for close to 400 years.
- #017
The All Chocolate Everything store on the Little Europe set at Universal Studios is actually the restroom of the VIP tour.
- #018
Janet is also the name of the airline service that takes people to the 51st district, "Just Another Non-Existent Terminal," which is essentially the very essence of the character Janet.
- #019
When Executive Producer Michael Schur took on this project, he consulted Lost (2004) executive producer Damon Lindelof about world-building.
- #020
The clock on the wall of Michael's office shows Jeremy Bearimy.
- #021
Nick Offerman was offered the role of Shawn but turned it down.
- #022
The first episode, "Everything Is Fine" (2016), drew 8.04 million viewers.
- #023
In season 2, Tahani states that she has never liked cargo pants, yet she still wears them to bond with her casually dressed soulmate. In season 3, after returning to Earth, she chooses to wear them while visiting the monastery and trying to become a better person.
- #024
Although Ted Danson and Kristen Bell were told not to reveal the end of the first season to anyone, including the cast, Ted Danson accidentally told John Krasinski. In an interview with Seth Meyers, Danson said that while talking with Krasinski, he mentioned doing a show with Michael Schur, who wrote episodes of The Office (2005), and told John what his character was. He could see that John thought it was The Office but set in heaven, so he revealed the secret to him.
- #025
As of October 31, 2018, every main character except Eleanor Shellstrop has an episode named after them.
- #026
Janet is neither a human girl nor an Eternal Being; rather, she is an anthropomorphized vessel of information, similar to an Artificial Intelligence. Moreover, Janet is not a robot, and she politely points this out when someone thinks she is one.
- #027
Ted Danson was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Michael, but he lost to Bill Hader of Barry (2018).
- #028
After the series finale ended, NBC aired a special show. Seth Meyers hosted this show, and at the end the main characters raised a toast to one another.
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