The Good Play (A Good Place Podcast): Recent Episodes
The Collins Sisters
A fancast by two sisters all about the NBC sitcom "The Good Place." Episode recaps, fan theories, weird jokes, we've got it all!
Merry belated Christmas from the Good Sisters! We watched this Netflix holiday trash so that you don't have to. Good things about this movie: Scotland is pretty, and the secondary characters are very nice. Bad things about this movie: the plot, the continuity, and OMG THE MUSIC, which must be heard to be believed . . . but instead of listening to that, dear listeners, we entreat you to listen instead to this episode, which we promise is more entertaining than the movie itself.
Happy Disney Plus weekend! Please enjoy this review of Shang-Chi from the Good Sisters. Brianna would be grateful if Xialing stepped on her face and suffocated her! Marissa wants Xialing to go live with her Auntie Nan! Neither sister really gets what she wants here, but they both really liked the film.
N.B. this episode was recorded in late September. Sorry for the ridiculous delay; grad school got on top of the Older Good Sister.
Chomp chomp goes Alioth on He Who Remains variants, and chomp chomp goes the Disney Content Machine on the budding themes and philosophy of Loki (the series, not the character). We were all geared up for an ending that would bring some closure to the ideas the season had been building up to, but instead we got a promise of a second season and an implicit reminder to go see Phase 4 MCU movies. Ah well. We hope you Good Listeners are ready for some more yelling about How Timelines Work!!
Here is the episode of Extra Hot Great that is "quoted" about midway through this episode: https://www.extrahotgreat.com/364?t=2212
On the eve of the finale, here is your penultimate Loki episode recap and discussion! From the Yakety Sax-esque multi-Loki pileup in the disused bowling alley to the Dashboard Confessional-style dual-Loki snugglefest, we have tabs on every Loki, especially Croki. Don't worry, we've got just enough extra time for Lightning McQueen driving the Pizza Planet truck! Come with the Good Sisters into mystery, won't you???
"How are they gonna get out of this one? . . . Ohhhhh. Oh no." Things get VERY real in this episode of Loki, entitled "The Nexus Event." I guess we're up a CrocoLoki and down a jetskiier. Sigh. Jared, could you turn that rain machine down a click, PLEASE??
This week, we learn a shocking secret about the TVA (we're sure there are many more to come), and it leads to a consensus among the Good Sisters that you can't just merk brainwashed soldiers. It's uncool, Sylvie. But what IS cool is the camaraderie between Loki and Sylvie as they scramble to survive the Worst Apocalypse Ever. When she podcasts, she podcasts at home!
The action is nonstop in the second installment of Disney+'s Loki series. There's a lot of jibber-jabber about time travel and how it works (or doesn't work) and a lot of unanswered questions about what "our" Loki wants. Also a bit of needling the audience about climate change, which the Good Sisters certainly believe in but do not wish to have to think about in this moment, please and thank you!!
We're baaaaaaaack! Pandemics suck, y'all! How is everyone?? Vaccinated??? Anyway, we're watching the Disney+ limited series "Loki," because we are burdened with glorious purpose. Brianna is tickled by Owen Wilson's accent, while Marissa thinks that trickster gods should be stealing genitalia, not enacting fascism. Join us back in the MCU!
This 2018 Netflix movie about overachieving high school debaters is an interesting window into the world of debate and also a frustratingly architected movie. (What is the theme? Can anyone tell us??) But for the Good Sisters, it's just an excuse to tell more stories of their lives in high school. Come for Marissa's FLAWLESS French accent; stay for Brianna's rendition of Simon and Garfunkel's "America."
"Work It": A Netflix original movie about college admissions that really doesn't seem to understand college admissions in the slightest! The Good Sisters have extremely strong memories of the college admissions process, thankyouverymuch, and will be happy to expound on everything that "Work It" gets wrong. Also, can the power of love heal a bad ACL? And what even is an ACL?? Hey, at least the dancing is fun.
"I'm too young to die and too old to eat off the kids' menu. What a stupid age I am." --Jason Mendoza
Settle into the dog days of summer with some fun teen flicks, probably mostly rom-coms, because who are we kidding, we don't have the bandwidth for anything else. In this week's film, "The Half of It," a queer immigrant girl in a tiny Washington town plays Cyrano de Bergerac for a doofy football player, and hearts get mildly broken, but it's OK! Taco sausage!!
It's our 100th episode!! Instead of torturing ourselves with a movie that should've been left on the cutting-room floor, we decided to just chat about some pieces of media we love. We recommend a ton of content that is guaranteed anxiety-free! All aboard our very chill boat, listeners!!
Woof, where to start with this dud of a melodrama? The Good Sisters slog their way through this deception-based plot and try their hand at a little script doctoring (e.g. it would be nice if every male person in the film were not a total dirtbag!) This will hopefully be the final episode in which Brianna's side of the line is 50% fouled by firework noise! (Brooklyn, tone it down, would ya?)
Punching! Lens flares! Chris Pine in his undies! This movie has it all, except for an appreciation of the ethos of its source material! Dammit, Jim!
After an extended hiatus due to . . . well, 2020 . . . the Good Sisters are back with a take on "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" that is longer than the movie itself. It is not a good movie, but it is blessedly easy to watch while the world falls apart around our ears. We hope you are all well and that this episode brings a bit of cheer into your 2020.
The Good Sisters are on opposite sides of the #TeamPeter / #TeamJohnAmbrose divide (seriously, are those even the right hashtags? what hashtags are the kids using on TikTok??), and after a very long recap they basically express their opposite team allegiances for a good long while. We tease a listener letter from Listener Kate up top, but we don't get to it. We're too into our #TeamPSBoys debate!!
This week, in the second of two episodes based on the series finale, the Good Sisters focus on the three characters who didn't go through the door: Tahani, Michael, and Janet. Tahani prompts us to think about the meaning of forgiveness; Michael raises questions about visiting a theme park after you've already been behind the curtain and seen how all the rides work; and Janet evokes meditation on what we truly need from those we love. There's no crying this time, though, we swear! Plus four (!) pieces of listener feedback.
CONTENT NOTE: Your hosts have a serious discussion of suicide (based on a related article from The Atlantic) between the time codes 58:15 and 1:11:25. Please skip this chunk of the show if that's what serves you best. You can pick back up at 1:11:25 without losing the thread of discussion.
"Isn't it a beautiful gift that we all get to intersect for these brief moments in time??" The most beautiful, heart-wrenching, and emotionally true series finale maybe of all time is up for discussion at least this week and next week. This week: a recap, and then dissecting the arcs of those three of our six main characters who chose The Door. Fair warning, we cried a lot while recording this episode; it's not a good one to listen to while you're at your desk at work or in any other places where you're expected to hold yourself together. If you want to listen to it at a Bed Bath & Beyond and cry into a plunger while listening, please tweet us a selfie while doing this and we'll retweet it.
Eleanor is become death, destroyer of souls, and it's a . . . good thing??? The denizens of the Good Place get a death option, and they're elated. Brianna points out that while humans in real life don't have a death option (it's not optional, per se), in the best case scenario, we also go when we're ready. Marissa raises the question of whether the Testing Place should also have an escape hatch. And the Good Sisters ponder some possibilities for the Green Door (MARISSA IS GOING TO HOGWARTS Y'ALL).
It's SIMPLY THE TEST! BETTER THAN OTHER TESTS! This week, the Good Sisters are asking the hard questions: how much sense does Vicky's test for Tahani really make? Why was this weak Cheleanor subplot included? Just how long is a Jeremy Bearimy?! Join us as we slide into the final episodes with absolutely no idea what happens after the golden balloon to the Real Good Place. Plus: a fairly long epilogue with even more discussion of SW:TRoS.
Gonna erase the Eaaaaarth, erase the Earth -- no, wait, just kidding. Gonna come up with a whole new afterlife plaaaaan . . . hmm, that doesn't scan so well, does it. Well, folks, as we settle in for the final half-season of TGP, there is a lot of ground to cover. And some of that ground is in the form of a foxy older gentleman in a 10-gallon hat. Brianna and Marissa take this opportunity right before the roller coaster peaks to put themselves firmly on Team Leave The Cockroaches Alone, Team It Would Be Nice to See Jason's Mom's Afterlife, and Team Cheleanor 4eva. Dissidents from these teams will be forced to ride the Tesla Cybertruck through Bad Janet's Void.
Who's up for dishing about this enjoyable hot mess of a movie?? We love us some Rey/Kylo Ren hot Forcebook chatting, but the MacGuffins, the new weird lore, the non-sacrificial sacrifices, and the heartbreaking absence of a real Leia throughline make this a not-totally-satisfying ending to the Skywalker Saga. Does the Rey/Kylo stuff make up for all that? Y'know, it almost does, especially when Kylo is doing his Mr. Darcy impression. Or is it Noah Baumbach's "Marriage Story"?
Jenny Nicholson's critique (from which Marissa stole more than one point) is here: https://youtu.be/GErIPKjwuDg
Gentle gentile listeners, buckle up: the Good Sisters are about to let you in on a whole passel of JEW SECRETS, like how to play Jewish Geography, and whether sufganiyot are different from regular jelly doughnuts! They're all revealed in the context of reviewing this utterly charming Lifetime holiday movie about a Christian woman falling in love with a real cutie-patootie Jewish guy. Get a plate, fill half of it with fruitcake and half of it with latkes, and settle in: this is a pleasure to discuss, good listeners.
Regular Jesus, take the tow-truck wheel, and in the name of John Pierpont Collegestudent, let us pray. It's that time of year again, the time of year when Netflix spends the minimal amount of money it can to produce minimally acceptable holiday-themed programming. I hope you like indistinguishably attractive white girls, because this movie's got 'em in spades! It also has a legitimately hilarious interfaith Christmas pageant and a curious dearth of live performances by Shameik Moore. Plus . . . Joan Cusack in tinfoil?? Are you OK, Joan??
"There is no 'answer.' But Eleanor is the answer." If you didn't love this episode, go walk into the ocean!!! The Good Sister spend some quality time loudly sobbing, around which they manage to fit a recap, some words about that dumb church choir show, and a new (somewhat satirical) iTunes review.
We already know y'all want us to do the Hallmark "Chanukah movies," but if there are any other topics you want us to cover during the midseason hiatus, email us (thegoodplaypod@gmail.com) or tweet @thegoodplaypod!
Bam, bam, bam -- ooh, shouldn't have committed to the bam. Even when our hapless Soul Squad wins, they still lose -- though the Good Sisters don't think that Gen has really thought through this whole "erase everything and start over" plan. (What of hyperintelligent ants? WHAT OF THEM??) Also, Michael does not wake up Marissa's TV husband Chidi and she's quite peeved about it. Plus on the show before the show, the Good Sisters get called out by a fictional church choir member!!
The WALL-E and Eve scene we mentioned: https://youtu.be/KTzNvpToJmA Ryan Toby's very innocent debut in Sister Act 2: https://youtu.be/mXPoRnY3r10 Ryan Toby's SUPER non-innocent current music (don't play it around little kids!): https://youtu.be/wKEzEVftIJ4
Everything falls spectacularly apart in new and alarming ways on this week's TGP. As the Soul Squad tries several exploding Hail Marys to score a last field goal, Eleanor & co. lose their grip entirely on the experiment, and The Good Sisters are left Monday-morning quarterbacking the whole thing. Could the Soul Squad have handled the residents better??? We don't know, and it's too late now! Plus a new iTunes review and our customary rundown of competitive church singing, this time with pink hair.
Shirt gets real this week when resident "born on third base, thinks he invented baseball" resident Brent writes a book that makes that piece of pulpy trash that Bill O'Reilly wrote in the '90s look like the latest Zadie Smith novel. If this were truly The Good Place, Simone and Tahani would not be obligated to even think about this tripe . . . but it's The Experiment Place, and things are a lot more complicated here. Plus, a new iTunes review, the episode titles up to the midseason break (!!!), and our usual review of the last 5 minutes of the show in the 8:30 slot (BRADLEY WHITFORD SAYS THE WORD "TWERK," Y'ALL).
The Good Sisters are throwing a Molotov episode at y'all this week in honor of Jason Mendoza, a great boyfriend and the source of all wisdom, apparently. In addition to the recap, we have a lot of listener mail to get to (which we love -- send us more!!) And as usual this year, there's the tearing apart of the last 5 minutes of that Bradley Whitford show, which is apparently now somehow our signature feature as a TGP podcast.
All of our listeners' suspicions about Michael and Janet come to a head in this week's practically-a-bottle episode full of mistrust, lies, accusations, and gallons of blue goo. In the end, Jason, the low-key wisest (and high-key sexiest) of them all, saves the day with Chekhov's Sex Toy, and guys, it's riveting. Plus: listener tweets/Facebook posts/email, a new iTunes review, and our customary review of the last 5 minutes of that churchy Glee knockoff show we refuse to learn the name of (this week, Bradley Whitford drinks his own butt).
You may have to sit through a few other failed podcasts at the beginning of this one, such as the MichaelMcDonaldCast, the Studio60Cast, and the FightingTemptationsCast, but eventually we get around to this episode of The Good Place, and we just want to say out of the gate how many weird things there are in this one! Janet is weird! Michael is weird! Chidi is weird! The . . . Grim Reaper?? . . . is weird! Yeah, the Grim Reaper. Or a Grimly Reaperish apparition. Something's coming down the pike next week for our cockroaches, and everybody better suit up and brace for impact!!
Let us gather in thanksgiving for the narrative blessings of our saviors Jesus of Nazareth, Peter Parker, and Eleanor Shellstrop, all people who had the world put on their shoulders and had to learn to deal with it. Give Kristen Bell all the Emmys, gosh darnit!! If there are any left over, give them to Ted Danson!! Bonus mini-review of whatever awful show is airing on NBC right before The Good Place -- no, we don't know what it's called, but we hate it.
Season 4 is off and running and flying and punching! After a comprehensive recap, the Sisters start asking the big questions: what is this experiment for? What could it possibly accomplish?? Who gave the Good and Bad Places the right to judge humanity??? QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES???? Also Eleanor looks supes amaze in her LBD, y'all. #imwithdiscojanet #justiceforsimone
Whoops, I guess we took a hiatus! But now we're refreshed, recharged, and ready to smash the prison-industrial comple-- I'm sorry, what? This is supposed to be a podcast about The Good Place? Yeah yeah, we'll get to that, first we just gotta talk about Mindhunter and Jonathan Groff real quick. Come for the recaps of the NBC webisodes, stay for the wild fan theories!
ALL HAIL SOFT, SOFT BOY TOM HOLLAND! For unto his Spider-Man shall be gifted some nuclear drones or something. Also spare a moment of appreciation for Jake Gyllenhaal's very fetching Mysterio with his very fetching beard. Rrawr. Anyway! The Good Sisters, as you may have gathered, enjoyed this fun MCU summer flick despite the fact that they recently vowed to never again see another MCU movie. Where else are you gonna see Zendaya with a halberd?!
Everybody split a pair of earbuds with your Hormone Monster to listen to the Good Sisters' take on three episodes of the Netflix original series "Big Mouth": "Girls Get Horny Too," "I Survived Jessi's Bat Mitzvah," and "The Department of Puberty." Brianna is a big fan; Marissa is mostly confused; but we can all bond over the boxy dresses we had to wear at our Bat Mitzvvahs.
This tepid, straight-to-Netflix chick flick is a case of "tragically misapplied" comedic talents, to bogart a Bartletism. Comedy giants Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, our lady of May Maya Rudolph et al. drink and snipe their way through the Napa Valley, and it is a whole lot of nothing. The Good Sisters story-doctor the hell outta this one. Next week: Big Mouth!
With quite the Marvel hangover and with no TGP to tide us over, we're turning to the collected works of Maya Rudolph, a.k.a. she who embodies Judge Gen. We discuss a lot of sketches, including "I Know Why the Caged Bird Laughs," "The Obama Variety Show," "Celebrities Visit Jay-Z and Beyoncé to See Their New Baby," and the glorious "Bronx Beat." Next week, Netflix's "Wine Country"! Keep May(a) going!!
SPOILERS FROM THE JUMP, INCLUDING THIS SYNOPSIS.
Whew!! We made it, Good Listeners. We've spent over a month watching MCU movies, and now we arrive here, assembling some Avengers. (Not all of them. Some of them die.)
We talk about those deaths, the inevitable social divide between the unsnapped and never-snapped, the weird rise of Ant-Man, an MCU with technological time travel but without Infinity Stones, whether Thor's beer gut was believable (no), de-aged Michael Douglas, super-aged Chris Evans, and, oddly enough, de-aged Will Smith. Join our listening army as we defeat Thanos . . . for the very first time!
The Good Sisters are sorry to ruin this 2014 MCU film with talk of feminism, prison culture, and excessive yelling (by the characters, not the Good Sisters), but this is how they do. The music holds up, of course. But we certainly don't know more about the Kree empire than we did before we watched this! Ah well. BONUS SEGMENT at the end: gushing about the Star Wars Episode IX trailer!
If you've come to love hearing Marissa stumble through a summary of a movie she barely understood because she hasn't meticulously cataloged every aspect of the MCU, do we have a treat for you!! Sokovia is a mess, y'all, and everyone is morose and unfunny in this messy 2015 MCU tentpole flick. At least this topic gives Brianna the appropriate context to discuss Marvel's villain problem!
The Good Sisters continue to pregame for Avengers: Endgame with this lighter MCU fare from 2018. The studio tagline for this movie was, "Real heroes. Not actual size." Here are the taglines that Brianna would like you to consider instead: - "This is straight nonsense." - "Larry Fishburne: doing the Lord's work." - "This should've been a web-short."
As we await Avengers: Endgame, let's pregame by watching whatever MCU movies are left on Netflix! This week it's Thor: Ragnarok, the lesson of which is best summarized by Brianna: "The real hammer was the friends we made along the way." Is the movie a good metaphor for colonialism? Or is it just a Norse mythology fever dream scored by the guy from Devo? Why not both??
We are back after our (unplanned!) 2-week hiatus to tackle the latest entry in the MCU, Captain Marvel. The Good Sisters discuss the amazing Brie Larson, the journeys of the Space Gem/Tesseract, and what we think Captain Marvel's been doing since 1995. Bonus: we also yell "THE PATRIARCHY!" and "HOW IRONIC, TONY!" a lot. We are off next week again, but after that we hope to do some older MCU films!
This beloved 1990 Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore/Whoopi Goldberg film absolutely holds up, the Good Sisters are happy to report. Brianna is a little alarmed at how oblivious Molly is to the obvious threat of Carl, and Marissa is a lot grossed out by the idea of introducing wet clay into a sexual encounter, but otherwise we're very into this movie! Afterwards we discuss who exactly should get dragged to Hell by pavement shadows and for what.
The Good Sisters have to break with critical consensus on this 1991 "romantic comedy-fantasy film." Though it's well-regarded, the only part of this movie we cared for was the luminous, angelic, too-good-for-Albert-Brooks Meryl Streep. Brianna gets up to some very good script doctoring, though! We also have a unique situation in our email segment. Next week: 1990's "Ghost"!
In February, the Good Sisters are looking at the depiction of the afterlife on film, and starting with this lost 1993 Robert Downey Jr. gem called "Heart and Souls." A baby is haunted by four spirits who died on the same day he was born, and that baby grows up to be our foxy RDJ. The acting talent in this movie is off the wall, and even Brianna admits, "Yeah, this movie was great, I dunno!" Got ideas for more movies about the afterlife we could cover? Get in touch!
ARE Y'ALL READY FOR SOME REAL TALK ABOUT LOVE AND THE HUMAN CONDITION??? WOOOOO!! This finale is a quiet little gut punch of an episode, but the Good Sisters are split on how logical any of it is. Also the grand experiment did not pass any sort of IRB and our listeners are very miffed about that.
The Good Sisters are here this week asking the important questions, like: is Cheleanor like Sandra Bullock/Keanu Reeves in Speed? Why are eternal beings so bad at experimental design? And if you were trying to torture Shakespeare, which movie plot would you describe to him? It's nothing but questions this week as Chidi sees the time-knife in the Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes (which the Good Sisters' Good Mom would never let them visit)!
The Good Sisters have opposing desires in this episode: Brianna wants to discuss how globalization, capitalism, Triangle Trade, and the global supply chain affect the entire human population. Marissa wants to get everyone ABOARD THE S.S. CHELEANOR, HONK HOOOOONK. They each get their turn . . . eventually. Though Marissa almost runs out of patience entirely. Ahem.
The Good Sisters watch both Big Block of Cheese episodes of The West Wing (S1E5 & S2E16) and spill all their barely related thoughts about this classic show. Come for the Sorkin dragging, stay for the THOUGHTS about Joshua Lyman. Starry-eyed, addlepated, illogical thoughts. Sigh. #joshanddonna4eva
Finally the podcast episode you've all been waiting for: the film of the year, dissected by the two foremost experts in an unrelated NBC half-hour comedy. But seriously, the Good Sisters adored this movie and have absolutely nothing bad to say about it. But we do have 90 minutes' worth of great things to say about it. Won't you join us??
Guys . . . buckle up. This is a romantic Christmas melodrama starring a straight-up ghost who annually gains corporeal form for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, and the woman who falls in love with this Mumford & Sons lookalike. This is the made-for-TV Christmas movie that got the Good Sisters into the game. Its equal has yet to be discovered. Please, sit back, relax, and enter the world of The Spirit of Christmas.
On this glittering night of a thousand stars, the Good Sisters are proud to present D'Arcy Carden with All The Emmys. Even the ones for sound mixing. While we're at it, let's also talk about the callous indifference of the accountants, the Good Ship Cheleanor (HONK HOOONK), the technical details of how The Kiss was filmed, and . . . no, let's leave Weird Sex Stuff out of this altogether, shall we?
During our December TGP hiatus (next week excepted), the Good Sisters will be tackling the genre commonly known as the "Hallmark Christmas Movie" (though they can appear on Lifetime, Netflix, or other small-screen venues) in a theme we're calling, "Do You See What I See?!" This week it's a rom-com about an amnesiac and a homebody called "A Gift to Remember." It's actually quite charming! Even though the homebody causes the amnesiac's amnesia, there are no hard feelings! And what's the amnesiac's dog's name, again? Scribbles?? Merry December, everyone!
We finally meet Brianna's idol Doug Forcett, and the result is much darker than we'd imagined. This episode is deep -- so deep, in fact, that it finally (after 60 hours of content on a show about the afterlife!!) prompts the Good Sisters to divulge their own views on the actual afterlife (or lack thereof). And then it turns into GiulianiCast, #sorrynotsorry. Also: River Tam Janet!! River Tamjet?
On The Good Ship Cheleanor It's a sweet trip to the kebab store Where bad souls play On the sunny beach of Killjanet Bay!
This week's TGP was an emotional journey, Good Listeners, and the Good Sisters are paying their fare and appreciating the ride. The Sisters also reveal new talents: discussing TV shows they've never seen (Brianna) and tunelessly reciting the lyrics to Paul Simon's Graceland (Marissa). Stay tuned for next week, when we all embark on the S.S. Cheleanor! HONK HONK!!
Chapter 32, a.k.a. "The Ballad of Donkey Doug," a.k.a. "Touched By a Really Derpy Angel." Very good episode, but the Sisters have concerns about where this season is going (apparently to Budapest, to celebrate the Persistence of Conception -- congratulations, you now have an MFA). Plus, what would you do if you knew you were going to hell no matter what you did?
We all waited through a few weeks of table setting, and now we get the table . . . overturned, burned to ashes, and cooked into a delicious chili. Discussion points: Mendoza Bat Flu, #WhereIsSimone, William Jackson Harper needing to bring his sick abs to the set of Black Panther 2, and the City of Angels soundtrack. Thank you, Megan Amram.
Happy Saint Ploopington's Day to you from the Good Sisters, Marissa Cookswell and Brianna Bakeswell! This episode continued the wonky, frantic trajectory of the season thus far, and the Good Sisters are a little tired of it. But there is a LOT to discuss, even with a slightly sweaty premise. Is afterlife revolution imminent? Are the accountants monsters? Did every '90s girl grow up half in love with Human!Casper and half in love with Animated!Dimitri??
For our 50th episode special (YAAAY), the Good Sisters are face-to-face, recording in the same room for the first time ever! It's mostly just weird. Open questions we discuss: is Trevor gone forever? Can Janet and Michael die now? Why is the Bad Place so intent on taking out the cockroaches? And stay tuned after the outro music to hear a preview of an exciting new podcast from the most up-and-coming up-and-comers in the biz.
AT LONG LAST, OUR SHOW IS BACK!! After a lengthy recap (hey, it was a lengthy set of episodes), we're hitting the ground running with discussions of the stage-setting-ness of this two-pack of episodes, Jason's life trajectory, Michael's aliases, Tahani's obvious social superiority, and, of course, SHIPPER WARS. (Simone! So adorbs! But #CHELEANOR.) We are so hyped, you guys. Join us in our studio of hypedness.
IT'S ALMOST HERE, YOU GUYS! The Good Sisters have watched or read every interview and "leak" they could get their grubby hands on, plus some wacky Reddit speculation, so all hands on deck!! Shirt is about to get real!!
This Netflix rom-com is so tightly edited that it's shorter than this podcast episode! It's a super-cute tale of a middle child, her fake boyfriend, her unsupportive older sister, her meddling bench of a little sister, and her amazing white-wine dad. If anyone has Noah Centineo's number, if they could just forward it to Brianna real quick, that'd be great, thanks so much.
If you have any predictions for Season 3, email them or tweet them to us!
REVIEW DRIVE: in the weeks of September leading up to the release of Season 3, we're asking our listeners to rate/review us on iTunes and/or post to social media about the show. Thanks, ding-dongs!!
The doing of whatever we want continues in this look into the comedy classic Arrested Development. Though the Good Sisters deconstruct their chosen episodes, more time is devoted to comparing their mom to Lucille Bluth, lamenting Marissa's inability to cosplay, and inventing a NYCC panel for Brianna to host.
IF YOU ARE ATTENDING NEW YORK COMIC CON, get in touch with Brianna if you want to meet up!
REVIEW DRIVE: in the weeks of September leading up to the release of Season 3, we're asking our listeners to rate/review us on iTunes and/or post to social media about the show. Thanks, ding-dongs!!
The Good Sisters' commitment to complex themes has been exhausted, and they're just watching stuff they like while they await the return of The Good Place. Playing House is a delightful little show about an undying bond of female friendship. We discuss Kenny Loggins, Upright Citizens Brigade, Beach Law, and our connection to one of the actors on this show.
REVIEW DRIVE: in the weeks of September leading up to the release of Season 3, we're asking our listeners to rate/review us on iTunes and/or post to social media about the show. Thanks, ding-dongs!!
In The Good Play universe, the listeners are represented by two separate yet equally important sisters: the older, who has loved Community for over half a decade; and the younger, who has resisted watching it until it became a topic for their joint podcast. This . . . is their story.
"This was, like, a life-altering experience for me." --Brianna
The Good Sisters are really secretly kind of fond of this show, which was s fixture of their tweenhoods. Topics of discussion: the wonderful John Mahoney (R.I.P.), how not to handle an actress's pregnancy, and the sexual orientations of the Crane brothers. Good night, Seattle!!
For August, we are looking at NBC shows that have aired on Thursday nights, like our beloved Good Place. (Not incidentally, a handful of these shows are streaming on Netflix.) This week we tackle the ur-show of Thursday nights, Friends. We hate it! We especially hate Ross/Rachel! There's a cute part where Phoebe gives a pep talk to some fertilized human eggs, though.
WHAT A DELIGHT. If The Good Place is the little-sister Schurniverse show that spent four years studying philosophy and writing for the comedy mag at an Ivy League school, then B99 is the big-brother Schur show that went to a state school and is the funniest guy on the Frisbee-golf team. But they're still very much brother and sister! Two thumbs up!!
Oh boy oh boy, the Good Sisters had some capital-I Issues with this Mike-Schur-co-penned episode of Black Mirror entitled "Nosedive." We managed to talk about it for longer than its actual runtime! Come for the nitpicking about how this Meow Meow Beenz reality works; stay for our imagined episode of Black Mirror, starring Cherry Jones and entitled "Placebo Boulevard."
Yes, we covered P&R a mere eight episodes ago, but this time around the selection of installments was better, so Marissa warmed to it (though she'll never be the super-fan that Brianna is). Much is made of the adorable Leslie/Ben dynamic. Also up for discussions: Emmy noms (Terrific Dude Ted Danson!) and Emmy snubs (EVERYONE ELSE).
We kick off July's Schurniverse month with a lovely, nostalgic look back at one of the best sitcoms of the prior decade, "The Office," on which Mike Schur was a writer and producer. (Episodes covered: S3E5 "Initiation" and S4E14 "Goodbye Toby.") Brianna's encyclopedic knowledge of the show really comes in handy as Marissa struggles to remember even the most basic plot points. The Good Sisters may disagree on whether Jim is a schmuck, but they can concur that there's a strong link between this office and Michael's supernatural office on "The Good Place."
If you're a big Curb fan, maybe just . . . just skip this episode. The Good Sisters found it unbearable. Lots of unfavorable comparisons to Seinfeld in here. Come, revel in our pain!
This quasi-romantic, fairly absurd comedy is up for discussion this week merely by virtue of being one of the only Ted Danson movies on Netflix. Pop some popcorn and travel back 25 years in time with the Good Sisters to When Ted Met Whoopie. (Other romcoms we reference: Save the Last Dance, Life as We Know It, You've Got Mail, and Sleeping with Other People. All of which are better than this.) Plus we have some earthshattering Good Place news and a great mailbag.
The Good Sisters saw this in the theater on Saturday with their mom (uh . . . happy Father's Day, Dad) and they are ready to break down this fun-filled dash through super family life! We meditate on the lack of supervillains in the Incredi-verse, and what superpower each of us would like to have. Spoiler warning, but this movie isn't really the kind of movie that's ruined by plot details.
Let's all go to Flaming Moe's, let's all go to . . . wait. Wrong bar. The Good Sisters watch "Cheers" for the first time, starring a very young and virile Ted Danson, and Brianna loses her heart. But both sisters lose their minds at the ridiculous Sam/Diane dynamic. Biggest indicators that "it was a different time": getting in airplanes on a whim and threatening to punch a woman half your size in the face!
We're wrapping up May's Megan Amram month with her recently published online short-form video series, "An Emmy for Megan." It's as weird as "Too Many Cooks." We wonder how the heck she got those super-famous people to Skype in, and marvel at how difficult it must be to be a TV writer. Also Bri sings the "Cheers" theme song at length.
The Good Sisters go full Social Justice Warrior on the entire history of televised sketch comedy. Soooo . . . there's that. Also, bad Canadian accents, which was almost the only thing that made us laugh in this hour or so of "Kroll Show."
For our first Megan Amram appreciation episode, we watch two episodes she wrote of Parks & Rec ("Ron and Diane" and "Animal Control"). We talk a little about Megan Amram, but more about P&R, which Brianna is an expert on and Marissa is completely clueless about (e.g. "What is an April?") Stay tuned for some pretty solid Chris Pratt set stories.
WARNING: THIS EPISODE IS 100% SPOILERS FROM THE JUMP, THIS SYNOPSIS INCLUDED. In what may be our first episode where we don't even attempt to recap what we're talking about (there is TOO MUCH PLOT for that nonsense, y'all), we discuss the first tentpole movie of 2018, the new MCU joint. It's a doozy, folks. Marissa does not know who half of these people are. Brianna does not remember half of the movies she already saw. To quote Disintegrating Nick Fury, "Motherf--." It's a loose, fun, fast ride through a movie we both really liked, even if we couldn't handle Cumberbatch's American accent.
THIS IS IT, GOOD LISTENERS. We have reached the Big Reveal, and thus the final episode of The Good Place that we had yet to recap and review! We've got everything here, from stuff we noticed on split-second screengrabs to meditations on what it must be like to pop into existence as an immortal being and be told your job is to eternally torment dead evolved apes. Stay tuned for our summer plans, and follow us on Twitter (@thegoodplaypod) for details!
All our Mindy, Mindy, Mindy talk leads to one conclusion: #OccupyTheGoodPlace. If sabermetrics afterlife is right, we wanna be wrong.
It's Jason flashbacks featuring Mario Mario, Chidi achieving Peak Husband, and Michael threatening de-skeleton-ification on this week's TGP, and the Good Sisters are here for it. Plus the introduction of Shawn (and a deep dive on that character), and the question of whether Michael Schur just uses first seasons of his shows as a very long prologue.
This week's episode is called "Chidi's Choice," but there's a lot going on: fake BBC comedies, a human/nonhuman wedding, multiple declarations of love, and several hilarious asides from Bambadjan. The Good Sisters get deep into some more shipping stuff (sorry, but it's very prominent in this episode!!) and weigh in on the ethics of eating granola.
For our Silver Anniversary Episode, we're taking our Elite Premium members (that's you!) for a discussion of trash-bag demons and visions for a new afterlife, with only a tiny bit of singing.
What begins as an analysis of our first look at the aftermath of Eleanor's confession morphs into a deep dive on whether, in retrospect, the entire conceit of Season One truly works when you watch it with guilty knowledge. Or does the twist wreak havoc on the internal logic of the show?
Isn't it odd how funny it was for Janet to be murdered and resurrected the first time? Times sure have changed, Good Listeners, because if she had been rebooted at the end of Season 2, all of Twitter would've been in GIF-laden mourning for a month. Plus: listener mailbag gets into both the theory of relativity and also checking Expedia for flight times from Korea to Ethiopia.
Is this our longest episode yet? Well, no wonder: it's jam-packed with a Black Panther synopsis, plus an analysis of the stuff we loved (uh, Shuri x 1,000,000) and the stuff we could've done without (all the face punching). Then we segue into a general talk about representation in Hollywood. Additional spoilers for Captain America: Civil War, Wonder Woman, His Dark Materials, and Life of Pi (seriously).
Hey, it's our first encounter with "What We Owe to Each Other"! We still haven't read it, but watching this episode of TGP is the next best thing. Listening to this episode of the podcast is the third best thing. Major topics: the tragedy of Tahani's life, and the random misfires of Michael's master plan.
Watching this episode (in which Chidi and Eleanor have to pretend to be the perfect couple) directly after the Season 2 finale is a real trip! Come on that trip with us, won't you?
What is there to say about such an astonishing finale? A lot, as it turns out. The "sim or reality" debate that's burning up the Internet? We've got it covered. Meditations on Michael's sacrifice? Got that covered too. Shipper wars? You know we've got it covered. Highly imperfect impersonations of a certain high-profile grunge band? COVERED.
While this episode might not have been the Good Sisters' fave, the discussion is off the hook!! Has Michael invented Purgatory and proven that demons and humans are trapped in the Stanford Prison Experiment? Just how exactly was Jason supposed to pass his test? And once again, Marissa would like to emphasize that she would happily accept a week in a featureless room with a stack of New Yorkers.
Another barnburner of an episode, folks! Amid all the normal plot-tacular discussion (from "NOOOO MICHAEL" to "can Chidi's character be developed past the rigid Kantian he started as?"), the Good Sisters have fundamental questions about who made the Good and Bad Places and why the population split is the way it is. Is there hope for an explanation next week??
This episode burns it all down, and the Good Sisters sift through the ashes to examine the bittersweet end of Neighborhood 12358W. There is a lot of Chidi/Eleanor talk. Like, a lot. Also, we reveal our hiatus schedule, and Brianna has an amazing Twitter experience.
The Good Place is back, baby! We've got a recap, Easter eggs, discussion, article roundup, and spoiler space, just like the good old days. This episode is dedicated to Blake Bortles, without whom the Cockroaches would be in hot water.
Jason, Jason, Jason! I can't stop saying Jason! On this auspicious first day of a new year, we delve into Jason Mendoza, comparing him to Kimmy Gibbler, Michael Scott, Tracy Jordan, Andy Dwyer, Gina Linetti, and -- wait for it -- Cody Lambert. Deep pull.
Merry Christmas, Good Players! In this very special holiday episode, the Good Sisters harness their considerable Star Wars knowledge (minus the godawful prequels) to thoroughly analyze "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" (now in theaters). It's hard to write a spoiler-free summary of a spoiler-filled episode, except to say that it's a complicated movie and we have a LOT of thoughts.
Any time the Good Sisters can be of service to you, our listeners, we are satisfied, and this week we can be. We summarize all the additions made to Chapters 16-21 in the extended cuts released this week on NBC.com, and we discuss a few in depth. WITH CLIPS!!
The Good Sisters (nice nickname from our Facebook group!) are all over the place in this episode, from nostalgia for the easy friendships of the quartet in Season 1, to details about Brianna's Mon Mothmarathon. Bonus: we now have outro music!
And what rough podcast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
It's the sisters' first hiatus episode, and we're revisiting the pilot episode! Isn't it poignant to see Chidi so happy, before the crushing weights of Eleanor's secrets and Michael's duplicity came crashing down on him? More importantly, did Marissa catch a continuity error involving Ariana Grande??
Sorry about the week off, ding-dongs! Brianna was stuck in the Bad Place. Now that she's taken the train back to her normal existence, we can discuss the strange sweetness of Jason/Tahani, the heartbreaking sunken 'ship of Chidi/Eleanor, and the windchime-penis-festooned oddity of Janet/Derek.
ZOOUUUUUUUKS! Can Janet create a person? SHOULD Janet create a person? Is the answer different if she creates Zouks?? Also, the sisters have got another installment in the Megan Amram Appreciation Corner (a.k.a. "Amramica the Beautiful").
Strap in for the goriest -- and maybe funniest -- episode of Season 2 of "The Good Place." Brianna thinks the entire show is one big trolley problem. Marissa is offended on behalf of the fictional character Jean Valjean. Both sisters agree that Ted Danson is acting the heck out of his character in this one.
SHIPPER WARS REDUX! Plus, would you rather be snuffed out like a candle, or eternally tortured? This is but one of the cheery questions raised by Michael's existential crisis!
There's plenty to talk about inside this bottle episode! How good can the real Good Place really be? Is Vicky dropping the ball, or crazy like a fox? And is this universe more like the CW's Supernatural, or more like the classic poem Paradise Lost? (Note 10/11/17: restored last 6 minutes of episode.)
SO IT'S TO BE SHIPPER WARS, EH?? Also, how long has The Quartet been stuck in the Bad Place? And we celebrate the best puns of Megan Amram.
"The Good Place" is back for a second season! Brianna and Marissa discuss the hour-long premiere. Topics: Is Michael unraveling? Does Janet have memories of last season? Is the goodest Good Place the one that's just Marissa, Chidi, and a library full of books?
In this first episode of "The Good Play," Brianna and Marissa recap Season 1 of "The Good Place" and delve in deep into what direction the show might be going next.