The Good Place season 1 review

I am hoping at some point that I can review more of the View Askew movies. I might have run out of time to try to do something and think that a video store just recently reopened, if it has it at all. Until then, a theme that can cover the random posts in the future are posts on The Good Place and the seasons of that show since it is over now. Let’s get to it then.

Season 1 overview: We are introduced to the people who are called the soul squad later (I think) in this season as the six main characters who are with the show the whole time are shown in many ways. We learn through flashbacks all of the main character’s lives including Michael’s during the last episode of the season. We are lead to believe that this the good place in the afterlife throughout a lot of the main season until the final episode where it is revealed that it was the bad place this whole time. We learn why all of them are meant for this place, how Michael is really evil, and what is going on with Janet.

How this season was different from others: A lot of this season had to pretend to be something that it was not in the end. They had to pretend that they were in the good place when they actually weren’t. I would say that the twist at the end was one of television’s best and I’m glad that I stuck around. I am just unsure who else might have done that in the end.

What made it good: It was nice to keep up with the characters. Despite being flawed, they were all quite enduring people in the end worth watching. All the hints of the fact that this was actually the bad place are there the whole season and it makes sense in the end why the four humans are there. So much of what made this good were the seeds of Michael’s plan moving forward the way that it did and it all made sense in the end why it did what it did.

What made it bad: Too much of the flashbacks didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose at the time and did not always work in the end relating to the rest of the series as a whole. The mystery was a bit taken over by other details that bogged the show down. It wasn’t always as funny a show as it could have been.

More thoughts on it: I love this show and always have, even if the first episode didn’t have that great of a hold over the rest of the series. I loved the season finale, Michael’s Gambit, and think that it might have been the best episode of the series and all of 2017. It is hard not to like this show in the end and sticking with it for so long is the reason why.

That’s all that I can think of saying about this first season of this show outside of this paragraph. I really like this show and recommend that you see it if you haven’t already. The season finale alone is worth all of it in the end. I’ll be back later for the next post. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.

Cast Update 6-6-2020

I forget if I included the usual removal of one of the projects mentioned in this blog that I have done for quite a while now, but it shouldn’t matter. I always try to include some of the reviews that are in my TV blog when I can, but I won’t be able to put it there first like I normally do since it could be quite a while before it comes around again, the possibility of me putting it in this other blog. As I should have guessed in here at some point, Shad Moss would appear on The Masked Singer so I saw it online and reviewed it here. Also, this post will be the start of me including one of the seasons’ theme songs from either the original CSI or CSI: New York. I might even include CSI: Miami if any of the posts to that show’s theme songs that are in my Elementary blog wind up as dead links at some point.

Patricia Arquette: The main star of CSI: Cyber has future projects mentioned on imdb right now. She does a lot, or at least did in the past. We’ll see what all she will do in the future regarding shows she does. A new project that I see her as doing is Severance.

Severance: I can’t tell if the release date for this is this year or not. I’m going to say, for now, that the timeframe of release is unknown for now. This will be a TV show. The plot is about a company that is trying to take work-life balance to a new level, according to the internet movie database. I’m unsure which network this will be on.

Peter MacNicol: I can’t find much ever, if anything, for this actor. I hope that I can avoid saying things about him in a paragraph that could easily wind up outdated forever as I’ve been known for doing. So I came up with this one until the next project he’s in. He has a minor role in All Rise.

James Van Der Beek: I see a project for him called Vampirina. I won’t know for sure about how long some of his shows will last so I hope that I’m not always talking about them when or if they aren’t on anymore. He will also be in a movie called Bad Hair.

Vampirina: This is a show about a young vampire girl who has to adjust after a move. It is an animated Disney Junior show as vampires are a thing that kids should be educated about in some way. It is out now. I was able to see an episode of this so enjoy a review:

Review: Status- Possibly still on the Disney channel. Why I’ve seen it- I watched it so I could review it for this blog. Noteworthiness- This is based on a book series. Description- A vampire girl and her family move from Transylvania to the human world and we see a bunch of adventures with her new friends and family. Notable People- James Van Der Beek plays the father of the main character. Pros- The show largely works and is different enough to make it seem unlike most of the other kid’s shows. Cons- Not all of it makes sense or seems like it needs to be there. There should be more education stuff in there than there is. Note to Parents- With this intentionally targeted for kids, you do not have to worry about much in it. Whether or not you think there could be issues with the theme of this involving vampires might be the only problem I can think of about why someone would not want kids seeing this. Recommendation- I’d put this at a toss-up. There is not much wrong with it as long as you care about shows for kids. My Viewing Habits- I only saw this once and might not see it again. Prediction- I don’t care enough to put something in here. Reception: good. Grade: B-.

Bad Hair: This movie is currently in theaters. I can’t find a potential release date for this yet for it to come out on DVD. I don’t yet know much about it, other than it being about a horror story about someone with hair that turns evil. (That sounds similar to part of a Simpsons Halloween episode called Hell Toupee.) This might be the only time you see it in the updates unless or until I can figure out if it will be on DVD. While I’m not sure what is going on with this right now, I will keep it in the updates until I can be more sure of what’s going on with it.

Shad Moss: After all this time I’ve been doing updates, I was beginning to be concerned that I’d never find something for him. Well, he finally has a project in the works. It is called Superstition: The Rule of 3’s. I would review his music videos, but don’t see a point to that right now. He did turn out to also have an appearance on The Masked Singer season three as frog. I will cover that section later since the show is on hiatus and he isn’t part of it anymore.

Superstition: The Rule of 3’s: This is a thriller movie on the belief that death occurs in threes. I have no idea what role Shad will end up playing in the film. The status of the film is listed as filming. It has no release date or trailer just yet.

Charley Koontz: A new thing that I see him mentioned in is Hollywood Fringe, a movie of some sort. He will also be in something called Eat Your Heart Out. That is all I really see him in for now. Maybe he will do more in the future or maybe not.

Hollywood Fringe: This movie doesn’t have a release date or trailer yet. The plot is about married actors putting on a play about their own lack of success in Hollywood. The plot sounds like it could use some work on. But I guess that I hope to see whatever becomes of it, if anything. I just know I don’t like having the same thing in here with no real update.

Eat Your Heart Out: This has an unknown date of release at the moment. The plot will be a bit complicated as someone literally gave his heart away and needs to get it back in order to marry someone else. Seems strange, but I might like it. Still, it is a short and I don’t know how I’d be able to watch any of those. There’s a trailer for it now:

Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfJTMnCT7Ps

Thoughts on trailer: This looks kind of weird, but I guess that it works as an idea of what they can do with a film like this. I don’t know why a heart would be in pieces and can only hope that the cat didn’t eat any of them. I guess I’ll see if I can see what the short film is like if I’m able to see it.

Hayley Kiyoko: With no music videos that I can think of worth mentioning in this blog and all of her time being spent on music and not TV shows or movies, I don’t know if there is much to add in this section at the moment, but will keep it here for now and hope that she does something new.

Ted Danson: Surely his time off of TV means that he could be doing movies in the meantime, but we’ll see if that happens soon or not. It looks like he is doing more now that I can finally see. He is appearing in the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. It looks like he will be in a show called Mr. Mayor set to air later on NBC.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: This show has been rebooted and is back with new episodes. It is on right now on HBO. I don’t know the timeslot and don’t know if I can watch it. Hopefully I can get someone to do a guest review for it, but that seems unlikely since that hasn’t happened before with other shows. Of course, if I could borrow a copy that someone that I know has, then I could just watch it on my own. But I don’t think that will happen without doing more research.

Untitled Ted Danson Project: This looks like a remake of The Mayor from not too long ago. In this show, a wealthy businessman becomes LA’s mayor. This is totally not inspired by someone like Trump. This has no release date yet, but can be expected during the 2020-2021 TV season. Its name now is Mr. Mayor.

Anthony E Zuiker: Finally! After all of this time wondering if the creator of one of TV’s longest running franchises is ever going to work again, I see him listed as the producer in a project. He is set to help make something called Spearfinger.

Spearfinger: This has no release date at this time. I think that it will be a movie. It is about a Native American legend regarding a woman with sharp fingers who would like to frighten people. There might need to be more to the plot than that, so we will see for sure what will happen with this project later as more information becomes available.

Carol Mendelsohn: There is a new project in store for this writer as of this update. I’m not sure where it is in terms of happening versus not happening. I will tell you about anything she is a producer of since I want to see something in these updates for her. She has a project in the works called Witchblade. We’ll have to see what happens regarding that.

Witchblade: This is based off of a comic book. From what I can tell, it is in the magical girls genre, although it might have only one girl whose power comes from an object. I should hopefully have a plot description of it in the future. The release date is unknown at this particular time.

Ann Donahue: There’s no new information about this writer. I’m sure that she’ll probably find something, but I’m not sure when. As of this month, there are still no new updates regarding this writer. I hope that she does something. There is nothing new to report.

William Petersen: He hasn’t done much outside of CSI in the world of television or movies as far as I can tell. I think that he’s busy with stage work, the likes of which I will never see, probably. I wish him the best in whatever future career he wants to do.

David Caruso: This CSI: Miami actor has done nothing in terms of acting for movies on TV since the show ended. This is because he is retired from acting. I’ll still keep him in the updates in case there is a change and he does wind up doing something notable in the future.

Gary Sinise: He has a lot of projects in the works. One is called I Still Believe. He’s also in a movie called Good Joe Bell. Another project is No Better Place to Die. That’s a whole lot of projects that he’s doing now. Sources are also saying he’ll appear in the final season of 13 Reasons Why. He will also appear in something called Zarrar.

I Still Believe: This is a movie about the Christian singer Jeremy Camp. It is on DVD now. It actually has a trailer that I will talk about. This seems like it could be a better movie than others that Gary is doing could be. But that’s just my opinion.

Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnxHyBbYwQQ

Thoughts on trailer: I don’t know the whole story yet about this so I’ll hopefully avoid learning what happens until I see this movie. But it looks good. I like a lot of these people from other projects and am glad that Gary is now in the updates so I can review this movie for this blog. (I might have seen it anyways.) I look forward to seeing it.

Since current events will prevent me from seeing this movie in time for this update, then I might as well get into some of the discography of him by mentioning one song in each post that doesn’t have a review of the movie until it is out on DVD which hopefully isn’t too soon, although I’ll see it whatever way I can. I’ll start with the most obvious song that is related to him and then I’ll get into more as time goes by, hopefully. All will be Jeremy Camp songs that I include.

I Still Believe song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZPMZV9MVVY

Walk by Faith song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDat2sgWcv0

Keep Me in the Moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb1bx3hYfzg

Good Joe Bell: This is set to be released in 2020. It doesn’t have a trailer yet or specific release date. It is about a gay teen who commits suicide after struggling for acceptance. That sounds like a dark movie to me. Maybe it can still be good, though.

No Better Place to Die: This movie is about part of a battle during World War II. It has no release date or trailer at the moment. To date, Gary’s role is the only one that is in the movie right now and even his is just rumored.

Zarrar: This is a Pakistan based movie from what I can tell and I won’t know for sure what else to say about it as it seems strange what information I can gather from it thus far. There is no release date for this yet, but hopefully there will be at some point in time.

Anthony LaPaglia: It appears that he will be in a TV miniseries called Halifax: Retribution. I don’t know much else he could be doing as that doesn’t show up right now. Maybe he will do more or maybe not. One can only hope that he does more, but maybe he doesn’t need to. He will also be in an NBC pilot called Jeffries.

Halifax: Retribution: This has an unknown release date at this time. There is no plot that I can find right now and I don’t know what network this will air on. It might not even air in the US at all. There have been other Halifax stories, apparently.

Jeffries: This is inspired by a man named Jim Jeffries and this show would have him playing a fictionalized version of himself along with other characters as needed. I thought that the 90s had already happened. The release date is unknown at this time.

Laurence Fishburne: He has a recurring role in Black-ish. But that’s not worthy of its own section in this blog as it is not a starring role. He’s also in a movie called Brother’s Keeper. He’ll also be in a TV movie called Rendlesham. Another thing he will be in is Crimson Blues. He will also be in The Ice Road.

Brother’s Keeper: This doesn’t have a release date yet. It is the true story of a football team from Abilene in 2009. I guess I’ll have to see the movie to find out what happens and hopefully avoid any potential spoilers that I doubt I’ll find out about anyways.

Rendlesham: This has no release date just yet. The plot relates to probably aliens in the 80s in England. I have no idea what network it might air on just yet. Hopefully, I will find out more about this in the future. We’ll see if this really is aliens or is something else entirely.

Crimson Blues: This has no release date yet. It seems to be about a police officer who is looking for redemption after failing in a bad case year prior or something like that. I would say that this could be good if done right.

The Ice Road: This has a release date of February 4, 2021. It is a Netherlands release date so I don’t know if this will be in the US at some point. The plot is about people trying to save those in a mine while having to deal with an ice thaw coming up.

Adam Rodriguez: He is in a show called Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. That’s all I can find for him right now. We’ll see what all he might do in the future. Maybe he will do more soon. Of course, he might not be doing that much when he’s doing a show at the same time.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: I don’t know much about it other than that it might be on Showtime. This is not out yet, unlike what I previously thought. It is out now on the Showtime network. This is a supernatural show about the occult. I don’t know what time it airs.

Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WqFMwMiF3I

Thoughts on trailer: This seems vaguer than I would like. It looks like it covers some racial issues here and there. Other than that, I’m not sure what to make of this outside of what seems just like a usual drama. Maybe I’ll see it or maybe I won’t.

Melina Kanakaredes: She will be in a movie called Wake. That is all that I see her in at the moment. She has done a lot of TV roles, be it main or recurring, so I hope to see more of her in the future.

Wake: This has an unknown release date at this moment. Its main focus is on a lie of some sort that tore people apart. Something interesting must happen beyond that. I just don’t yet know what that will be.

Former projects: In this section, I will keep track of shows that people in this blog used to be mentioned in as doing in some way. I might keep track of other things too. This will be used to keep track of what shows might still be on even after someone has left it in some way. Dancing with the Stars is one of these shows. From now on, I’m going to include Pose in this section as well. Since Shad Moss’s time in it is over, I’m including The Masked Singer in this part as well.

Dancing with the Stars- This is currently on hiatus. James will be on this season so I will be watching it at least once to see what it’s like. This is a reality competition show where professional dancers team up with celebrities of sorts.

Review: Status- Currently on hiatus. Why I’ve seen it- I watched it since James Van Der Beek was in a season of it. Description- Celebrities team up with professional dancers to compete on a live show. Notable People- Tom Bergeron, former host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, is one of the co-hosts of this show. Carrie Ann Inaba, who is currently on The Talk, is a judge on the show. Pros- It can be better and more interesting than one might think, giving its genre. Cons- Too much time is wasted on this show due to set up to dances and other competitions. Note to Parents- Outside of sometimes inappropriate outfits, there might not be too much bad in the show, although you’d have to watch for yourself. Recommendation- This isn’t too bad, but isn’t outstanding either. The main reason why one wouldn’t want to watch it would be time commitment to other things. Prediction- This will probably keep lasting. Reception: good. Grade: B-.

Pose: This is airing now on FX yet could be ending its first season already. I don’t know for sure what might be happening. The plot for it mentioned on imdb sounds really confusing and I believe that it relates to transgender issues in some way. It actually has a trailer now. I doubt that I will ever be able to watch it. I don’t think that I’d want to anyways.

Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jg6fiC1VpY

Thoughts on trailer: This doesn’t seem any good or interesting to me. It just seems like it is another lame attempt to get people interested in the fashion industry. I don’t even know for sure if the transgender stuff that might be in here is in here. But I don’t care about the fashion industry and this looks lame and vague. Why do people care who wears what when?

The Masked Singer: I knew it was only a matter of time before someone that I covered in one of the cast updates was on this show. Thus, I’m going to include a review here. If I had to guess that anyone from any show I do cast updates of was going to appear on this show, I knew that it would probably be Shad Moss before it would be anyone else.

The Masked Singer review: Status- Currently on hiatus. It airs on FOX. It is set to air its fourth season at 8/7 Central on Wednesdays, but does not yet have a premiere date. Why I’ve seen it- It turns out that Shad Moss, whose career I follow for a blog, was on the show so I watched it to see what it was like. Noteworthiness- This is adapted from a South Korean show and is the first non Asian adaptation of the show. Description- Different celebrities in masks compete on a singing show where the loser gets unmasked. While all get unmasked at some point, the winner goes the longest without this fate. Notable People- Ken Jeong, from Community and Dr. Ken, is a judge on the show. Pros- This doesn’t have as bad a voting problem as other reality competition shows since what we see is always pretaped. Even if they aren’t professional singers, they can still be good. Cons- Some have complained that the results of voting is too random and can eliminate great professional singers from the game. Too much of this seems wasted on the banter between the judges and host or trying to guess the identities of the singers, something that is not ultimately worth anything. Note to Parents- I haven’t seen enough of this to know if it is bad, but my guess is that this is something the whole family could watch. Recommendation- I think that it is a good show in the end and worth keeping up with if you don’t care much about anything else. My Viewing Habits- I saw this once and don’t know yet if I will see it again due to scheduling conflicts. Prediction- This will probably last quite a while since it is said to be the most watched show now. Reception: somewhat mixed. Grade: B-.

In order to keep track of new people, this post will start sharing a theme song from either the original CSI or CSI: New York until I’ve shared all of them in this blog and I’ve caught up with it as a result. You will have to read my Elementary blogs for the theme songs from CSI: Miami, although I will post any of them here in good time if the links become dead when I check them later.

CSI: New York season 1 theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT6CokwI1Mo

Schedule

Out now- Curb Your Enthusiasm, Vampirina (on DVD), Pose (on FX), Bad Hair (in theaters, unknown DVD release date, although Hulu is said to own the rights to it so it might end up there), Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Sundays at 8 Central on Showtime)

Currently on hiatus- Dancing with the Stars, The Masked Singer

On DVD- I Still Believe

Unknown 2020- Good Joe Bell

Unknown 2020-2021 season- Mr. Mayor (on NBC)

February 4, 2021- The Ice Road (Netherlands release date, unknown US release date)

Unknown year- Superstition: The Rule of 3’s, Witchblade, Eat Your Heart Out, Hollywood Fringe, Hurt People, No Better Place to Die, Brother’s Keeper, Rendlesham, Halifax: Retribution, Crimson Blues, Spearfinger, Severance, Jeffries, Zarrar, Wake