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10 Best Lessons The Good Place Taught Us

THE GOOD PLACE -- "Somewhere Else" Episode 213 -- Pictured: (l-r) D'Arcy Carden as Janet, Manny Jacinto as Jianyu, Kristen Bell as Eleanor, William Jackson Harper as Chidi -- (Photo by: Colleen Hayes/NBC)

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12 months ago

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For a show focusing on what happens after death, it sure has a lot to teach us about life.

The Good Place was bursting with lessons and teachable moments that were thrown at us in a variety of ways: Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason’s experiences in the faux Good Place, Chidi’s philosophy lessons, Michael’s trial-and-error of understanding humanity, and several hundred Janet reboots.

Not all of the lessons were equal but they were equally as important, and we’ll forever be grateful that the show put them on our radar and helped us become better people.

Join us in reflecting on the lessons we’ve learned from the best, smartest, and most well-written show of the 2010s.

Lesson #1 – Whatever you think you know about your life, you’re probably wrong.

Time after time we thought we had The Good Place figured out, only for it to pull the rug out from under us again and again. Take a moment and you’ll notice the same thing tends to happen in our real lives. Did you schedule out your entire week? Too bad an ant colony is planning an invasion on your kitchen Wednesday. Did you finally find the best pizza in the city? Just wait until you find out it’s a drug front. Think your successful friend is trying to help you move up in the office? Sorry, he’s actually an evil demon relentlessly torturing you.

The Good Place taught us that not only are things not always what they seem, but that reality is not even close to what we think. Apples to oranges is really more like apples to your insurance card. So get ready to roll with the punches and stay on your toes – you never know what’s coming next.

Lesson #2 – Change is possible, but it’s work.

Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason each had to change themselves if they wanted to earn a spot in the Good Place. It wasn’t easy, though. They had to continually work at improving over 800 years of time, with demons, both personal and literal, trying to drag them down. But they put in the work and time to improve, and most importantly, they didn’t leave each other behind.

They never jumped on each other from slip-ups or told the other they were worthless because they were bad people in the past. They worked hard, both individually and together, to change for the Good. Even Michael, the demon who began the series torturing them, became a force for good, and if Michael can do it, so can you.

The Good Place Lessons

NBC/The Good Place

Lesson #3 – Just because you think you’re a good person doesn’t mean you are.

Chidi and Tahani both completely believed they had earned paradise, as did our recent buddy Brent in season 4. Unfortunately for them, they were secretly in the Bad Place all along, proving definitely that just because you think you’re a good person, doesn’t mean anyone else does. Tahani and Brent both need some more self-awareness and a better understanding of what being “good” entails, but Chidi only ever had the best intentions at heart and he still constantly caused pain and dismay to those around him through his indecision. We certainly took a look in the mirror after these revelations, not to make sure we were good people, but to find out what parts of ourselves weren’t good and how we could adjust them.

Lesson #4 – We make our own meaning.

Whether it’s helping other people, partying like there is no tomorrow, or building a relationship, we make our own meaning in life. The humans of the Good Place are perpetually screwed, and yet they continue helping each other, comforting each other, laughing together, and building their bonds. When demons are coming for them, they celebrate. When they’re bound for hell, they spend time trying to save others from the same fate. When they discover soulmates aren’t real, they make them anyway. When everything seems lost in our own lives, we think of The Good Place to remind us that we can find a purpose in all that madness, and be our best selves in the process.

Lesson #5 – Almond milk is bad for the environment.

When Chidi discovers he’s in the Bad Place, he believes he knows the reason: he drank almond milk despite knowing it was bad for the environment. We never knew this, but have totally removed almond milk from our diets ever since. Chidi was initially derided for believing this was the reason he was sent to the Bad Place, but we’ve learned in the back half of the series that small, seemingly inconsequential transgressions (such as drinking almond milk) are contributing to the mass rejection of humans from the Good Place. It’s difficult to be good in a world that has become so complicated that the simple act of drinking almond milk loses you points, and we’ve been on the lookout for the unseen consequences behind our innocent actions ever since.

The Good Place Lessons

The Good Place/ NBC

Lesson #6 – Own who you are (even if it’s a Jaguars fan)

While change and betterment were at the core of The Good Place, Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason only made progress at becoming better people when they acknowledged and accepted their flaws.

The four humans weren’t bad people, per se, they were simply products of their environment who oftentimes let their insecurities get the best of them. But those qualities also made them unique and valuable. They were just “bad enough” that they could change, but they also needed those qualities in order to change. Change requires acknowledgment of the problem, acceptance of those flaws, and the desire to become better. The humans did all of that and wore their flaws like badges of honor to improve and grow in the afterlife.

Check Out Our The Good Place Gift Guide for All Your Afterlife Swag

However, improvement never required them to become different people. They channeled their flaws and turned them into positives. Even after becoming better, those fundamentals of who they were and what made them the characters we love were still there; Eleanor’s raunchiness, Chidi’s indecisiveness, Jason’s simultaneous dopeness and dopey-ness, and Tahani’s need for approval. Their experiences came in handy many times when dealing with demons and trying to save the world ie. Eleanor’s wit and skepticism were instrumental in continuously cracking the mystery that the Good Place was really the Bad Place. It was because of who they were that they were able to make such strides in the afterlife, flaws and all. 

Lesson #7 – Empathy goes a long way 

When the series began, Michael was a demon from the Bad Place who enjoyed causing pain to the four humans, but as time went on and he grew closer to the humans, he began to learn and understand what it meant to be human. He became empathetic to their experiences, their struggles, and their desire to change.

The best example of this is when Michael agrees to help them get to the judge so they can present their case of why they deserve to be in the Good Place. When he realized they only had four badges to get through the portal, he told Eleanor that he finally solved “The Trolley Problem” and sacrificed himself by putting his friends first. He understood how hard they’ve worked to become better people and knew they deserved a shot at proving it. 

In a similar fashion, Janet, an animatronic guide, also learned to be human. After more than dozens of reboots, she becomes an all-knowing entity that not only knows all the answers to every question in the universe but also starts to understand the human experience. She begins to display human emotions like love (mostly for Jason)  she understands feelings of sadness, happiness, and everything in between, and she has the capacity to put herself in someone else’s shoes. Compassion and empathy are at the core of what makes us human. 

NBC/ The Good Place

Lesson #8 – Frozen yogurt really is delicious

Michael rebooted his neighborhood many times after it seemed to fail, but one thing that was constant was the frozen yogurt shops. Michael put it in there as a form of torture, but let’s be real, frozen yogurt is hardly torture. As Michael explained, humans excel at “taking something and ruining it a little so you can have more of it,” and it may not be ice cream, but froyo is delicious in its own right (fight me).

In fact, the invention of froyo single-handedly proves humans are geniuses and thus, froyo should be eaten and enjoyed in abundance. If there is an afterlife with an unlimited menu of flavors, that’s enough to convince us to be our best selves every single day. When Eleanor confronts Michael about all the froyo shops, he even admits it by replying, “I’ve come to really like frozen yogurt.”

Lesson # 9 – Know when it’s time to let go and move on

In the second to last episode of the series, Ted Danson’s character Michael realizes that he’s fulfilled his purpose. He went from being a demon who tried to innovate the torture experience for humans sentenced to the Bad Place, befriended them, became a better person, and built a new afterlife system with their help to save all of humanity. Initially, he tries to sabotage Vicki from taking his job but eventually accepts that she’s better at it than he is and hands over the reins, which is a key lesson.

Related: The Best Episode of The Good Place Is… “Best Self”

It’s imperative that one understands when their path has run its course, when it’s time to walk away from something that no longer serves them, or when it’s time to find something new and challenging.  Now, Michael is walking into the unknown and not knowing what waits for him on the proverbial other side, which is scary, but it’s also a necessary part of life. As humans, we are constantly reinventing ourselves and searching for our next journey. Sometimes, there’s magic with accepting and “going with the flow.”

Lesson #10 – If it’s meant to be, it’ll be

No, I’m not singing the Florida Georgia Line and Bebe Rexha song, although, it is fitting. I’m talking about trusting that whatever is meant for you will find you. Soulmates don’t exist in the afterlife, but that never stopped Eleanor and Chidi from falling in love and finding each other over and over again after almost 800 reboots. They were meant to be, it was written in the stars, call it whatever you want, but they always found a way back to each other, even if they didn’t have their memories.

At one point, the only thing Chidi was ever sure of was his love for Eleanor. When he made the sacrifice to get rebooted to save all of humanity, it’s because they both believed that they would be reunited again. It’s the very simple idea of trusting what the universe has planned for us and not trying to control your destiny. When Michael was trying to succeed with his neighborhood, he did everything in his power to prevent Chidi and Eleanor from meeting and finding each other and somehow, they always did. Okay, cue the FGL + Bebe song, baby. 

Catch up on all episodes of The Good Place now

Written by: Tommy Czerpak and Lizzy Buczak


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Lizzy Buczak is the founder of CraveYouTV. What started off as a silly blog in her sophomore year at Columbia College Chicago turned her passion for watching TV into an opportunity! She has been in charge of CraveYou since 2011, writing reviews and news content for a wide variety of shows. Lizzy is a Music Business and Journalism major who has written for RADIO.COM, TV Fanatic, Time Out Chicago, Innerview, Pop’stache and Family Time.

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Best Tweets About Victoria from Tonight’s Episode of ‘The Bachelor’

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1 week ago

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January 11, 2021

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Best Tweets About Victoria from Tonight's Episode of 'The Bachelor'

Week 2 brings tension to the house as the ladies fight for Matt James’ love on The Bachelor Season 25 Episode 2. 

Two lucky women snagged a one-on-one date and being vulnerable and open with Matt secured them a rose. 

And the group date was a full on “paint war.” Plus, Victoria proved that she’s determined to be the villain that makes us go “ugh” all season long.

Here are the best tweets from tonight’s episode of The Bachelor.


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15 Exciting TV Show Reboots & Spinoffs Coming in 2021

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3 weeks ago

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January 1, 2021

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15 Exciting TV Show Reboots & Spinoffs Coming in 2021

Spinoffs and reboots are the gift that keeps on giving. 

The streaming landscape is embracing the idea of “what’s old is new again” in 2021 and well, it’s not surprising. Reboots and spinoffs thrive on nostalgia, and in a time with so much uncertainty, the notion of “good old days” is really all we have to cling to.

Not to mention that many reboots and spinoffs have seen an unprecedented amount of success, which convinces networks and streaming giants that this is what the people want! 

Here are all the reboots and spinoffs in the works in 2021:

 

True Blood

In early December, Variety reported that a True Blood reboot was in early stages of development at HBO. Riverdale/Chilling Adventures of Sabrina creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is attached to the script and set to producer with original series creator and showrunner Alan Ball also joining the project. It’s unclear if the original cast is set to return or make any guest appearances, but based on Anna Paquin’s tweet, which claims she knew nothing of the reboot, it’s not in the cards for now. 

 

Little House on the Prairie

Back to the farm! Entertainment Weekly noted that Paramount TV Studies and Anonymous Content were developing the long-awaited reboot as an hour-long drama series. 

 

iCarly

The queen of the Internet is making a comeback! A revival of the Miranda Cosgrove-led comedy has been ordered at Paramount+, the streaming service currently known as CBS All Access, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cosgrove will reportedly reprise her character, Carly. She’ll be joined by original cast members Jerry Trainor (Spencer) and Nathan Kress (Freddie).

 

Gossip Girl

This one is tough because can you really replace iconic characters like Serena van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, and Chuck Bass? HBO Max sure hopes so. The reboot, set to premiere in 2021, is introducing a slew of new faces to the Upper East Side. The Joshua Safran created spinoff will be a “a continuation of the original show” and follow a new generation of upper-class Manhattan teens who fall prey to the infamous gossip site. And word is, there will be some familiar faces making appearances. Kristen Bell is also returning as the voice of Gossip Girl. XoXo. 

 

Dexter

Dexter is returning to Showtime! The cable network ordered 10 episodes of the limited series which brings back Michael C. Hall as the titular character. The Hollywood Reporter notes it’s a continuation of the original series and plans to air in the fall of 2021.

“Dexter is such a special series, both for its millions of fans and for Showtime, as this breakthrough show helped put our network on the map many years ago,” said Showtime Entertainment president Gary Levine. “We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series. Well, I am happy to report that Clyde Phillips and Michael C. Hall have found it, and we can’t wait to shoot it and show it to the world.”

 

Rugrats

The hit Nickelodeon animated series which ran for 9 season starting in 1991 is returning a decade later with new baby adventures for Tommy, Chucky, Phil and Lil, and Angelica. Many of the actors who voiced the characters are set to return along with the original show creators. 

Both the 26-episode season and the live-action film with CGI characters, which was delayed from a 2020 release to 2021, are set to premiere. 

 

Punky Brewster

Soleil Moon Frye returns as spit-fire Punky Brewster, now a single mom-of-three in the 10-episode series rebooted at Peacock.  As she attempts to get it together, she meets Izzy (Quinn Copeland), a young girl in foster care who she immediately forms a connection with. Freddie Prinze Jr. will also appear in the pilot episode as Punky’s ex-husband.

 

Clueless

As if! A reboot based on the iconic 1995 film is in development at Peacock, per Deadline. The series focuses on Stacey Dash’s character, Dionne, from the the movie and the 1996 series adaptation. It’s unclear if Dash is set to appear. 

Here’s a synopsis for the series: A baby pink and bisexual blue-tinted, tiny sunglasses-wearing, oat milk latté and Adderall-fueled look at what happens when the high school queen bee Cher disappears and her lifelong No. 2 Dionne steps into Cher’s vacant Air Jordans. How does Dionne deal with the pressures of being the new most popular girl in school, while also unraveling the mystery of what happened to her best friend?

 

Walker

The reimagining of the long-running 1990s action/crime series Walker, Texas Ranger is probably the most promising as it is set to premiere on The CW on January 21. Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki will star as the titular character, a widower and father of two who runs on his own moral code. 

Per the synopsis, Walker will attempt to reconnect with his creative and thoughtful son (Kale Culley) and his headstrong, somewhat rebellious teenaged daughter (Violet Brinson) and navigate clashes with his family – an ADA brother (Keegan Allen) who stepped in during Walker’s absence, his perceptive mother (Molly Hagen) and his traditional rancher father (Mitch Pileggi). Walker’s former colleague is now his Ranger Captain, (Coby Bell). Walker finds unexpected common ground with his new partner (one of the first women in Texas Rangers’ history) played by Lindsey Morgan, while growing increasingly suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his wife’s death.

Check out the trailer below:

 

Sex and the City

HBO Max is looking to return to its roots with a reboot of its mega-successful dramedy Sex and the City. Deadline confirmed it would be a limited series. However, not all the ladies have signed on for the project. The New York Post notes that while Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon are interested in reprising their characters, Kim Cattrall is not. Will that sway audiences?

 

A League of Their Own

Amazon gave a series order to the reboot hailing from Broad City‘s Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham, per The Hollywood Reporter. It will be a reinterpretation of the original film based on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League while exploring themes of race and sexuality amid the women carving their own path. Jacobson, Chanté Adams, D’Arcy Carden, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, Roberta Colindrez and Priscilla Delgado will star. 

 

Old-ish

The “ish” franchise continues to grow. First there was Black-ish, then there was Grown-ish, followed by Mixed-ish, and now, there’s Old-ish. ABC is developing the spinoff with Laurence Fishburne and Jenifer Lewis reprising their roles as Earl “Pops” Johnson and Ruby Johnson, the parents of Anthony Anderson’s Dre. 

 

The Book of Boba Fett

Riding on the success of The Mandalorian, Disney+ announced the spinoff centered on Bounty Hunter Boba Fett during the series’ second season finale. The Book of Boba Fett is set to debut in December 2021. Temuera Morrison will return from the prequel trilogy, with Ming-Na Wen joining him as Fennec Shand.

 

Law & Order: Organized Crime

Law & Order: SVU is one of NBC’s most-successful and longest-running scripted dramas. Dick Wolf, responsible for a handful of TV shows including #OneChicago, hopes the Christopher Meloni spinoff, which has been delayed due to the COVID pandemic, will also bring in the eyeballs. Meloni is set to reprise his role of Elliot Stabler. Expect plenty of crossovers – that’s NBC’s thing! 

 

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin

A… is that you? HBO Max has ordered a reimagined version of the ABC Family/ Freeform hit, Pretty Little Liars from Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Original creator Marlene King is not involved. 

Per the synopsis: “Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in the present day, a group of disparate teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown assailant and made to pay for the secret sin their parents committed two decades ago … as well as their own. In the dark, coming-of-RAGE, horror-tinged drama Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, we find ourselves miles away from Rosewood, but within the existing Pretty Little Liars universe — in a brand-new town, with a new generation of Little Liars.”

We Don’t Need a ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Reboot


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9 Biggest Moments from ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ Season 4

Published

3 weeks ago

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December 31, 2020

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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 4 Review

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina wrapped up its run with the fourth and final season on Netflix.

Sabrina and friends faced their biggest threat to date – the eldrtich terrors. 

You can read recaps of each episode and a full season review right here!

Here are the biggest moments from the eight-episode season.

 

The Eldritch Terrors… obviously

The whole season revolved around the ancient entities that culminated with the arrival of the Void – the end of all things. Fitting for a final season, right? Sabrina, the coven, and her mortal friends teamed up to defeat each other terrors – The Dark, The Uninvited, The Weird, The Perverse, The Cosmic, The Returned, The Endless, and finally, The Void. 

 

Hilda and Mr. C Get Married

Nothing was going to stand in the way of Hilda and Mr. C’s big day, not even a terror threatening humankind. The odd couple agreed to have a wedding reception and ceremony as dictated by Zelda and the Academy, which ended up being kind of downer when The Uninvited crashed the party, killed Dorian, and then threatened everyone else because they refused to extend him an invite to the party. Sabrina served as mediator by swooping herself and The Uninvited to Hell for another wedding, where she then married him and trapped him in a prison existing outside of time and space on their wedding night. And she made it home just in time for the private ceremony at the Spellman house in which Hilda and Dr. C exchanged vows dressed up as their favorite movie monsters. 

 

Sabrina Gets Married to Caliban 

That other wedding I mentioned? It was Sabrina Morningstar’s! The 16-year-old wed Caliban, yeah, the same one that tried to kill her and Sabrina Spellman. She promised her was reformed and loved her and all that, but Caliban will always be Caliban… and he had his eye on that throne. Of course, this didn’t take away from Sabrina’s stunning red lace dress. Though, she did have to share the spotlight with Sabrina Spellman, who used the wedding as an opportunity to marry The Uninvited and trick him into captivity. All in a day’s work for these witches!

 

Roz is a Witch 

Roz always had powers, better known as “the cunning,” which essentially gave her psychic abilities, but this season, she learned that she’s a full-blown witch. Her ancestors, who were proud Christian women, didn’t want to be persecuted for witchcraft so they simply didn’t call themselves the W-word. However, once Mambo Marie proved that Roz had powers, she was welcomed into the Academy to join Mambo Marie and Prudence – and later Agatha – as the newest Weird Sister.

 

Sabrina Morningstar Perishes

With the realms in peril because of the existence of two Sabrinas, one of them had to go to the parallel realm to restore balance. Sabrina and Sabrina Morningstar played rock, paper, scissors to decide, and Morningstar lost. She walked through the mirror (wish it was a closet like on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, to be honest) in hopes of restoring balance in the cosmos and found herself in an eldritch terror known as the Endless. Basically, she was stuck in a diabolical sitcom and Salem is the eldritch terror. When the Void arrived, she managed to convince Salem that they had to escape and they ran back through the mirror. While she made it back to Sabrina’s realm, she died shortly after without telling Sabrina how to defeat it. 

 

Easter Eggs Galore 

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is known for throwing in little Easter eggs to sister show Riverdale, but they had a ton of fun with it in the final season. There were a few mentions of Riverdale High School and a cameo by Bret, Donna, and Joan, who played characters in a punk band. Riker Lynch, the brother of Ross Lynch (Harvey), also had a role as an undead leader of a rock band. 

And lastly, one episode replaced Sabrina’s Aunt Hilda and Zelda with Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick, who played the original roles in the WB sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch. 

See all the Easter eggs here. 

 

Lilith Destroys Lucifer

Lilith has been wanting to reign in Hell for years. After killing her newborn son, Adam, to protect him from his father, Lucifer, she negotiated to get her powers back. She then turned on Lucifer and stabbed him with the sword she used to kill Lazarus, drank his blood, embraced his powers, and banished him to the Mortal Realm. Payback’s a b….

 

Agatha Returns to Normal

Crazy Agatha is crazy no more! After Dorcas returned to the land of the living due to an eldritch terror, she forgave her sister for murdering her. When that happened, Agatha snapped back to reality and clearly, had no recollection of what happened in the months prior. As Prudence said, it’s good to have her back, but she needs to be clued in on a lot. 

 

Sabrina and Nick Are Endgame… Literally

When Nick took responsibility for the demise of  his relationship with Sabrina on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 3, it was a big step. He promised to wait until she was ready because they were “endgame.” Sabrina likely didn’t think she would be ready as soon as she was, but when there’s a chance you might die, you kind of have to follow your heart. And her heart said that she loved Nick. From then on, they were inseparable as they fought side-by-side to defeat the eldritch terrors. 

When Sabrina embodied a piece of the Void and sacrificed herself to save everyone, it was heartbreaking to watch Nick mourn his girlfriend and the life they would have had together. But two people who are destined to be together will always find their way back to each other. As Sabrina chilled out in heaven, she was surprised to see Nick, who explained he went swimming and there was a “wicked undertow.”

The two kissed as he declared that they had forever and ever together. 


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