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The Women of Doctor Who, The Good Place, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Bonded By Fashion (and Twitter)

Holy Forking Shirtballs! Apparently, rainbow tee shirts are all the rage, no matter where you are in time and space. An eagle-eyed fan noticed that in this week's season finale of NBC's The Good Place when Eleanor (Kristen Bell) wore a rainbow shirt that invoked 13th Doctor Jodie Whittaker's now iconic Doctor Who costume.

While Eleanor's shirt was a rainbow on a white background, the Doctor's shirt is a similar rainbow graphic on a blue background. Once you see the shirts side-by-side, it is hard to not see the similarities.

The Women of Doctor Who, The Good Place, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Bonded By Fashion (and Twitter)
Colleen Hayes/NBC and BBC Studios

The pleased-as-punch fan tweeted about it, as most fans do, and normally that would be the end of it. However, this one lucky Whovian/Placer's tweet caught the attention of the folks running BBC America's official Doctor Who Twitter account who retweeted it to their 355k followers.

From the thread that followed, two things became apparent:

● Rainbow shirts are in for television shows right now.

● The Good Place and Doctor Who have quite a few common fans.

The Women of Doctor Who, The Good Place, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Bonded By Fashion (and Twitter)

But wait, there's more! Another eagle-eyed, rainbow-spotting fan pointed out that in a recent episode of NBC's Brooklyn Nine-Nine titled "Hitchcock & Scully," Gina (Chelsea Peretti) sported a very close match to the Doctor Who blue rainbow tee.

doctorwho good place brooklyn
BROOKLYN NINE-NINE — "Hitchcock & Scully" Episode 602 — Pictured: Chelsea Peretti as Gina Linetti — (Photo by: Vivian Zink/NBC)

So what's the deal here? We know that Whittaker used a vintage photo as the inspiration for her 13th Doctor costume, but the rainbow tee was not in that photo–so that idea must have come later. Are all of the costume directors shopping at the same stores? Is this subconscious mimicry? Is this a subtle way to honor the LGBT+ community? Is it just a coincidence?

I doubt we will ever know for sure, but the similarities (especially between Whittaker and Peretti) are unmistakable. I'm also pretty proud of myself for owning my own Her Universe version of the Thirteenth Doctor shirt. Not only am I able to represent as a Whovian, but I can feel like I am channeling Gina and Eleanor, too.

The Power of Fashion!

Now let's get working on that Doctor WhoThe Good PlaceBrooklyn Nine-Nine crossover, okay?


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Erin WilhelmAbout Erin Wilhelm

Erin is a lifelong geek who is a part-time writer for Bleeding Cool. Between her day job and her mom job, Erin reads and watches all the fantasy and sci-fi she can get her hands on. She is a Trekkie, Warsie, Potterhead, recreational WoW nerd, and Whovian. Find her on twitter @pearlsandchucks.
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