Posted in: CBS, NBC, TV | Tagged: ghosts, the good place

Here's Why Ghosts Has Become Our Spiritual Sequel to The Good Place

Here's why CBS's Ghosts is a "spiritual sequel" to one of my favorite shows, NBC's The Good Place (and not just because of the death aspect).

As someone who's recently started watching the CBS version of Ghosts (I know, it's only taken 5 seasons), I can't help but notice similarities in style and vibes between Ghosts and my favorite sitcom about death: The Good Place. I'll try to keep this relatively spoiler-free, but if you want to go in blind for either show, maybe go do that now.

Ghosts follows a couple who inherit a historic mansion and renovate it into a bed and breakfast. Everything is fine until Samantha (Rose McIver) has a near-death experience, and as a result, can now see the ensemble cast of meddling spirits who also inhabit the home. The Good Place follows Eleanor (Kristen Bell), who is welcomed into the afterlife by spirit guide Michael (Ted Danson in a bow tie) and joins other zany residents of the "good place" as they navigate their afterlife.

For starters, let's focus on the main characters: a perky blonde woman who may try to do the right thing, but her human nature often wins out over common sense and reason. She's joined by her "partner in crime," so to speak, the straight man who tries to help her see reason but often runs into blocks overcoming his own issues. They're joined by a menagerie of wacky characters, bonded by a supernatural force known to some but not all of them. Yes, both shows are sitcoms, and as such, they will follow a similar pattern, but the patterns run deeper than the main character tropes.

Exhibit B: the afterlife. The Good Place shows us what life could be like on another plane of existence, after we've moved on from the living world. In Ghosts, they have the same sentiments and show a similar view of an afterlife existence, complete with being "sucked off" (to the good place) or showing someone "go down" (to the bad place). Nobody knows for sure what happens after death, and there are a million and five hypotheses, but the fictional representations always bring some much-needed levity to heavy subjects (you know, like death).

Now for the meaty part: the ghosts and demons and all the fun antagonists and antagonistic protagonists. (How's that for a string of $5 words?) The Good Place has a humanoid cast that's not quite human, like Michael and Janet, who's basically a walking Siri for the universe. Together, they offer a "yin and yang" type of volley not only among themselves, but also with the rest of the human (or formerly human) cast. Ghosts obviously has a plethora of characters that are caught between the living and "the great beyond," just bumming around their place of death instead of moving on.

The ghosts are also relegated not only to where they died but also to how they looked at the time, like what they were wearing. That means there's a finance bro who died without pants and is thus cursed to an eternity free ballin' it. The ghosts not only bring color to the show but also a lot of heart. Yes, they're limited by who they were in life, like, say, a Viking who died 1,000 years ago, but with the help of humans and other ghosts, they learn and grow as characters. I won't get into storyline specifics for spoiler's sake, but suffice it to say we are not cursed to spend all eternity with ghost characters who never outgrow the problematic eras they lived in. Though I will leave you with the direct comparison between The Good Place's Demon Daddy Shawn (Marc Evan Jackson) and Ghosts' Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh).

Of course, what would our supernatural sitcoms be without humans? Boring, that's what. As quirky and entertaining as the comic-relief supernatural characters are, they need their regular humans to ground the shows in reality. In The Good Place, this comes in the form of Eleanor referencing her life and Jason (go Jacksonville Jags) bringing aspects of his life into the afterlife. In Ghosts, our group of ghouls frequently interacts (or observes) humans who mostly don't sense or realize they're there; however, Sam does, and those who know about her "power" help make the ghosts' afterlives either easier or, sometimes, much harder. I won't give direct examples here for the sake of not spoiling the quirks of either show, but TV needs heart, otherwise we may as well be watching another soulless crime procedural. All the characters in both these shows as well as the writers and everyone behind the scenes contribute to creating fun, fresh shows with a unique perspective on heavy themes.

The Good Place is streaming in its entirety on Peacock in the U.S. and on Netflix in other countries. Ghosts is currently airing on CBS and available to stream on their platform.

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