The final season of NBC’s “The Good Place” started airing September 26, 2019.  After nine episodes, on NBC Thursday nights at 9:00, it was put on hiatus. The final four episodes are set to air in January, and after the cliffhanger at the end of the most recent episode, I don’t know if I can make it that long.

“The Good Place” has been unprecedented, as it focuses on topics that you don’t usually see in sitcoms, like ethics and philosophy.  The way the writers and cast approached these topics and portrayed them was not only ingenious, but entertaining, comical, and honestly, made me want to be a better person.  The premise of the show is that after people die, they either go to “The Good Place” or “The Bad Place,” sort of like heaven and hell, based off of their good or bad deeds during their lifetime.  The show follows four imperfect recently deceased humans and their journey to prove not only that they don’t belong in “The Bad Place,” but a deeper point: that people can get better, and make each other better.  Starring Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, D’Arcy Carden, Manny Jacinto, and Ted Danson, “The Good Place” is a perfect blend of heartfelt, hilarious, and thrilling characters and adventures, and puts the groundbreaking question in viewers’ heads: Can people change each other for the better?  Or is this world too complex for people to be inherently good?

Filled with twists, turns, cliffhangers, and events that would only be possible in the afterlife, “The Good Place” has won a Peabody Award and two Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for the episodes “The Trolley Problem” and “Janet(s).”  It was created by Michael Schur, who is known for co-creating the critically-acclaimed shows “Parks and Recreation” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and being a writer and producer for five-time Emmy winning sitcom, “The Office.” Kristen Bell, who plays the Arizona-raised protagonist Eleanor Shellstrop, has won two People’s Choice Awards for her acting in “The Good Place,” and co-star Ted Danson, who plays the immortal “Bad Place” demon-turned-friend, Michael, has won a Critics’ Choice Television Award for his.

“I think “The Good Place” is amazing,” says a Wantagh High School freshman.  “It shows that you should be kindhearted and do the right thing, even when it seems pointless, but it’s also really funny and relatable.”  Another student said, “It’s my favorite show. I like how it makes you feel like you could be a better person.”  

The first three seasons of “The Good Place” are on Netflix, and the fourth and final season will resume on NBC on January 9, 2020.