NBC announced the renewal of The Good Place for season 4 back in December 2018, with just four episodes left in season 3.
The renewal did not come as a surprise to fans. Since The Good Place first premiered in September 2016, it has acquired a large fan base and emerged as a major critical and ratings hit for NBC.
The series’ mind-bending plot-twists and thoughtful yet hilarious take on moral and ethical issues relating to life, death and afterlife, have drawn a broad section of the viewing demographic.
The Good Place follows Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a morally challenged “Arizona trashbag” who wakes up in the afterlife and is surprised to find herself in The Good Place.
Believing that she must have been sent to The Good Place by mistake, she conspires with other human residents to keep Michael (Ted Danson) — the being who runs The Good Place — from realizing his mistake and sending her to The Bad Place where she truly belongs.
Chidi, one of the human residents of The Good Place, also tries to help Eleanor to build a moral and ethical character that qualifies her to stay in The Good Place.
The season 3 finale, which aired on NBC on January 24, ended with a cliffhanger that left many viewers stunned. With NBC renewing the series for another season, fans can’t wait to see what happens next on their favorite philosophy-comedy show. They want to know how long they must wait to see The Good Place season 4.
Ahead of the return of the NBC and Netflix hit series, we have brought together everything we know so far about The Good Place season 4, including release date, trailers, cast and plot plus spoilers.
We will also be updating this page with the official trailer for season 4 and other news releases about the upcoming season as they become available.
The Good Place season 4 release date
NBC and Netflix have not yet confirmed a premiere date for The Good Place season 4. But based on the past pattern of release dates, we can make an informed guess when the upcoming season is likely to premiere.
All previous seasons of
So, if history is any indication, fans can expect The Good Place season 4 to premiere in late September 2019.
Since all previous seasons of The Good Place have featured 13 episodes, it is likely that The Good Place season 4 will also consist of 13 episodes.
Fans can also expect The Good Place season 4 to retain it’s Thursday 8:30/7:30c slot. If The Good Place season 4 retains its coveted Thursday slot, then it will very likely premiere on Thursday, September 19 or September 26.
Ahead of the premiere of The Good Place season 4 on NBC and Netflix, new fans who haven’t seen previous seasons of the series, and old fans who want to refresh their memories, can watch seasons 1, 2 and 3 on Netflix, NBC’s online platform, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.
Fans outside the U.S. can expect to see each new episode of the upcoming season on Netflix, a day after the episode airs on NBC.
The Good Place season 4 details
NBC picked up The Good Place for season 4 back in December 2018, making the fantasy comedy series the second to be renewed for NBC’s 2019/20 programming season, after the Will & Grace revival was picked up back in March.
“Congratulations to Mike Schur and an exceptional cast and crew, all of whom collaborate to create a thoughtful, mind-bending and hysterical series unlike anything else on television,” NBC co-presidents of scripted programming, Tracey Pakosta and Lisa Katz, said in a statement released on December 4, 2018. “We can’t wait to see what unexpected stories the new season will bring.”
The Good Place is created by Michael Schur, who also executive produces with David Miner, Morgan Sackett and Drew Goddard. The series stars Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, D’Arcy Carden, and Manny Jacinto.
Michael Schur is known for his work on The Office (TV series 2005-2013), Parks and Recreation (TV series 2009-2015), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV series 2013- ), and Master of None (TV series 2015 – ).
Fremulon, 3 Arts Entertainment and Universal Television are the production companies behind The Good Place.
The Good Place: Audience and critical response so far
The Good Place has been nominated for multiple awards, including the Golden Globes for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy (2019) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Kristen Bell, 2019).
The series has also been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Ted Danson, 2018) and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (Maya Rudolph, 2018).
The Good Place won the AFI Award for TV Program of the Year (2018), Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series (Ted Danson, 2018), the Critics Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series (2016), and the Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy (2018).
The series has also posted impressive — although diminishing — ratings’ performance since it premiered on NBC in September 2016. Although The Good Place has dropped from its season 1 top-five scripted NBC TV series position, season 3 nearly tied with Superstore as NBC TV’s top-rated comedy series.
Superstore season 4 averaged a 0.86 rating (Nielsen Live+Same Day in the 18-49 demographic), while The Good Place season 3 averaged a 0.85 rating.
The Good Place season 3 beat Will & Grace season 10 which averaged 0.80, and I Feel Bad season 1, which averaged 0.56.
The Good Place season 1 premiere scored a 2.28 rating (in the 18-49 demographic) and drew 8.038 million viewers (in Live+Same Day), while the season finale scored a 1.12 rating and drew 3.931 million viewers.
Overall, season 1 averaged 1.35 in the 18-49 demographic and drew 4.720 million viewers
Season 2 averaged a 1.14 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 3.879 million viewers, while Season 3 averaged 0.85 in the 18-49 demographic and 2.74 million viewers.
The Good Place has also received positive reviews and gained universal acclaim.
The Good Place is widely praised for successfully combining originality and thoughtful exploration of philosophical moral and ethical questions with lighthearted comedy.
On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 scored a 91% approval rating based on 67 critical reviews, while seasons 2 and 3 earned 100 % approval rating scores based on 56 and 40 reviews respectively.
On Metacritic, season 1 earned a “generally favorable” Metascore of 78/100 (based on 32 critics), while season 2 earned “universal acclaim” with a Metascore of 87/100 (based on 10 critical reviews).
Season 3 also earned “universal acclaim” on Metacritic with a Metascrore of 96/100 based on 5 critical reviews.
The Good Place season 4 trailer
NBC and Netflix have not released a trailer for The Good Place season 4. We will update this page when an official trailer for the upcoming season is released.
NBC released the official trailer for season 3 on September 13, 2018, only two weeks to the launch of season 3 on September 27. So, if, as expected, The Good Place season 4 premiere date is in September 2019, it means we probably still have a long wait ahead before we see the first official trailer for season 4.
However, the network shared a first look at season 3 at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2018. This means that fans who attend San Diego Comic-Con convention this summer (2019) might also be able to get a first look at season 4 ahead of the release of the first official trailer close to the launch of season 4 in September 2019.
However, NBC could always decide to release the first trailer for season 4 much earlier. We will have to wait to see what happens.
Meanwhile, enjoy the trailer for season 3.
The Good Place season 4 cast
NBC and Netflix have not yet officially confirmed the cast for The Good Place season 4, but the entire main cast is expected to return.
Kristen Bell will return as Eleanor Shellstrop, the Arizona salesperson who dies and is surprised to find herself in the afterlife utopia, The Good Place, instead of The Bad Place as she had expected.
Kristen Bell’s previous credits include Veronica Mars (TV series 2004-2007; Movie 2014) and House of Lies (TV series 2012-2016). She also voiced Princess Anna of Arendelle in Disney’s Frozen (2013).
Ted Danson returns as Michael, the being in charge of The Good Place.
Danson is best known for his role as Sam Malone in Cheers (TV series 1982-1993).
Other cast members expected to return for season 4 include William Jackson Harper as the philosophy professor Chidi Anagonye, Jameela Jamil as the socialite Tahani Al-Jamil, Manny Jacinto as the Jacksonville DJ Jason Mendoza, and D’Arcy Carden as the otherworldly artificial intelligence Janet who is a repository of all information in the universe.
Janet is designed to help the residents of The Good Place by providing them with their needs, including information.
Marc Evan Jackson as Michael’s boss Shawn (Sean) may also return for season 4.
Other characters that fans would love to see in The Good Place season 4 include Jason Matzoukas as Derek Hoffstettler, Maribeth Monroe as Mindy St. Claire, Maya Rudolph as Judge Hydrogen (“Judge Gen” for short), Mike O’Malley as Doorman (keeper of the portal separating Earth and The Bad place), and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Killing Eve) as Chidi’s ex-girlfriend Simone.
Previous seasons of the series have featured guest star appearances, including Stephen Merchant as Neil and Maya Rudolph as Judge Gen.
Two new characters — Eleanor and Jason’s human tormentors to be introduced as part of Michael’s experiment — are expected to join the cast of four humans in season 4.
We will update this page when NBC makes new casting announcements.
The Good Place: Season 1 summary
The Good Place is a fantasy-comedy series created by Michael Schur.
The series, which premiered on NBC on September 19, 2016, follows Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), who dies and wakes up in the afterlife.
After having lived a morally bankrupt life, she is surprised to find herself in The Good Place instead of The Bad Place.
Although Michael, the being in charge of
But she decides to conceal her true character from Michael. She also works on becoming a better person so as to become worthy of staying in
She meets other human residents of The Good Place, including her soul mate Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper), who helps her to learn about ethics as part of her efforts to make herself a better person.
However, Eleanor soon realizes that The Good Place isn’t really what it appears to be. It is really The Bad Place and Michael is in fact a demon who set up the fake Good Place as a place of afterlife torture.
Although, Michael repeatedly wipes their memories to keep them from uncovering his demonic torture plans, the humans figure out the truth each time and Michael soon begins to develop sympathy and affection for them.
Season 2 summary
In season 2, Eleanor acts as the leader of the four human residents of The Good Place who come together with Michael’s support as “Team Cockroach” to plead with Judge Hydrogen for a second chance to live a good life on Earth.
Michael also appeals to Judge Gen to give the humans a second chance.
In the season 2 finale, Judge Gen agrees to send them back to Earth in hopes that they will live better lives and gain the points they need to enter The Good Place.
Season 3 summary
In season 3, Eleanor, Chidi, Jason, and Tahani, return to Earth and live in an alternate timeline in which they did not die. But they are separated and have no memory of each other.
They run into problems fulfilling their mission to get enough points to make it to
They eventually fail to gain enough life points to make it to The Good Place.
Michael and Janet discover that it is almost impossible for any human to gain enough life points to make it to
Chidi argues that they were able to become better people in the afterlife Good Place because the conditions were favorable. To test Chidi’s theory, Michael obtains permission from Shawn to repeat the experiment involving Chidi, Eleanor, Jason, and Tahani, by recruiting four new humans.
He then builds a new fake Good Place neighborhood.
The humans hope to be able to use the recreated experiment to prove Chidi’s suggestion that under the right conditions humans can be taught to be better people. They hope that success of the experiment will lead to a change in the points system used for admitting people into The Good Place and The Bad Place.
But unfortunately, The Bad Place demon Shawn gets to pick the four new human test subjects. Shawn of course chooses four new test subjects who would surely pose problems for our main characters.
The first of the four new test subjects is John Wheaton (Brandon Scott Jones), a blogger who had tormented Tahani by spreading malicious gossip about her. The second is Chidi’s ex-girlfriend Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste).
We will learn who the other two new test subjects are in season 4.
The four main characters return to the fake Good Place neighborhood. Eleanor takes over from Michael as Architect. To save the experiment, Chidi agrees to have his memories wiped to make him forget about his previous life in The Good Place and about falling in love with Eleanor, who, sadly, has to adjust to losing Chidi.
The Good Place season 4 plot: What to expect
Show creator Schur revealed in an interview with TVLine that the season 3 finale plot-twist left the series writers struggling to decide how to reboot the show in season 4.
“We just started [working on season 4] and we’re panicking — white-hot (8) panic,” Schur jokingly told TVLine. “The first two weeks of every year — except for season 1 — have been all of the writers staring blankly at each other and then quietly getting in our cars and driving home.”
Schur shared in the TVLine interview that season 4 will recreate the initial season 1 situation in many ways, except that Chidi’s wiped memory resets things so that we know have “different power dynamics.”
“In a way we are [returning to the first season] by design but there are some key differences. In this case, there’s only one person who won’t remember what is going on,” Schur said. “There’s a lot of different power dynamics and stuff. The idea is always to change everything and somehow still do the same show that everyone has been watching.”
Schur also shared that The Bad Place is unaware that Chidi’s memory has been wiped out, so they will still send another torture person to Eleanor.
“The idea is that the Bad Place chose people who were specifically meant to smart bomb the four main humans,” Schur continued. “In Chidi’s case, Simone was actually someone that he knew. Eleanor has another one on the way.”
“[The Bad Place] wouldn’t have known that [Eleanor and the gang] were going to [wipe Chidi’s memory],” Schur added, “so Eleanor has another [torture person] on the way.”
Schur also promised fans more romance and more exciting moments with Janet.