Everything Is Fine (The Good Place)
Written by series creator Michael Schur and directed by executive producer Drew Goddard, it aired on NBC in the United States on September 19, 2016, back-to-back with the second episode "Flying".
The series focuses on Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a woman who wakes up in the afterlife and is introduced by Michael (Ted Danson) to "The Good Place", a Heaven-like utopia he designed, in reward for her righteous life.
She is greeted by Michael (Ted Danson), who informs her she has died on Earth after a line of shopping carts caused her to fall into open traffic.
In the video, Michael explains that their actions on Earth gave them positive or negative points which were tallied up after they died; the people with the highest scores entered the Good Place.
Michael also explains that every person has a soulmate, before telling Eleanor she earned her spot in the Good Place as a lawyer defending people on death row.
After presenting Eleanor with a house designed specifically for her preferences, Michael introduces her to her soulmate, Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper), a Senegalese ethics professor.
Eleanor explains how she made a living by knowingly selling a worthless dietary supplement to the sick and elderly as an uncaring person, not recalling any good action she has ever done.
Michael then introduces Eleanor and Chidi to their neighbors, Tahani Al-Jamil (Jameela Jamil), a wealthy English philanthropist, and her soulmate Jianyu Li (Manny Jacinto), a Buddhist monk who has decided to keep his vow of silence.
The next morning, Eleanor wakes up to discover that many things that represent her crass comments about her life and her insults to Tahani at the party are wreaking havoc on the Good Place.
"[7] Schur also pointed out that the setting (shot in California's The Huntington and Universal Studios Hollywood) "had the feeling of a pastiche of different cultures", stating that the neighborhoods would feature people who were part of nondenominational and interdenominational backgrounds that interact with each other regardless of religion.
[15] That same year, on March 3, Manny Jacinto was revealed to have been cast as a "sweet and good-natured Jason" whose "dream is to make a living as a DJ in Southern Florida".
[18] In its original American broadcast on September 19, 2016, "Everything Is Fine" was seen by an estimated 8.04 million household viewers and gained a 2.3/8 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.
He praised Schur's version of the afterlife, remarking that "the good place's rules and eccentricities [are] fairly bursting with comic ingenuity and fiddly little bits of weirdness that promise a renewable supply of laughs and interest.
