The Good Place -and- Cheers Crossover Moment Was Very Intentional
Ted Danson is literally doing the devil's work on The Good Place—one of the best shows on television, but you knew that—in his role as demon architect Michael trying to reform himself and become "good" with the help of four wildly awesome human pals and a not-a-robot. This comes to a break point at the end of the show's second season, when Michael leaves hell to descend upon earth to have a conversation with Eleanor, who's now back in Arizona for [redacted to avoid spoilers, just go watch the show already].
But instead of having Danson's Michael incarnate himself as a Starbucks barista or TK, he took the form of a cucumber-cool bartender tending to Eleanor's alcohol and emotional needs, as a nod to Danson's previous work as Sam Malone in Cheers. Michael clearly has some experience. He tops off Eleanor's drink. He listens. He cleans glasses. He listens some more. He drapes a towel over his shoulder. He offers helpful advice.
Q&A
Jameela Jamil was no stranger to TV, but she’d never acted. And when she landed the role of upper-crust punching bag Tahani al-Jamil on The Good Place, she found herself learning from the best: Ted Danson and his fart noises.
"When we had the idea for Michael to re-intervene in Eleanor's life down on earth, we needed a situation where she would show up and be happy to spill her guts to a stranger—a bar, and bartender, was really the obvious choice," Schur explained to Rolling Stone. "I cleared it with Ted first—told him the idea and asked if he'd be okay with it. He, of course, was." And the result, as Schur put it, was "predictably lovely" in every way possible: "I had written into the script that he was cutting limes and had a towel over his shoulder, because the thought of him playing a bartender and not doing those things was too depressing to deal with."
We're looking forward to Woody Harrelson's cameo in season three.
