Pacific Palisades resident Ted Danson with the cast of “The Good Place, which starts its final season September 26.
Photo: Courtesy of NBC
The Fourth and Last Season of “The Good Place”
By BERNICE FOX – Special to Circling the News
For a veteran of one TV series after the other, it’s refreshing to see Palisadian Ted Danson get emotional as a show is about to end.
This time, the series is “The Good Place,” which starts its fourth and final season September 26 on NBC.
Danson tells Circling the News why he chokes up now about his fellow cast members, including Kristen Bell.
“These are incredibly sweet people and it’s dawning on us that our built-in excuse to be around such smart, bright, genuine people is gone.” Danson adds “now we’re going to have to work very hard to find each other in life.”
His emotion also is for “The Good Place” itself, which ultimately, is about trying to be a good person. So, Danson says “the show touches me. It touches me to talk in a bright, smart, clever, silly way about what it means to be ethical.”
Though Danson has been speaking those words as the earnest character of Michael, they’ve made him think about the real world outside of “The Good Place.”
Ted Danson in ‘The Good Place’
Photo: Courtesy of NBC
He gives this example. “You leave a big celebrity tip to the barista. But you make sure they notice you’re leaving a big tip.” He says that’s “basically a karmic wash, at best.”
For all the emotion Danson is feeling as “The Good Place” winds down, he’s already secured his next gig as the mayor of Los Angeles.
Well, a fictional mayor of Los Angeles — in a new series from Tina Fey of “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock.” NBC says the comedy is about a wealthy businessman who runs for mayor of L.A. and unexpectedly wins.
Danson is excited. “I can’t wait. I feel lucky to be part of that.”
Though most of Tina Fey’s projects are based on the East Coast, the new mayoral comedy will film right here in L.A.
For Danson, working in L.A. is the best. He tells Circling the News “my family’s here. My grandkids are here. Home’s here. My wife, Mary’s, here. Basically, in reverse order, that’s why. My wife’s here.”
Kristen Bell and Ted Danson in a scene from ‘The Good Place.’
Photo: Courtesy NBC