{"id":110,"date":"2019-09-20T18:43:51","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T22:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/thegoodclass\/?p=110"},"modified":"2019-10-10T10:08:31","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T14:08:31","slug":"the-good-blog-chapter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/thegoodclass\/2019\/09\/20\/the-good-blog-chapter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good Blog: Chapter 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Friday before Michael Schur came to campus arrived, the class had an electric buzz. Mike was visiting Notre Dame to speak on a panel composed of our very own fearless leaders Prof. Meghan Sullivan and Christine Becker about the potential of TV to make us better people (more on this to come in our next post).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Although undeniably excited, we still forged on in our foray of <\/span>The Good Place<\/span><\/i>. For this week\u2019s class we watched Ep 1.13 \u201cMichael\u2019s Gambit\u201d and Ep 2.03 \u201cDance Dance Resolution,\u201d along with reading the shooting scripts of these episodes, an article by Morreall, \u201cPhilosophy of Humor,\u201d and the chapter \u201cWriting the Script\u201d from Alex Epstein\u2019s book <\/span>Crafty TV Writing<\/span><\/i>. All of these assignments allowed us to establish a basic understanding of\u00a0typical television episode structures, discuss the differences between final episodes and scripts, and learn about the background and history of humor philosophy.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the content of <\/span>The Good Place <\/span><\/i>is obviously quite unique, the structure of this show also provides an interesting point of difference from many other major network comedies. Unlike most other TV seasons that have 22-24 episodes, <\/span>The Good Place <\/span><\/i>condenses its story into 13 episodes a season. \"\"When Michael Schur pitched the idea for this show to NBC, he had the entire first season planned out, including the length he had in mind and wanting serialized episodes, like the infamous show <\/span>Lost<\/span><\/i>. As Netflix and other non-network television series are changing the traditional TV model, networks are more open to different forms, which allowed a show like <\/span>The Good Place <\/span><\/i>to be made.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That being said, the weekly installments of a serialized show serve as a challenge as audiences aren\u2019t able to binge-watch a season in one sitting. Instead, the plot must keep advancing and continue drawing audiences back week after week. For <\/span>The Good Place<\/span><\/i>, that means Eleanor doesn\u2019t continue trying to hide the fact that she doesn\u2019t belong in the Good Place, instead she confesses in season one episode seven. Similarly, our entire conception of the show is turned upside down in season one episode thirteen with Eleanor\u2019s realization. Once more, the show\u2019s direction completely changes in season two episode three when the characters catching back up to speed on something the audience has been aware of since the end of the first season. Each of these pivotal decisions by the writers of the show represent moments when <\/span>The Good Place <\/span><\/i>could have had drastically different storylines than it does heading into season four.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"Alex Epstein outlines tradition television structures in his book, <\/span>Crafty TV Writing<\/span><\/i>, which serves as a helpful comparison to what <\/span>The Good Place <\/span><\/i>does. In certain regards, <\/span>The Good Place <\/span><\/i>is a typical television series in terms of structure, but in other regards it differs quite a bit. There is a formula for TV and that formula and conventions are craved, but there must also be an element that makes the show feel different. <\/span>The Good Place <\/span><\/i>contains similar structures to most TV series, but has a bit extra that makes it feel new, which drives viewers to keep watching through ad breaks<\/span><\/p>\n

Television episodes are broken down into <\/span>acts<\/b> which are storyline sections that are typically separated by ad breaks. These acts are punctuated by <\/span>act outs or act breaks <\/b>which are<\/span> act climaxes that usually lead into an ad break. Depending on the type of show, whether it\u2019s a comedy or drama, or if more ads are desired, there can either be three, four, or six-act structures. With the increasing number of acts, there are progressively more stakes and jeopardy on the line. These act structures typically tend to take this form:<\/span><\/p>\n