Michael Schur’s “The Good Place” has finally received its first Golden Globe nominations — three seasons into its afterlife comedy tale.
Yes, this is the Good Place, motherforkers.
TheWrap spoke with Schur Thursday — after “The Good Place” received its nod for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and star Kristen Bell was nominated for best performance in her leading lady category — and he honestly has no idea what the show did to finally get out of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Bad Place.
“Boy, if I had even the slightest inkling about why any organization votes the way they do any year, positively or negatively, I feel like I’d be — I mean I wouldn’t be doing this, I’d be just placing wagers in Vegas on various things,” Schur told TheWrap. “Like, I don’t know if there is a way you can game plan or a way you can track what you made and what was given to you, or why it hit, or why it didn’t hit. I think it’s a little of, like, we’ve been around? (laughs) We’ve now aired 35 or something episodes so it’s not brand new.”
“Our show runs on NBC, it runs on Netflix afterward,” Schur added. “In the world that we’re in now, I feel like people are just watching everything at different times and I think people are becoming aware of different shows at different times. And for whatever reason, at this moment, it seems people have caught up and they seem to like it and so they voted for it. That’s a very longwinded, boring way of saying, ‘I have no idea.'”
Schur says everyone from “The Good Place” is thrilled over Bell’s nom, but it does sting that lead actor Ted Danson (who was nominated for — and missed out on — an Emmy this year) didn’t get an HFPA nod, too: “You try to be sort of zen about these things. Of course, I think Ted is a miracle of human engineering. I think he should be nominated for — and receive — every award that exists, and appeal that. But also, I feel the same way about Kristen! So it was an incredible surprise and it made us all feel incredibly happy and gooey that they nominated her.”
We then asked Schur to create an awards show-themed “Bad Place” on the spot and this is what he came up with:
“Here’s the reality, in terms of the actual details of these things. Women have it 150,000 times worse than men — and that may be a conservative estimate. I can get ready to go to this event in about 20 minutes. I will take a shower, I will shave and I will put on the same boring black thing that I wear to every one of these things. Women, it is a waking nightmare. I wish always for my wife’s sake, and for all women’s sake, that the rules were: Black tie for men; women, wear whatever you want. (laughs) I think that should be the rule. You know, some women really love getting made up and spending all that time in hair and makeup and wearing fancy dresses, and that’s great and they should do that. But I always wish for my wife’s sake she could wear jeans and a T-shirt if she wants to wear jeans and a T-shirt.”
“It’s such a raw deal. It’s not by far the rawest deal that women face in modern society, it’s probably not in the top thousand things. But it’s up there. And it always bums me out. So I think the ‘Bad Place’ version of it is a women-only version of it, frankly. Because there is nothing quite that bad about it for men.”
In all seriousness, Schur says the dark side of awards shows really is “getting too intense about it in any direction.”
“I think if you get too intense about it, you are running the risk of it ruining your life — or at least your day. So that’s what I try to avoid (laughs).”
The Season 3 fall finale of “The Good Place” airs tonight, Thursday, at 8:30/7:30c on NBC. Check back with TheWrap then for a post-mortem interview with Schur about the episode.
Golden Globes Snubs and Surprises, From 'Handmaid's Tale' to Sacha Baron Cohen
The 2019 Golden Globes nominations certainly surprised, with "Vice" leading the way in nods among movies -- shutting out some other deserving nominees in the process. Here are some of the biggest surprises and snubs from Thursday morning.
SURPRISE: Sacha Baron Cohen, "Who Is America?"
Sacha Baron Cohen's nod for his controversial Showtime satire "Who Is America?" was quite the shock -- especially because the comedian's nom helped push Ted Danson out of the running for "The Good Place."
Showtime
SNUB: No songs from "Mary Poppins Returns"
While Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda got nominated for their work in Disney's "Mary Poppins" reboot, none of the new, original songs in the musical got recognized, in favor of songs by Troye Sivan, Dolly Parton, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga and Annie Lennox.
Disney
SURPRISE: Rosamund Pike, "A Private War"
Rosamund Pike upset a huge field of actresses, including Viola Davis for "Widows," for her work as war correspondent Marie Colvin in "A Private War."
Keith Bernstein/Aviron
SNUB: Ryan Gosling and Damien Chazelle, "First Man"
With the exception of Claire Foy and its score from Justin Hurwitz, Damien Chazelle's "First Man" was almost entirely shut out of the Golden Globes race, including star Ryan Gosling as astronaut Neil Armstrong.
Universal
SURPRISE: Elsie Fisher, "Eighth Grade"
The teenage Elsie Fisher has been a dark horse for her work in Bo Burnham's "Eighth Grade," but we're happy to see she made the cut in the comedy and musical category with the Globes. Gucci!
A24
SNUB: Ethan Hawke, "First Reformed"
Ethan Hawke gave one of the best performances of his career in Paul Schrader's "First Reformed," leading many to believe he would be a dark horse contender. Not so this year.
A24
SURPRISE: Lucas Hedges, "Boy Erased"
Lucas Hedges was great in two films this year, "Ben Is Back" and "Boy Erased," so we're glad the one didn't cancel out the other.
Focus Features
SNUB: Sterling K. Brown and "This Is Us"
NBC's ratings and critical darling got no love from the HFPA Thursday, shaking things up after Sterling K. Brown grabbed a Best Actor win last year. "This Is Us" scored several previous acting noms, along with a nod for Best Drama series for both of its first two seasons.
NBC
SURPRISE: "The Alienist"
TNT's drama "The Alienist" had a big showing, including for Best Drama and for Best Actor in a Drama series, star Daniel Bruhl. The series' inclusion in the possible winners pool is a bit of a surprise, seeing as "The Alienist" only grabbed one Emmy after receiving six nominations
TNT
SNUB: "The Handmaid's Tale"
While actresses Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski both got nods, the Hulu adaptation did not, despite winning the award for Best TV series drama last year.
Hulu
SURPRISE: John C. Reilly, "Stan & Ollie"
It was a good year for John C. Reilly, who starred in "The Sisters Brothers" and "Ralph Breaks the Internet" in addition to the not-yet-released "Stan & Ollie," in which he stars opposite Steve Coogan as one half of the famous comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.
Sony Pictures Classics
SNUB: "Cold War"
A luscious, foreign language darling from Poland and thought to be a strong contender in the Oscar race considering its director previously won the prize for "Ida," the black and white drama "Cold War" was left out in the cold by the Globes.
Amazon Studios
SNUB: Yorgos Lanthimos, "The Favourite"
"The Favourite" had a big showing for its actors Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, and even for its screenplay, but surprisingly not so for its director, the Greek Yorgos Lanthimos.
Fox Searchlight
SURPRISE: Candice Bergen
Bergen's nomination for "Murphy Brown" is definitely out of left field, seeing as CBS' revival of the '90s sitcom's reboot has been seeing low Nielsen ratings and didn't receive a back order for additional episodes.
CBS
SNUB: "Atlanta"
While Donald Glover was nominated for his work as an actor, his show "Atlanta" failed to earn a nomination in the Best Comedy or Musical category, despite winning the prize for its first season two years ago.
FX
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Sterling K. Brown, Ryan Gosling and the songs of ”Mary Poppins Returns“ were some of those left out
The 2019 Golden Globes nominations certainly surprised, with "Vice" leading the way in nods among movies -- shutting out some other deserving nominees in the process. Here are some of the biggest surprises and snubs from Thursday morning.