TV Review--Season 1 of The Good Place (spoilers)

The title of this blog post is perhaps undue optimism on my part—saying this is a review of season 1 of The Good Place implies that there will be a season 2.  I don’t know what the collective brain trust at NBC is thinking, but if there is a God in heaven then the further adventure of Eleanor Shellstrop in the afterlife will be televised next season.

The Good Place ended its 13-episode run on Thursday with a double episode that included one of the most astonishing reveals in the history of television (um, spoilers?).  After 13 episodes, it suddenly occurred to “fake Eleanor” that The Good Place was actually—The Bad Place!  What was supposed to be 1,000 years of self-inflicted torment for four characters was cut short when Eleanor realized that seemingly befuddled, mild-mannered Michael was, in fact, an evil genius.

I have said before that Ted Danson as Michael deserved an Emmy nomination for The Good Place, showing acting range undreamt of when Danson was picking up annual Emmy nominations (11 nominations, 2 awards) for Cheers.  But Danson’s transformation in the last episode of Good Place, when benevolent Michael turns his feckless grin into a malevolent sneer, was pure genius.  I haven’t seen such a quick and convincing change of character since the episode of Dollhouse where Alan Tudyk changed from a hapless nerd into the murderous character known as Alpha in a split second.  Forget nominations, give Ted Danson the Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Comedy.

Not that the rest of the cast didn’t raise their game for the season finale.  D’Arcy Carden always had a demented twinkle in her eye as the digital factotum Janet, but her deciding to marry dim bulb Jason (Manny Jacinto) was sheer deadpan lunacy.  Jamela Jamil got even haughtier and hotter as Tehani, a statuesque serial fundraiser so attractive that even the supposedly straight Eleanor considered having a relationship with her.  And of course, the key to the whole thing (after Danson), William Jackson Harper’s perpetually panicked Chidi, for whom it should come as no surprise that he was in The Bad Place as he had a stomach ache almost from the moment he met “fake Eleanor.”  The fact that three hot women professed their love for him inside of an hour should have tipped him off that something was amiss.

The show ended on a note so outrageous that the producers of Lost would have laughed at any writer who proposed the idea—wipe everyone’s memories and start over next season (or wait, was that a plot on Lost?).  It was always unclear what The Good Place’s long game was, and how the show could maintain the premise beyond what would amount to a 13 episode, 6 ½ hour miniseries.  Michael Schur’s gambit was a stroke of brilliance, allowing the show to continue but at the same time making everything fresh.

I will not urge everyone reading this to write to NBC and demand that The Good Place be renewed, because the suits at NBC want your feedback as much as Donald Trump wants to know what people really think of the ACA.  But if you believe in karma, try sending some good deeds into the universe and telling the Powers That Be that thanks should be in the form of a season 2 of The Good Place.  It won’t make the world into The Good Place, but it will make things a wee bit better.

Baseball Hall of Fame--not much to complain about

The vote for admission to the Baseball Hall of Fame was announced, and it is hard to dispute any of the inductees.  You can gripe about some of the players left out, but the Hall had a huge backlog of deserving players and a field of three is about as large a class as is manageable.

Jeff Bagwell was elected in his 7^th try, a ridiculously high number given his numbers, but he had the dreaded “steroid” tag looming over his candidacy even though there was never any evidence.  He had 1,500 runs batted in and 1,500 runs scored, so he could drive people in and score once on base.  He had 2,300 hits and 1,400 walks, so he was on base a lot.  His home run total of 449 is short of the magic 500, but a lot for a guy who walked a lot.  Through in the fact he was considered a good glove man at first, and having to go through 7 ballots is just silly.

The only thing sillier than Bagwell waiting 7 times for induction was Tim Raines waiting ten.  He had the misfortune of playing in the shadow of Rickey Henderson, but he is still the second greatest leadoff hitter of all time.  He had a better success rate at stealing bases than Henderson and a career OPS over .800, so he had some pop in his bat.

Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez is an easy first ballot choice.  The premiere fielding player at his position (and catcher is a key defensive position), he also over 2,800 hits and an OPS of .798.  He also has an MVP award, which is a major indication of Hall-worthiness.

Someone on ESPN opined that the election of Bagwell and Rodriguez, who had vague links to steroids, and the election of Raines, who was busted for cocaine use, means that Hall voters no longer care about drugs.  I think nothing could be further from the truth.  It was widely speculated that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens would make major strides toward enshrinement, but both fell far short at 54.1% and 53.8%.  The difference is this: people like Rodriguez, Bagwell and Raines, while no one likes Clemens and Bonds.  Also, the issue isn’t just drugs, but performance enhancing drugs, so while Raines’ cocaine use isn’t a point in his favor, it isn’t a disqualifier like steroids.

To me the most surprising result is Vlad Guerrero finishing 5^th in his first year of eligibility with 71.7% of the vote, extremely close to the 75% needed.  Not that Guerrero wasn’t a great player, but he lacks several Hall intangibles, like an MVP award, post-season heroics, or any specific statistical achievement like 500 homers (he’s at 449) or 3,000 hits (2,590).  Maybe this is a sign that voters are looking more at advanced metrics than flashy stats.

If so, I have a problem with that.  Mike Mussina came in 9^th with 51.8% of the vote, and several people at places like MLB.com tout him as a Hall candidate because of advanced metrics.  To that I say, it’s called the Hall of FAME and not the Hall of Advanced Metrics.  Some say Reggie Jackson doesn’t belong in the Hall because of his low batting average and high number of strikeouts, but how can you keep “Mr. October” out of the Hall of Fame?  Raphael Palmeiro may have 500 homers and 3,000 hits, but what did he ever do?  Lead a team to a World Championship?  Lead the league in home runs five years in a row?  Start an All-Star Game (at a position other than DH)?  Nope, nope and nope.  He no longer eligible because of his link to steroids and the finger wagging, but I didn’t think he warranted inclusion before that.

Trevor Hoffman missed by ten votes in his second year of eligibility.  Sure he has 601 saves, but he only pitched in 1,089 innings in 1,058 games.  That’s not making a lot of effort.   That’s 1.03 innings per game.  How many batters are in the Hall for playing one inning a game?  At least Hall of Famer Goose Gossage averaged nearly two innings per appearance.  The closer is the most overrated position in baseball, but the save statistic going away.  On the other hand, the all-time save leader Lee Smith failed to get elected in his final year of eligibility, coming in far short at 34%, so maybe there is hope.

If voters overestimate the contribution of closers, they diminish the contribution of DHs simply because they don’t hurt their teams by being inept at fielding.  Edgar Martinez deserves to be in the Hall, but only got 58.6%, largely because he never fielded.  Harmon Killebrew is not in the Hall because of his fielding; neither is Ted Williams.  David Ortiz may become the first DH to be elected to the Hall, but I hope Martinez gets there first.

Hoffman and Guererro look likes locks for next time.  Chipper Jones is probably a lock first time winner, and Jim Thome should get substantial support (612 home runs is nothing to sneeze at).  2018 might be an even more crowded class at the Hall of Fame.

Why do fools fall in love (with uncoachable big men)?

The well know definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.  By this definition, the Sacrament Kings are the crazy team in professional sports.

According to sources at ESPN, the Kings plan to re-sign center Demarcus Cousins for $219 million. The contract would extend through 2023.  Apparently, the Kings have gone so long without making the playoffs, that they’ve decided that’s where they are comfortable.

The Kings will never make the playoffs with Boogie Cousins.  How do I know this?  Because they never have.  Cousins has been arguably the best “big man” in pro basketball since he joined the Kings in 2010, but in six seasons the Kings haven’t come close to making the playoffs.  Consider: in 2016 the Kings had two players on the US Olympic team before the 12-man roster cut, Cousins and Rudy Gay, plus they had a future Hall of Fame coach in George Karl.  Despite that, they still finished 8 games out of 8^th place in the Western Conference.

Cousins’ problems are well known.  He’s been hit with over 100 technical fouls in six and a half seasons.  He pretty much chased Karl out of town; he wasn’t the first, Paul Westphal also left after a tumultuous season in 2011-12 during which he sent Cousins home after a home loss.  The next year Cousins was suspended by the league for two games for threatening a San Antonio color commentator; he was later suspended indefinitely (for two games) by the team.  He was suspended one game in 2013-14 for punching a member of the Detroit Pistons.  In 2016 he got into an altercation with a reporter from the Sacramento Bee.

The Kings have had horrible luck in the draft, getting poor lottery choices in years where quality players were available.  Cousins is easily their greatest property.  But he has been there six years with getting close to the playoffs.  He of course is not entirely responsible; the Kings management has been beyond incompetent during his tenure with the team.  But still, a team with an all-star, Olympic Gold Medal winner should at least compete for a playoff spot, even if his supporting cast isn’t that good, and Cousins has had some quality support like Rudy Gay and great coaches like George Karl.

Why Cousins would want to sign with the Kings is obvious—under the NBA collective bargaining agreement he can make $80 million more by staying put.  He also does seem to like playing in Sacramento, but how much of that is avoiding the pressure that would come with playing with a larger market team with legitimate playoff aspirations? 

But why would the Kings want Cousins?  He might help fill their brand-new arena, but brand new arenas are more of a draw than a center on a losing team.  They’ve tried to win with Cousins for six seasons and have failed; it may be time to marshal their resources differently.

But then the question becomes, how much can the Kings get if they trade and short-term player with a history of attitude problems?  If anyone had made the Kings a good offer for Boogie Cousins, they would have taken it.  If Cousins has decided to split, teams know they just need to wait until he becomes a free agent.  So maybe the only alternatives are re-signing or losing him to free agency.

It would be interesting to see if a functional organization could do a better job of coaching Boogie Cousins than the Kings have done.  But the way things work, he’ll probably end up going to another dysfunctional team, like the Knicks.