The cast and creative team also celebrated Ted Danson's recent Emmy nomination and released bloopers from the sophomore season.
The Good Place gave Comic-Con attendees a rollicking good time!
The stars and producers of NBC's inventive comedy descended on San Diego on Saturday morning for their 50-minute panel in the Hilton Bayfront, where they shared stories about the origins of the show and standout moments from the first two seasons, and celebrated Ted Danson's much-deserved Emmy nomination.
Danson, who last week earned his first Emmy nom for his portrayal of Michael on The Good Place (and his first in the Lead Actor in a Comedy category in 25 years, since Cheers), credited the praise and recognition to the sharp, witty writing led by creator Michael Schur.
“When you say performance … really what we do is we show up, we say these astounding words in these astounding locations with these amazing bowties ... [and] out comes these performances," Danson explained to cheers, adding that it's not difficult to do a good job with stellar scripts. "I am hitting my marks and I’m saying these words." Danson paused for a moment before he quipped, "This is Emmy time, and you have to adopt some false humility.”
As an added bonus, fans were treated to an early sneak peek at the first two minutes of the third season premiere.
In the sophomore season finale, Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani (Jameela Jamil) and Jason (Manny Jacinto) were given a redo of sorts, as Michael finagled a way for them to return to Earth with the hopes they would become better people.
In the exclusive first look at the upcoming season, Michael (Danson), holding a piece of paper, is seen opening a door with a bright white light behind him as he steps onto a long, deserted walkway on a vacant bridge in the middle of a blackened, cavernous room.
He sees another door on the other side of the walkway and walks (and skips) down to the nonplussed guy, the Guard (played by new guest star Mike O'Malley), manning the desk.
"Hi, I'm Michael. You must be the guard," Michael says enthusiastically to him. "This is wild. I had no idea this was even here!"
"So, I have this ruling. ... It's kind of tricky. It starts off a new timeline. ... It's necessary for the new experiment," he continues, explaining the concept of this new chapter. "So... how long does this trip take? Hope I don't get a middle seat!"
The Guard replies, "I haven't heard a joke for 8,000 years. Still haven't."
Michael learns from the Guard that he won't have any powers when he goes down to Earth, plus other logistics of which he never would have been aware. But a frog keychain attached to a key with "Do Not Duplicate" etched onto it will be his most prized possession for his trip to and from Earth.
As Michael walks through the door, we flash to Eleanor's life being spared in the parking lot of the grocery store where she originally died. Moments later, Michael returns safely to the room and, clearly, his mini adventure was a mind-bender. "Wow! I was just on Earth," he exclaims as he returns the key to the Guard.
"It was incredible. The traffic, the pigeons. ... I saw this place that was a Pizza Hut and a Taco Bell. The meals! A Pizza Hut and a Taco Bell?" Michael says in wonderment as he walks back down the long walkway back to where he came from.
Following the panel, NBC released nearly eight minutes of bloopers from the second season. Get ready for the laughs in the video below.
The Good Place returns with a one-hour premiere Thursday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
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