Top 10 Hilarious The Good Place Running Gags

There is so much to love about Eleanor Shellstrop, including her idiolect. In her roster of interesting terms and funny phrasing is the catchphrase, “Ya basic!” We learn later on in the series that this is likely something she picked up from her mom, which kind of only makes it that much better. We also hear Michael use it at one point, which might just be one of the greatest lines in the show. It’s also very endearing as he explains it to be something he learned from one of his real friends. Plus, that hand movement is just everything.

Eleanor has many things she’s fond of – wrestling and margaritas, for instance – but the most notable might just be her love of shrimp. Or, uh, shrampies. It’s made known to us from the very first episode – who could forget those flying shrimp in the sky? – and carries through to the rest of the seasons. In fact, shellfish is so intrinsic to her character that the motif even made its way into some promo for the show. Another food item closely tied to a character is, of course, Chidi and his almond milk, which, whenever the simulation is reset, usually comes up as the reason he thinks he ended up in the Bad Place.

The best running gags always have a climatic moment where they come full circle. Jason’s references to Molotov cocktails and exploding things reaches its first real high point mid-season two when he actually gets to put his knee-jerk solution to good use. And, really, it’s very fitting. What better place to use a Molotov than in the Bad Place to facilitate your great escape? It is, admittedly, a tad more ethical than blowing up a speedboat. Luckily, it wouldn’t be the last time we’d see Jason and his Molotov.

While it might certainly be part of Eleanor’s type B personality to forget and mispronounce people’s names, we have rarely met someone IRL who messes up as hilariously as she does. From calling Janet “Jackie” to just straight up avoiding saying a name, there’s no shortage of forgetful Eleanor moments. The best has to be mispronouncing Chidi’s name, given the relationship they end up fostering. When she meets him for the first time (many times), we get variations that include “Chibi” and “Chili”, as well as some pretty sad attempts at pronouncing his last name.

This running gag fits quite nicely with the tone and humor of the show. Every so often someone will describe a human concept, like an emotion or state, and use it as a tangible noun. For example, when the group ventures into the Bad Place, there’s a point where Eleanor asks Michael “how do you smell loud and confusing?” The Bad Place demons are also known to snort “the concept of time”. And, there’s a great moment where the Judge ruling over whether the gang is fit to ascend to the real Good Place tops her burrito with, not hot sauce, but envy.

Chidi, for most of his time on screen, is a ball of nerves. Relatable. Most of his stress either stems from having to make a decision, confront something that scares him, or is otherwise probably Eleanor-induced. (Yeah, lots of that last one.) As viewers, our time is divided between sympathizing with him, finding it all super comical, or just wishing he’d chill out a little. Whatever we’re feeling, it doesn’t stop Chidi from mentioning that his stomach hurts or that he’s on the verge of throwing up, and it’s always a stark reminder of the complex inner workings of a philosophy enthusiast.

Jason is the ultimate Florida man and we won’t soon forget it. He never misses an opportunity to express his love for the Jacksonville Jaguars but that’s only the beginning. It seems at every turn, Jason has some wacky story about what it was like to be alive in the city, and the writers also seize every chance to throw in a Florida joke. Toward the end of season one, when Shawn is contemplating Jason and where he should be situated, he realizes that he’s from Florida and insinuates that all Floridians end up in the Bad Place. Hope you’re taking this one in stride, sunshine state!

While we were, of course, happy to see Tahani grow into a person who didn’t care all about status, it certainly didn’t happen overnight. From the moment we meet her, Tahani is all sorts of haughty. We soon learn it’s because of the environment she was raised in and how she never felt good enough for her family. It’s wonderful and sort of cathartic, even, to see Tahani work through this in the afterlife. But the one thing she doesn’t quite seem to let go of is telling stories from her time on earth that include the A-est of A-list celebs. We wouldn’t want it any other way.

It’s practically impossible to narrow down a favorite character in this show, but Janet effortlessly wins us over. She’s not a human being and not a robot – two things she reminds us of frequently – but rather some third thing. The best way we can describe her is an information database disguised as a woman who can also bring you anything you’d ever want at any moment. She can, incidentally, be summoned just by calling her name. Because she looks so convincingly human, however, Janet often has to remind people that she’s not alive, can’t feel pain and, our very favorite line, is: “Not a girl.”

Before we unveil our final pick, here are a few honorable mentions…

Restaurant Names
They’re All Puns & They’re All Amazing

Eleanor Calling Tahani Hot
Can You Blame Her?!

Perhaps the biggest downside to the Good Place (that was actually the Bad Place) is the censored swearing. Personally, we'd be super aggravated if we couldn’t utter some of our favorite cusses… Then again, we probably shouldn’t need to in what is supposed to be a stress-free utopian paradise. But, this show’s little quirk managed to employ a sense of realism while still respecting network restrictions that other primetime shows simply can’t adopt. Hearing adults censor themselves with softer swear words in some series can often come across as strange but, in this case, it makes perfect sense! It’s truly an ingenious workaround, not to mention the utter comedy that comes with hearing the words “You gotta be forking kidding me”.