Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
NBC’s The Good Place is my latest comedy obsession. Created by Mike Schur, the Ted Danson/Kristen Bell series centering on the afterlife is the rare sitcom that earns an elusive A ++ in both hilarity and intelligence. It’s like the show took our favorite parts of Lost and Parks and Recreation and then said, “You know what? Let’s sprinkle a bit of Ted Danson into the mix.” Not to be dramatic, but if you’re not watching this series, you’re just straight up wrong, and I do not want to make small talk with you at a mutual friend’s pumpkin carving event that, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t particularly jazzed about attending in the first place.
As with any obsession, I find myself consumed with the granular details of The Good Place, which is how I ended up chatting with the actor who portrays Doug Forcett on the addictive NBC sitcom. Even the most passionate of Good Place fans might not be familiar with Doug Forcett. Introduced in the pilot episode, Doug is the Good Place legend who possessed an inexplicably prescient knowledge of the afterlife.
“Doug was a stoner kid who lived in Calgary during the 1970s,” Michael tells Eleanor upon her arrival to the Good Place. “One night he got really high on mushrooms, and his best friend Randy said, ‘Hey, what do you think happens after we die?’ and Doug just launched into this long monologue where he got like 92% correct.”
So who’s the man behind this prophetic lover of mushrooms? That would be comedy writer Noah Garfinkel. Boasting an impressive resume that includes New Girl, The President Show, and Kroll Show, Garfinkel explained the simple story about how he became the face of the legendary Doug Forcett.
“My best friend Joe Mande writes on The Good Place,” Garfinkel told Decider. “Mike Schur’s wife J.J. [Philbin] writes for New Girl, which is the show I write for, so I knew a lot of Good Place people from the Parks and Recreation days. They needed a picture of someone who looked like a ’70s stoner, and I guess that my general aura said that for what they needed.”
The mystery surrounding Forcett is enhanced by the unpredictability of the clever NBC series. Considering Michael’s demonic, duplicitous nature, it’s fair to speculate that Forcett is just another cog in a long con meant to torture Eleanor and the gang. But during a March interview with Entertainment Weekly, Schur confirmed that eternity’s most prolific soothsayer is indeed real.
“It is canon in our writers’ room,” Schur told EW. “At this moment in time — subject to change — yes, Doug Forcett exists and that story is real.”
Now that we know that Doug exists, is it possible we might see him appear in a future episode? Garfinkel wouldn’t rule out a potential appearance by the clairvoyant Canadian.
“It’s been discussed in passing but nothing serious,” Garfinkel told us. “There’s been a few times when I think that they discussed the idea, but it’s never been concrete.”
Need to catch up on The Good Place? Season 1 is streaming on Netflix, and Season 2 episodes are available to watch on Hulu.
