What The Fork! ‘The Good Place’ And ‘Parks And Recreation’ Exist In The Same Universe

If you’re a good enough person, you will ultimately be rewarded for your goodness. If ever there was a lesson that The Good Place and its many musings on morality has for us, that would likely be it. Well apparently we’ve all been pretty great recently because one of the most delightful fan theories about The Good Place has been all but confirmed. According to some choice screenshots and issues of Celebrity Baby, is seems like The Good Place and Parks and Recreation exist in the same universe.

Twitter user @ShinraAlpha was the first person to put these puzzle pieces together. If you know one thing about Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) you know that she adores trashy celebrity gossip. Dedicated viewers can likely even point to her favorite publication, the horrifically named Celebrity Baby. However, if you zoom in on Eleanor’s favorite reading materials, you’re in for a great surprise. One of the issues of Celebrity Baby (the one that features “12 Baby Butterfaces You Won’t Believe”) has an ad on the back for Dennis Feinstein’s fragrance Glyde. Another issue, which focuses on baby plastic surgery disasters, has an ad for champagne by Jean Ralphio.

Parks and Recreation fans already know those ridiculous names well. Ben Schwartz‘s Jean Ralphio was Parks and Rec‘s resident swag star and stood as a terrible influence on Tom (Aziz Ansari) all throughout the show’s run. Dennis Feinstein (Jason Mantzoukas) is a bit more inside baseball, but fans will remember him as the cologne entrepreneur who hassled Ben (Adam Scott) and may or may not hunt people. Just to make a good thing even better, Jean Ralphio’s Good Place champagne even has the tagline “Turn that frizoren upsidizity.” These are exactly the kind of people Eleanor would like.

As expected, fans of the show are overjoyed:

The revelation has also made some fans question aspects of the show’s morality:

Michael Shur, the creator of The Good Place, also wrote for Parks and Recreation, so the connection isn’t that surprising. However, it does raise some interesting questions for both series. Both Jason Mantzoukas and Adam Scott have had roles on both shows. When Ben died, did he become a demon? Was there ever a real Dennis Feinstein or was he just created by Janet (D’Arcy Carden)? Does this mean Jean Ralphio ultimately became successful? The truth is out there.

Where to stream The Good Place

Where to stream Parks and Recreation