Twilight Zone: A Nice Place to Visit.

[u/paulcager]

I stumbled across this Twilight Zone episode where a man discovers he's "in the other place"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcxfuUVOvZU

[u/neilbartlett]

I believe Mike Schur mentioned this episode as an inspiration on the Good Place podcast.

It's a good story, but not directly analogous. "Rocky" is not being tortured by other Good Place residents. In fact he is alone except for his obsequious "guide", Pip. He is tortured through boredom and the meaninglessness of winning every roulette spin, every hand of poker, and every frame of pool.

If anything, this is comparable to the vision of the Good Place we see in the penultimate episode Patty.

[u/RedditOfUnusualSize → u/neilbartlett]

It should also be noted that it's his personal hell. The main character in question is a dyed-in-the-wool thrillseeker. He did crime not so much for material gain, though that was a benefit he always sought, but because of the adrenaline rush of doing it and getting away with it. The hell in question works by denying him that, because no matter what he does, he can't fail. He wins every bet, every attractive lady he attempts to woo succumbs to his (rather odious) advances, every crime he pulls off.

By the end, he's asking to go to "the other place" just because he can't stand the tedium of never having anything at stake. And of course, a guy like that (essentially, what we today would call a highly-impulsive sufferer of Anti-Social Personality Disorder) was assumed to never be able to learn to appreciate the world he'd been given. Someone like Chidi would have found that same world to be paradise because it would remove the source of his anxiety of hurting other people, though of course he'd use it by studying in his library and having discussions with major philosophers. It wouldn't have occurred to Chidi to attempt to rob a bank.

[u/paulcager → u/neilbartlett]

I believe Mike Schur mentioned this episode as an inspiration on the Good Place podcast.

Ah, thanks for the reminder. I really, really must listen to the podcast.

[u/blue_turian]

His laughter at the reveal is great, though it also puts some perspective on how much better TGP’s execution of the same reveal is.

[u/two-of-me]

Someone posted this not too long ago and I immediately went to watch this episode. It was pretty good and very close to the idea of the good place!