Some Good News coming to CBS All Access, sans Krasinski

Books, comics, TV, music
1

So this is Some Good News/Bad News.

Good news is that CBS All Access is going to pay to produce Some Good News, John Krasinksi’s super fun YouTube series that focused on highlighting good things going on during the Coronavirus quarantine.

The bad news is that Krasinski himself is only going to be a producer, not the talent. Who will host has not been announced, but I have to think a great majority of the charm of the show was Krasinski’s infectious and authentic joy showcasing other people’s triumphs and talking to them.

So we’ll see how this goes.

2

Well fuck.

3

This is dumb, but I guess kudos to Krasinski for getting a payout.

4

Well if we just settle for something like Donnie Jr as the worst possible host for this, then anything better than that will be gravy!

5

Thankfully the idea itself has value.

But Krasinski’s “I have no idea what I’m doing but isn’t this super fun?!” attitude was what made it special. So hopefully they can find a host that has a similar vibe and don’t hire a polished host like a Joel McHale or Carson Daly type.

6

Maybe they can get Ninja.

7

That, and it felt like something he was donating his time for to lift our spirits, and not a commercial endeavor. Now it feels commercial and it’s less interesting to me.

The timing of this makes me wonder if the sole reason he stopped doing it was because he had an offer on the table?

8

I don’t think it really does. Setting aside the fact that Krasinski’s charm was a big plus, I think the lo-fi low budget YouTube homemade aesthetic was a big part of its appeal. Even the sponsored giveaways felt homey and comforting. With corporate production and oversight I’m not sure it will have the same impact. Frankly, I don’t even see a corporate owner allowing the show’s gentle “good news” vibe to continue unmolested. They’re all just too cynical and commercial to let it exist as is.

9

I’ve enjoyed watching SGN for the last few weeks, but I think it’s mostly worn out its welcome to me.

So many of the “good news” stories are just buried under a thick layer of “look at how much shit people need to deal with because their government is a mixture of incompetence and maliciousness so some people manage to dig through all of it to find a modicum of happiness”.

10

I watched the one where Emily Blunt does the cold open and Emma Stone does the weather. I feel like I have seen the best of it due to them.

11

Robert DeNiro saying the weather looked “Pretty good” will be my most fond memory of it all. Ah well, it was fun for a while.

12

More info from Krasinski about why he sold Some Good News to CBS. Sounds like filming for Jack Ryan season 3 is going to start pretty soon, plus all the other production stuff he has going on, so the show probably would have ended anyway.