So Much For John Krasinski's 'Some Good News'
Last month John Krasinski launched a self-produced YouTube channel called Some Good News opening his first video by saying, "For years, I wondered why there isn't a news show dedicated entirely to good news." We now know the second part of that statement, the part playing inside of his head, was "Because whoever slaps together a couple of feel-goods is going to rake in a shit ton of money." Krasinski has sold Some Good News to ViacomCBS after a massive bidding war and fans are pissed.
The show was marketed as a way to uplift us during the pandemic, but Krasinksi decided that we had enough cheer and good tidings after only eight episodes. Now you can feel uplifted after paying Viacom $10 a month for their new streaming service, and Krasinski can go back to patting himself on the back for being the fourth worst Jack Ryan full-time.
Seriously, John Krasinksi committed to pretending to care about SGN for about as long as your grandpa would pretend to give a shit about the goldfish you gave him for Christmas. Nemo's got flushed in two months, and Krasinski is going to tell us in the exact same saccharine tone Grandpa used, "Don't worry, Some Good News is in a better place." It's easy to feel like we've been played. Some Good News was a giant desk gift-wrapped by Jim and we were all the Dwights falling into it face-first.
But I think the truth of the matter is that this should have surprised no one. There are tons of news shows that are strictly about promoting feel-good stories, but Krasinski is a celebrity, and if there's one thing Hollywood is good at it's taking an existing idea and saying, "This, but with famous people." It's why Krasinski would pepper his mere eight episodes with various guest appearances from The Office cast. This isn't about making people feel good. This is about selling goodness and nostalgia as a commodity. John Krasinski wasn't the first person to think, "Why isn't there a news show dedicated entirely to good news?" He is, however, the first person to have the appropriate branding to sell it for millions.
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