Ted Danson’s first foray into heading up an exclusive streaming series has unsurprisingly been just as successful and well-received as most of the actor’s other big shows. Audiences love A Man on the Inside, and the most heartstring-tugging comedy on the 2024 TV schedule has also been a winner with critics, as it reconnected Danson with The Good Place creator Michael Schur and featured several on-screen reunions. But arguably the biggest cameo was the easiest one to miss, involving both Kristen Bell and a striped sweater.
The A+ Callback To Kristen Bell's Good Place Character
To say it right up top, this cameo happens in the Season 1 finale of A Man on the Inside, but I won't delve into any plot-related spoilers here, since I'm sure some readers may want to know about the appearance without learning the conclusion.
Near the end of the episode, and of the season as a whole, Danson's character Charles is giving a lecture to a class whose professor is played by The Good Place's D'Arcy Carden. It was obviously an applause-worthy moment on its own, considering how many scenes they shared together as Michael. and Janet, respectively.
Charles' lecture was shown from the students' seats a few times, which is where viewers could see a blond female wearing a sweater with colorful stripes encircling the top.
Though the woman is never seen, just the back of her brought to mind The Good Place's excellent series finale, since it's the same motherforking top that Kristen Bell's Eleanor wore in the episode, as seen below. (Fans can currently stream both Good Place and Man on the Inside with a Netflix subscription.)
Obviously we can't start up any wild fan theories here, since Eleanor was dead as soon as The Good Place started, and almost definitely would not have gone to any lectures like the one Charles was giving even when she was alive. And so the explanation here is simply were at one point two people in this universe (at least) who look exactly like Kristen Bell/Eleanor, and they both owned the same striped-up-top sweater.
D'Arcy Carden Confirmed It Really Was Kristen Bell
Obviously, it would have been easy for Michael Schur & Co. to just have an anonymous actress standing during the scene while wearing that signature sweater. But that kind of casting is for amateurs, not someone who crafts things as lovingly as Schur.
D'Arcy Carden took to Instagram with a post confirming that was indeed Kristen Bell's back that was turned to viewers, with fellowing Good Place vet Mark Evan Jacobs also popping in for the group shot.
While it's unlikely fans will ever get any kind of official follow-ups from the after-world of The Good Place, we can possibly rest assured — or perhaps rest a-Schur-ed — that its creator will keep giving us winks, nods, and split-second cameos for the foreseeable future. Now let's get Season 2 in motion, what's say?
And while I'm throwing out random requests, here's hoping Ted Danson gets to make a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in the second season of Kristen Bell's Netflix series Nobody Wants This.
