There is always Some Good News, says John Krasinski on his YouTube show… Some Good News. And he means it – every segment begins with happy and hopeful things, from doctors and nurses, to that little girl who wrote letters to her postman, to workers in the food and retail industries, to those lucky patients who made it back home. These are videos sent in by fans, with lots of references to The Office, and plenty of joy all around. There are weather checks from Robert de Niro and Brad Pitt, who agree that the weather is great wherever they are.
And then, Krasinski brings out the big guns – Zoom appearances from celebrities – and plenty of The Office regulars — to help you with whatever it was that you missed out on. There is a performance by the cast of Hamilton, led by Lin-Manuel Miranda in the (virtual) flesh for a girl who can’t travel to see them live. Malala and Oprah make an appearance for students who have missed graduation, while Chance the Rapper and the Jonas Brothers join Rainn Wilson for Prom. Martha Stewart and Guy Fieri heap effusive praise on home cooks and even try out their recipes on camera. And best of all, there is a wedding, with Pam Halpert playing bridesmaid and all the cast of The Office in attendance.
To say the show is wholesome is an understatement. Some Good News is the 15-minute video version of puppy cuddles and home-cooked pongal and afternoon naps and monsoon rains. Some Good News is what you’d play for Ebenezer Scrooge if you wanted to melt his heart in the first five minutes of the book, without all that faff about Tiny Tim. It’s sweet and nice and funny. Like Aziraphale in Good Omens, John Krasinski is just enough of a bastard to be worth watching – there is warmth and good-natured surprise at just all the positivity that fans have sent in, tempered by a little silliness and trash talk for his wife, Emily Blunt.
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Now cynics might say that this is really a covert plan for Krasinski to cash in on his good looks and the cult status of The Office. He’s even selling Some Good News tote bags with his face on them. This is absurd. Krasinski is a celebrity, for crying out loud – it’s his job to earn a living by providing entertainment to the likes of you and me. Of course he wants to profit off his ability to make wholesome videos and look pretty damn great even in a bright pink prom dress. To expect him to do otherwise would be to, I don’t know, expect politicians not to make statements with their eyes on the next elections. It’s all part of the game, and when the results are this good, I can’t complain.
(Following eight episodes, SGN was sold to CBS for an undisclosed amount in May. You can still stream the Original Krasinski-hosted show on Youtube.)