Kristen Bell (Eleanor) at the show’s Comic-Con panel, San Diego, July 2019, during the last season. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0Kristen Bell · 2019
William Jackson Harper (Chidi) at Comic-Con, San Diego, July 2018. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0William Jackson Harper · 2018
Manny Jacinto (Jason) at the show’s Comic-Con panel, San Diego, July 2019. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0Manny Jacinto · 2019
Ted Danson (Michael) at the show’s Comic-Con panel, San Diego, July 2018. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0Ted Danson · 2018
D’Arcy Carden (Janet) at Comic-Con, San Diego, July 2019. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0D’Arcy Carden · 2019
Jameela Jamil (Tahani) at the show’s Comic-Con panel, San Diego, July 2019. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0Jameela Jamil · 2019
The afterlife, made to order
Ask Janet.
In the show, Janet, played by D’Arcy Carden, can fetch anything out of an empty white void. Here she fetches the afterlife itself, and each thing arrives as the real place it was. The ones marked as stories were never filmed where they are set.
Choose a request. Janet will bring it into the void.
0 of 9 delivered
Universal City · the Little Europe backlot
The Neighborhood.
The Neighborhood looks like a pastiche of every culture at once. It is mostly one backlot, the Little Europe streets at Universal that played in the classic monster films, and its fronts are shared: Your Anticipated Needs is also a theatre in Amazon’s Homecoming.
Art director Adam Rowe worked on the original Neighborhood set. He says fans treat its frozen-yogurt shop as a place of pilgrimage.
Where we read it
The Neighborhood felt like a pastiche of different cultures.
The Universal backlot from the Studio Tour, May 2008: the lot where the Neighborhood’s Little Europe streets stand. Photo by Rob Young. Rob Young from United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
The bridge, season three.
The bridge between the afterlife and Earth was a real set, designed by Ian Phillips, about five feet off the ground and made of pieces that go together in different ways. Both ends of the crossing were the same platform. David Niednagel, the visual-effects supervisor, turned the sketch into the bridge on screen.
Michael’s end: Where Michael steps on to the bridge.
Where we read it
The bridge: designed by Ian Phillips, about five feet up, in pieces; both ends the same space; David Niednagel’s visual effects.
The Universal backlot from the Studio Tour, May 2008: the lot where the Neighborhood’s Little Europe streets stand. Photo by Rob Young. Rob Young from United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
The Neighborhood · Universal City
Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City
The Neighborhood: Little Europe, Universal
Most of the series was filmed at Universal Studios in Hollywood; the Neighborhood’s village exteriors were mainly shot on the Little Europe backlot.
Little Europe is a long-standing part of the Universal backlot, used in classic monster films and in television.
A working studio. The backlot is seen from the tram on the theme park’s Studio Tour; you cannot walk its streets.
Where we read it
Universal Studios Hollywood
The Studio Tour, Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal City · Park tickets and prices for your date on the official site
The theme park’s tram tour of the working Universal lot, home of the Little Europe backlot where the Neighborhood was built.
Leo Carrillo State Beach, Malibu, June 2017. Photo: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (US National Park Service). Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area · Public domain
The beach · Malibu
Leo Carrillo State Beach, Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
The beach: Leo Carrillo
The series’ fan wiki says its beach scenes were filmed here.
The park has 1.5 miles of beach on the Malibu coast. It was set up in 1953 and is named after the actor Leo Carrillo.
A state beach with tide pools and sea caves at the western end of Malibu. Parking is paid.
Where we read it
A garden and a mansion, 4.2 km apart
Pasadena and San Marino.
The heaven of the early episodes has its gardens in San Marino, at the Huntington, and its grandest house on South Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena, where the Rose Parade begins every New Year’s Day.
Liu Fang Yuan, the Chinese Garden at the Huntington, May 2016. Photo by Russ Allison Loar. Russ Allison Loar · CC BY-SA 4.0
The gardens · San Marino
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The gardens: the Huntington
The series was mainly filmed at the Huntington and at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Pasadena Magazine calls the Huntington the show’s stand-in for heaven.
The fan wiki lists the Chinese Garden among the scenes shot here.
Liu Fang Yuan, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, was dedicated on 26 February 2008, after artisans from Suzhou spent about six months building its first phase. It covers 12 acres.
The Huntington has about 120 acres of gardens, among them Japanese, Desert and Chinese gardens.
Open to visitors most days with a timed ticket. The Chinese Garden is in the north-west corner.
Where we read it
The Langham Hotels
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena
Pasadena · Rates for your dates on the hotel’s booking page
A grand hotel on 17 acres at 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue, its grounds laid out by the same hands as the nearby Huntington, which the photograph shows.
Tournament House, the Wrigley mansion on South Orange Grove Boulevard, Pasadena, June 2014. Photo by Ken Lund. Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
The pilot · Pasadena
391 South Orange Grove Boulevard, Pasadena
The green-roofed mansion: Tournament House
The pilot’s best-remembered scene, Eleanor causing chaos outside a green-roofed mansion, was shot at William Wrigley’s former home, now Tournament House.
It stands near the start of the Rose Parade route.
George Lawrence Stimson designed it in an Italian Renaissance style. After Mrs Wrigley died in 1958, it went to the City of Pasadena on condition that it house the Tournament of Roses.
The Rose Parade starts at Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard, runs north on Orange Grove, then turns east onto Colorado Boulevard.
The Tournament of Roses’ headquarters. The Wrigley Gardens around it are open; check the organiser’s site for house tours.
Where we read it
The Getty Center from the Central Garden, February 2009. Photo by Robert F. Tobler. Robert F. Tobler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Season four · Patty · January 2020
The real Good Place.
After four seasons of fakes, the show finally lets its people into the real thing, and it is a museum on a hill in Brentwood.
The penultimate episode reveals the real Good Place, and the Getty Center plays it.
Filming took one day, in the Central Garden, the museum courtyard and the entrance pavilion. Nothing was shot inside the galleries.
The Getty is closed to the public on Mondays, so the whole shoot had to fit into that one day.
The Getty had allowed filming on only three occasions; Star Trek Into Darkness used it as Starfleet headquarters.
Richard Meier designed it, and it opened on 16 December 1997. Robert Irwin designed the Central Garden.
A free museum on a hilltop, closed on Mondays. A cable-pulled tram climbs from the car park at the foot of the hill.
Where we read it
Viator · Ad / affiliate
Getty Center tours
Brentwood, Los Angeles
Live marketplace results for guided visits that include the Getty Center, the real Good Place. Entry to the museum itself is free.
When the four go back to Earth they scatter round the world: Sydney, Phoenix, Jacksonville, Budapest. The show stayed in Los Angeles. Only the Opera House, a named building, is on the map; the cities are shown, not pinned.
The Sydney Opera House, August 2018, the year Tahani’s anonymous gift is made on screen. Photo by Cabrils. Cabrils · CC BY-SA 4.0
Story setting · not filmed here
Bennelong Point, Sydney Harbour
Tahani’s gift: the Sydney Opera House
In season three’s Jeremy Bearimy, Tahani gives $2 million anonymously to the Sydney Opera House.
Earlier in the season Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason meet in Australia; in Sydney, Chidi decides to break up with Simone.
Jørn Utzon designed it. Queen Elizabeth II opened it on 20 October 1973.
A working arts centre with daily tours. The show was made in Los Angeles: this is a story setting, not a filming place.
In season three the Soul Squad reunites in Arizona.
Phoenix is Arizona’s capital, with over 1.6 million people at the 2020 census.
A story setting, not a filming place, and not pinned: the photograph shows downtown Phoenix.
Where we read itJacksonville from the St Johns River and the Main Street Bridge, January 2010: Jason’s home town. Photo by Jonathan Zander (Digon3). Jonathan Zander (Digon3) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Story setting · not filmed here
Jacksonville, Florida
Jason’s Jacksonville
Jason Mendoza is an amateur DJ from Jacksonville, Florida.
In season three Tahani and Michael travel to Jacksonville with Jason.
A story setting, not a filming place, and not pinned: the photograph shows the St Johns River and downtown.
Where we read itThe Danube and the Parliament, Budapest, February 2018, the year Tahani goes there on screen. Photo by Florian Fèvre. Florian Fèvre · CC BY-SA 4.0
Story setting · not filmed here
Budapest, Hungary
Tahani and Kamilah: Budapest
In season three the six meet in Budapest, where Tahani means to make peace with her sister Kamilah.
A story setting, not a filming place, and not pinned: the photograph shows the Parliament on the Danube.
Where we read it
At the show’s Comic-Con panels, July 2018 and July 2019
The residents.
Kristen Bell (Eleanor) at the show’s Comic-Con panel, San Diego, July 2019, during the last season. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0Kristen BellEleanor Shellstrop
Ted Danson (Michael) at the show’s Comic-Con panel, San Diego, July 2018. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0Ted DansonMichael
William Jackson Harper (Chidi) at Comic-Con, San Diego, July 2018. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0William Jackson HarperChidi Anagonye
Jameela Jamil (Tahani) at the show’s Comic-Con panel, San Diego, July 2019. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0Jameela JamilTahani Al-Jamil
D’Arcy Carden (Janet) at Comic-Con, San Diego, July 2019. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0D’Arcy CardenJanet
Manny Jacinto (Jason) at the show’s Comic-Con panel, San Diego, July 2019. Photo by Dominique Redfearn. Dominique Redfearn (Flickr: aitchisons) · CC BY 2.0Manny JacintoJason Mendoza
Michael Schur created the show for NBC and ran it. It began on 19 September 2016, when the pilot drew an estimated 8.04 million viewers, and ended on 30 January 2020 after 4 seasons and 53 episodes. It won a Peabody Award and 4 Hugo Awards.
Where we read it
Creator, run, seasons, episodes, cast and roles, the Peabody and the Hugos.
6 places you can visit: three in Los Angeles, two in Pasadena and San Marino, and the Sydney Opera House, the one story setting on the map. Phoenix, Jacksonville and Budapest are story settings, shown but not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working studio. The backlot is seen from the tram on the theme park’s Studio Tour; you cannot walk its streets.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A free museum on a hilltop, closed on Mondays. A cable-pulled tram climbs from the car park at the foot of the hill.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A state beach with tide pools and sea caves at the western end of Malibu. Parking is paid.
1The Universal backlot from the Studio Tour, May 2008: the lot where the Neighborhood’s Little Europe streets stand. Photo by Rob Young. Rob Young from United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City
The Neighborhood: Little Europe, Universal
Most of the series was filmed at Universal Studios in Hollywood; the Neighborhood’s village exteriors were mainly shot on the Little Europe backlot.
A working studio. The backlot is seen from the tram on the theme park’s Studio Tour; you cannot walk its streets.
Where we read it
2The Getty Center from the Central Garden, February 2009. Photo by Robert F. Tobler. Robert F. Tobler · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Getty Center, Brentwood, Los Angeles
The real Good Place: the Getty Center
The penultimate episode reveals the real Good Place, and the Getty Center plays it.
A free museum on a hilltop, closed on Mondays. A cable-pulled tram climbs from the car park at the foot of the hill.
Where we read it
3Leo Carrillo State Beach, Malibu, June 2017. Photo: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (US National Park Service). Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area · Public domain
Leo Carrillo State Beach, Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
The beach: Leo Carrillo
The series’ fan wiki says its beach scenes were filmed here.
A state beach with tide pools and sea caves at the western end of Malibu. Parking is paid.
Where we read it
Stay
By the gardens.
A grand old hotel next to the Huntington.
The Langham Hotels
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena
Pasadena · Rates for your dates on the hotel’s booking page
A grand hotel on 17 acres at 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue, its grounds laid out by the same hands as the nearby Huntington, which the photograph shows.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Janet’s files
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
9 of 9 places · 12 of 12 Moments
The Neighborhood: Little Europe, Universal
Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City
The Neighborhood
The Neighborhood’s village exteriors are mainly shot on Universal’s Little Europe backlot.
The frozen-yogurt shop
Adam Rowe recalls fans visiting the Neighborhood’s yogurt shop on the backlot.
Your Anticipated Needs
The Neighborhood’s Your Anticipated Needs shop is the same Little Europe set as Homecoming’s Lapenne Theatre.
The real Good Place: the Getty Center
The Getty Center, Brentwood, Los Angeles
Patty
In Patty, the real Good Place is revealed, filmed in one day at the Getty Center’s garden, courtyard and entrance pavilion.
The beach: Leo Carrillo
Leo Carrillo State Beach, Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
The beach
The fan wiki places the series’ beach scenes at Leo Carrillo State Beach.
The gardens: the Huntington
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A stand-in for heaven
The Huntington stands in for heaven, the Chinese Garden among its scenes.
The green-roofed mansion: Tournament House
391 South Orange Grove Boulevard, Pasadena
Everything Is Fine
In the pilot, Eleanor causes chaos outside a green-roofed mansion: the former Wrigley home in Pasadena.
Tahani’s gift: the Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney Harbour
Everything Is Bonzer!
Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason meet in Australia.
Jeremy Bearimy
Tahani gives $2 million anonymously to the Sydney Opera House.
Eleanor’s Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
The Worst Possible Use of Free Will
The Soul Squad reunites in Arizona.
Jason’s Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
The Ballad of Donkey Doug
Tahani and Michael travel to Jacksonville with Jason.
Tahani and Kamilah: Budapest
Budapest, Hungary
A Fractured Inheritance
Tahani tries to make peace with Kamilah in Budapest.
