I went through a stretch a few weeks back where I was watching a lot of Veep, the HBO comedy where Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Vice President Selina Meyer.[1] And this week I finally cracked the seal on our DVR’s collection of The Good Place, the new Michael Schur comedy starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson.
That combination means I can finally share this piece from a few weeks back in which Steven Hyden posits that Louis-Dreyfus and Danson are the two finest comedy actors of the modern age. Then he breaks it down. It’s pretty excellent and I can’t believe no one has done it before.
Louis-Dreyfus is an absolute treasure. She’s come a long way from those forgettable SNL days.[2] And Danson has put together an incredibly solid post-Cheers run. As I said last winter, of all the amazing elements of season two of Fargo, he may have been the best. He was totally, recognizably Danson while adding incredible layers that were new. Seriously, watch the clip Hyden embeds.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus And Ted Danson Are The Two Best TV Actors Of The Modern Era