The feel-good viral show signed off after eight quarantine episodes produced and hosted by Krasinski before his triumphant announcement that he’d sold the show to ViacomCBS was met with an instant fan backlash.
It certainly wasn’t the good news John Krasinski was likely expecting when he shared in on the big announcement that his viral quarantine sensation, “Some Good News,” had been sold to ViacomCBS after a massive bidding war.
Featuring surprise cast reunions from the likes of “Hamilton” and his own “The Office,” as well as a virtual prom with huge stars, “SGN” quickly became one of the most talked about YouTube series during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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After all, the whole point of the show — and even it’s name — is something that many feel is in desperate need at this time. And so, Krasinksi’s focus was on nothing but positive, uplifting, feel-good news stories, and happy moments like this.
So why the instant backlash when he proudly announced that this deal would allow those good vibes to continue? It may be simply that Krasinski bungled the delivery.
Finally, he offered some clarity on Wednesday while appearing with his friend and former “Office” co-star Rainn Wilson on the latter’s “Hey There, Human” Instagram Live series, as well as some hope for fans of classic “SGN.”
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“I would love to keep doing the show from my office forever,” Krasinski said. “It just wasn’t sustainable.”
He further said that he’d always planned on doing just eight of them from his home during the quarantine, but knew that there was no way he could maintain that weekly grind once he was able to get back to his day job (as a very in-demand actor).
“I have these other things that I’m going to be having to do very soon, like ‘Jack Ryan’ and all this other stuff,” the actor said. “Writing, directing, and producing — all those things — with a couple of my friends was so much.”
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And so, in his mind he had two choices. He could simply wind down “SGN” when needed and get back to work, or he could sell it to someone else to keep things going. When put like this, it does sound reasonable and logical.
Alas, this wasn’t at all how it was presented to fans. Instead, Krasinski wrapped the May 17 show by telling his viewers this would be the last episode of “SGN” for awhile. Then, the next word anyone got was that he’d sold it to ViacomCBS, with no real explanation like he’d just laid out to Wilson.
Instead, fans were left to think that he’d sold out, taking this fun and quirky little thing he’d made available for free to help people through a challenging ordeal and then cashing out when the money was good — and after a bidding war, it surely was.
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In the minds of many, this undermined the spirit of the whole operation. But hearing from Krasinski that his only other alternative was to shut down the show entirely, it’s easy to see why he wanted to keep the spirit of “SGN” alive. He just could have, and probably should have, taken the time to help his viewers see and understand his plan as well.
Ideally, the last episode of “SGN” should have dropped at the same time as the ViacomCBS announcement, or shortly after. That way he could share and explain to everyone just how this was good news for the show, and why he felt it was necessary to go this route with his project.
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On the “good news” front, since that’s what we’re looking for here, Krasinski did expand on the announcement’s statement that he would be stepping away from hosting the show, while only promising some uncertain “on-air presence.”
We may never know if this was in response to the backlash or not, but fans will be thrilled to know that Krasinski even plans to “host a couple” of episodes, while helping to curate the show, bring together the on-air talent and stay as involved as he can.
“We have a lot of really fun stuff planned, and I can’t wait to dig in,” he said, emphasizing that he’s going to be an active part of the show whenever he can.
“We’re really, really excited about it,” he said. “I’ve received the most amazingly kind notes about how much that show meant to everyone, but the truth is, it meant no more to anyone than me. That’s probably the most emotionally fulfilled I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”
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