Cut through the noise of bad news with Some Good News, the spot of sunshine effort orchestrated by John Krasinski in an effort to remind us that there is always good in the world.
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“For years now, I’ve been wondering, why is there not a news show dedicated entirely to good news?” asks John Krasinski, dressed as a news anchor from what appears to be a room in his state of quarantine, complete with a homemade sign that spells out SGN, which stands for Some Good News, and a card that says, I ❤ Dad. His thought to ponder isn’t completely unfounded, especially at a time when we are inundated by the second with gut-wrenching stories of despair, stacked up numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, and other asinine fragments of humanity that continue to populate our social media feeds and timelines.
While in the midst of a global pandemic that continues to pulverize the very foundation the world is built on, it is understandable how many of us have started to relent to the claustrophobia-compelling cabin fever. Needless to say, we have gone bat-shit crazy, and so has A Quiet Place orchestrator and John Ryan actor, John Krasinski. So, having the need to exhale from all the bad news, he naturally took to Twitter to air out his thoughts, asking his followers to send him stories that have made them feel good or just smile.
Alright everybody, how about #SomeGoodNews ! Send me the stories that have made you feel good this week or the things that just made you smile!
— John Krasinski (@johnkrasinski) March 25, 2020
“Desperately seeking my fix somewhere else, I reached out to all of you this week, asking—nay, begging—or some good news. And boy, did you deliver,” he announces from his anchorman’s seat. “This is your fault, and this is SGN.”
Now, for the good news.
The result is truly heartwarming, clearly essaying a consolidated effort to deflate the world of an encumbering depression brought about by an unprecedented and truly crippling crisis. John Krasinski continues to deliver the stories of surging hope amidst the hair-pulling reality we now live in, complete with a few jabs of wise-cracks here and there, of course.
Some Good News hosted by John Krasinksi fills in a gap in the saturated space of online entertainment, following the lead of other late night talk show hosts making their presence fully felt in the digital sphere, albeit with truncated and simplified versions of the mammoth productions. Connecting now more than ever is of prime essence, and the likes of Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, James Corden, and Conan O’Brien realize, because for the time, this is the only space we have the full liberty to move around in a room at home with nothing but a camera and maybe even a microphone, but that’s just about it. No blinding lights, no riot of a studio audience, and no big band.
Apart from the crowd-sourced good news, John Krasinski also enlists several of his friends in the undertaking, interviewing The Office co-star and buddy, Steve Carrell. “We are trying to start a news network just for good news, and boy are you good news,” chides John Krasinki, where they reminisce on their days working on the now iconic sitcom. Proving that this commitment was no fluke, Some Good News dedicated a segment of its second episode to his new friend, Aubrey, who was supposed to live out her dreams and watch the smash Broadway musical and culture turnstone that is Hamilton up until COVID-19 dashed her hopes. Much like in the episode one where he talked to his newest and biggest hero, cancer survivor, Coco, John Krasinski gave them their dose of good news, which for Aubrey meant a two-for-one delight: Meeting Emily Blunt (she watched Mary Poppins Returns when she found out the bad news) and much to her surprise, a Zoom call from Lin Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame, who then enjoined his cast mates to sing the rousing opening to the musical, Alexander Hamilton.
More than just an undertaking to while the time away productively while in isolation from the world, John Krasinki and Some Good News is a clear example of how underscoring human compassion is what we really need now. Yes, we need to face the facts and come to terms with reality, which means the bad and the ugly, but uplifting spirits in these uncertain times is proof that even when all seems grim, there is still a crack where the light can come in and fill up a space with brightness and happiness.
“This is SGN, asking you to remember that no matter how tough life can get, there’s always good in the world and we will see you next time,” says John Krasinski as he signs off, who despite a preface early on admitting he didn’t know what he was doing, clearly knows what he is doing. Well, except that just like us, he doesn’t care what he wears below the top half. A pair of shorts and a tutu? You do you, John, who are we to judge?
