On my walks every day I see lots of empty spaces. There are empty playgrounds and schools without the joyful shouts of children, empty sand volleyball courts without the camaraderie of friends and empty parks without the community we once knew. I am deeply saddened when I realize all we have lost. There is no doubt that our existence has changed. It is difficult not to feel miserable and disheartened in our desolation. As we sink further into our gloomy depths, Some Good News arrives, a YouTube series hosted by actor/writer/filmmaker John Krasinski, famous for playing Jim Halpert on the TV show The Office and Jack Ryan in the TV show of the same name.
Per Hayley Kaufman of The Boston Globe, Krasinski and his team got the YouTube show up and running in just a couple of weeks. He put out a call on Twitter asking fans to send him stories “that made you feel good this week or the things that just made you smile." The first video, released March 29, has now been viewed more than 16 million times.
He infuses some schtick into the proceedings, delivering his feel-good news in a suit and tie and with an occasional glint of Ron Burgundy-esque puffery, per Kaufman. Actress Emily Blunt, his wife, also makes cameos, such as when she jokingly trash talks her “Mary Poppins Returns” costar Lin-Manuel Miranda, who does her one better by rounding up the original cast of “Hamilton” for a video sing-along for a sweet cause. Krasinski heard that a 9-year-old “Hamilton” super fan named Aubry had been waiting to see the show, now canceled because of the shutdown. So, he brought the actors to her online. She spent much of the singalong wide-eyed with amazement.
According to Julia Alexander in The Verge, there are stories about the support cities around the world have shown health care workers from their own apartments, clapping and cheering out their windows. There are stories about a homeowner making a delivery driver’s day by leaving gifts on the porch. There are even stories about a man who purchased 100 lobsters in Maine to help a local fisherman. It’s an adorable video, made all the cuter by Krasinski’s sincerity. The channel has more than 335,000 subscribers.
“I’m John Krasinski, and if it isn’t clear yet, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing,” he said. With his low-budget set, including a logo drawn by his daughters, the series may not have the high-performance values we are used to, but it exudes a heart as big as Dallas.
He looks at how people and companies around the world have stepped up to provide much needed medical supplies, including hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer providing face shields for doctors and nurses on the frontlines fighting the coronavirus outbreak, according to Abid Rahman of The Hollywood Reporter.
Per Christy Carras at the LA Times, Krasinski is offering to DJ a CDC-approved virtual prom for students whose senior year got cut short by the pandemic.
Perhaps most striking about “SGN” is that he manages to give the videos some edge, tossing in asides about copyright infringement, unsolicited criticism from viewers and his own pique at never getting to play a superhero, per Kaufman. Of course, his deadpan only elevates the heartfelt moments he strings together.
Here is the approximately 16-minute video from Episode 2 of Some Good News:
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