It’s Way Past Time To Give D’Arcy Carden Her Very Own Show

Whether your first introduction to D’Arcy Carden was as Janet in The Good Place or Gemma in Broad City, you could probably tell from the moment she walked on screen that she is magnetically talented.

Effortlessly funny and brilliant with her comedic choices, Carden has become a staple in the TV space in recent years with her roles in shows like Barry, A League of Their Own, and more recently, Netflix’s Nobody Wants This starring her Good Place co-star Kristen Bell.

Even better, Carden makes a surprise appearance in Ted Danson’s new show, A Man on the Inside, with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo just enough to warm any Good Place lover’s heart. The actress also showed up to support both Bell and Danson at their joint Netflix comedy event in early November, laughing and posing for pictures with her co-stars and friends as they promoted the shows in which she appears.

As for her other former on-screen companions, William Jackson Harper (Chidi) has taken starring roles in The Resort and A Man in Full, Manny Jacinto (Jason) has been center stage in The Acolyte and Nine Perfect Strangers, while Jameela Jamil (Tahani) has helped to headline shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin.

All of this begs the question: Where Is D’Arcy Carden’s leading lady role?

Anyone who has seen Carden’s performance as Janet knows that she is not just an incredible actress, but a comedic powerhouse. I implore anyone who hasn’t watched The Good Place to check out the infamous scene in which Janet — an anthropomorphic after-life assistant — must beg for her life to stop Chidi and Elanor (Bell) from rebooting her system. The scene requires Carden to switch gears between comical and serious at the drop of a hat and it is one of many moments throughout the show that should’ve landed her an Emmy nomination.

Carden was so insanely outstanding in the NBC comedy that creator and showrunner Michael Schur entrusted her with an episode in Season 3 that, in my humble opinion, should be studied in television courses. In “Janet(s)” (Season 3, Episode 9), the Upright Citizens Brigade alum is tasked with embodying each of her cast members and their individual traits and quirks.

At the time, Carden was lauded for her shockingly accurate portrayal of the show’s other main characters — I cannot more strongly recommend checking out at least a clip of her Jason impression as it is uncanny to how Manny Jacinto played the role. On top of that Janet-centric episode, the actress had the daunting task of playing numerous other versions of her character, including Bad Janet and Neutral Janet, the antitheses to her traditional Good Place Janet.

Fast forward four years and despite having roles in dozens of projects — including lending her voice to FOX’s Krapopolis and Max’s Clone High — no streaming service or network has bet on her as the lead of her own series. Hence our appeal.

Don’t worry, though, Carden isn’t hurting for roles. Aside from the appearances in Danson and Bell’s respective Netflix shows, the actress has been in multiple films this year, including Sketch with Tony Hale, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews.

She also has spent the year working on her podcast, WikiHole, which involves Carden inviting some of her famous friends to fall down Wikipedia rabbit holes with her in a quiz-style series. Given that most of her besties are comedians and comedy players, the show is as funny as it is informative. If you’re in the mood for a new podcast and you like trivia, give it a try.

All of this is to say that Carden is teeming with talent and wholly deserving of a show where she takes the lead and everyone else follows. It’s not up to us to decide what that looks like but it is up to us to say that it should happen. Actually, our real argument is that it should have already happened but we will look past it.

I, for one, am tired of watching her pop up as the friend, sidekick, and supporting character in every new television show. I’m not actually tired, of course, because if it’s the difference between that and nothing then I will always choose even a brief cameo.

But the point still stands. Carden deserves herself a series and a good one, at that. I personally am fearing that we have another Judy Greer on our hands and it’s time we hand her the reins.

Hollywood, let this be the sign you have been looking for.