John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson had another virtual reunion, and this time they discussed Krasinski’s beloved quarantine YouTube series, Some Good News.
On Tuesday, Krasinski called into “Hey There, Human,” the daily Instagram Live series that Wilson hosts from SoulPancake. The two talked about everything from A Quiet Place II and parenting during the pandemic to The Office and more. But they also chatted about how much Some Good News means to Krasinski, why he started the show, and why he ultimately decided to sell it to ViacomCBS.
Wilson had guest starred on Some Good News twice, and the show built up quite the fanbase over the course of its eight-episode run. However, some viewers were crushed when they learned that the intimate series was being sold to a major network, especially because reports indicated that Krasinski would no longer be hosting.
Krasinski attempted to clear up confusion and assured fans that they haven’t seen the last of him behind the Some Good News news desk.
“Well it’s funny, it was one of those things where I was only planning on doing eight of them during quarantine, because I have these other things that I’m going to be having to do very soon, like Jack Ryan and all this other stuff,” Krasinski said. “More than that…writing, directing, and producing — all those things — with a couple of my friends was so much.”
“I knew it wouldn’t be sustainable with my prior commitments,” Krasinski said. So he felt the only two options would be to stop the show completely or sell it so that another team could keep it going.
“I would love to keep doing the show from my office forever,” he said. “It just wasn’t sustainable.”
“I can’t wait to dig in. I’m going to be a part of it whenever I can, and I’m going to host a couple.”
“In eight weeks [Some Good News] went from not existing to now being on one of these huge news networks,” Krasinski continued. “We have a lot of really fun stuff planned, and I can’t wait to dig in. I’m going to be a part of it whenever I can, and I’m going to host a couple [episodes] and bring on a different community of people. But we’re really, really excited about it.”
Though Krasinski won’t be as involved with Some Good News as he was when the show was shooting from his home office, he said he still holds it close to his heart.
“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,” Krasinski told Wilson. “That’s probably the most emotionally fulfilled I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”
Krasinski said he initially came up with the idea for Some Good News because he was “sitting around” and “starting to get bummed out.”
On March 25, just days after Krasinski had to delay the release of A Quiet Place II and the Saturday Night Live episode he was scheduled to host would be canceled, he put a call out on Twitter for his followers to share good news with him. Like everyone, he was trying to find some structure and positivity in a time of uncertainty, and Some Good News was the result.
“I said to my wife I had this idea a few years ago to start a good news network and she said you should do it right now, and so I went in my office and did it right there,” Krasinski told Wilson. “I felt like I was part of a really, really special community of people who not only brought all the good news but all this interaction, and we had the most fantastic community of people like you and SoulPancake. That’s how we feel about the Some Good News Community.”
“It was so much fun to celebrate good things during this really weird time,” Krasinski said.