<Li> Ted Danson as Michael , the architect of The Good Place where Eleanor and her fellow humans reside . In the first - season finale , it is discovered that he is a Bad Place demon who constructed a fake `` Good Place '' to torture Eleanor , Chidi , Tahani , and Jason . Unfortunately , he ends up repeatedly restarting his experiment due to Eleanor ( and one time Jason ) always figuring out that `` The Good Place '' is `` The Bad Place , '' leading to his routine failure , as well as hiding the constant resets from Shawn in order to avoid `` retirement '' . As part of a truce he makes with Eleanor so his failing project will not be exposed and a chance to reform his behavior , Michael agrees to let the humans keep their memories and help them get into the true Good Place as well as to take Chidi 's ethics lessons . </Li>
who plays the bad guy in the good place
Ted Danson