''The Last Man on Earth'' is an American
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...
comedy television series created by and starring
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Forte is known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (2002–2010), a recurring character on the show leading to a feature film ada ...
.
It premiered on
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
on March 1, 2015.
The pilot episode was written by Forte, and directed by
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Philip Lord (born 12 July 1975) and Christopher Miller (born 23 September 1975) are an American filmmaking duo. After a meeting at Dartmouth College, they are known for creating the adult animated sitcom ''Clone High'' (2002–2003), directing an ...
.
The series was canceled after four seasons and aired its final episode on May 6, 2018.
Plot
Almost a year after a deadly virus sweeps the world, Phil Miller (
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Forte is known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (2002–2010), a recurring character on the show leading to a feature film ada ...
) is seemingly the only human survivor in late 2020. As he searches for others and paints signs in every state saying he is alive in his hometown of
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
, he finds no one. After years of being alone, he decides to run his truck into a rock to commit suicide. He happens to look off to the side right before he hits and sees smoke; he ends up discovering another survivor, Carol Pilbasian (
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on '' ...
).
Despite being annoyed by each other, Carol believes it is their job as the last two survivors to repopulate the world but insists Phil marry her so their children will not be born out of wedlock. Although Phil thinks that it is ridiculous to hang on to traditions from the "old world", they marry for re-population purposes. When Phil's irritating attitude leads to his banishment from Tucson, Carol leaves with him.
In season 2, Phil and Carol continue their road trip in the middle of 2023.
They discover the group has relocated to
Malibu, California
Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...
and travel there to reunite with them and rebuild trust. Meanwhile, Phil's astronaut brother Mike Miller (
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...
) crashes down to Earth and finds his way to Malibu, where he joins the survivors briefly before getting sick and is ostracized by most of the group for seemingly having been infected with the virus.
In season 3, following a potential threat by paranoid and violent survivor Pat Brown (
Mark Boone Junior
Mark Boone Junior (born Mark Heidrich; March 17, 1955) is an American character actor, best known for his TV roles as Bobby Munson in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–14) and Patrick "Pat" Brown in '' Last Man On Earth'', and film roles in Christopher ...
), the other survivors move to a self-sustaining office building in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
, where Melissa (
January Jones
January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and model. She played Betty Draper in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Pri ...
) struggles with mental instability and Carol discovers a young boy living in the woods whom they name Jasper. As time passes, Erica (
Cleopatra Coleman
Cleopatra Coleman (born 29 October 1987) is an Australian actress. She is known for playing Erica on the American comedy series '' The Last Man on Earth'' and Rya in the Netflix original sci-fi thriller '' In the Shadow of the Moon''.
Early l ...
) gives birth to a girl named Dawn, and the group decides to leave the United States for Mexico after seeing a nuclear facility meltdown close to the office.
In season 4, Pamela Brinton (
Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig (; born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York. She moved to Los Angeles, where she joi ...
), a rich woman living in a bunker, discovers the group via a
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
. The group ends up on a boat and first meet Pamela after she kills Pat. Pamela kidnaps Phil while the other survivors end up stranded on an island. Here they meet Glenn (
Chris Elliott
Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...
), who has been on the island before the virus broke out. Pamela's guilt over abandoning the group becomes too much and they sail back to the island. The survivors move to
Zihuatanejo
Zihuatanejo (), or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was known by 18th century English mariners as Chequetan or Seguataneo. Politically the city belongs to the municipalities of Mexico, municipali ...
, Mexico and while there, Carol gives birth to twin daughters and becomes pregnant again a few weeks later; Erica becomes pregnant again with Todd's (
Mel Rodriguez
Melvin Dimas Rodríguez (born June 12, 1973) is an American actor, best known for starring as Nurse Patsy de la Serda on the HBO comedy '' Getting On'', as Todd Rodriguez on the Fox comedy '' The Last Man on Earth'', and as Ernie Gomes on the S ...
) first child; and Mike temporarily rejoins the group, having recovered from what was actually a weakened immune system, before leaving to search for a way to start his own family. During a hunt for the missing Jasper, Phil and Todd end up meeting Karl (
Fred Armisen
Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series ''Portlandia''. He ...
) at a jail, who poses as a jailer but is in fact a cannibal. He terrifies them until they decide to kill him, before he kills one or all of them. However, he ends up finding a
Rubik's Cube
The Rubik's Cube is a Three-dimensional space, 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarians, Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik t ...
that, once solved, explodes. Following a brief reunion with a recovered Mike, the main group then moves to
Tapachula
Tapachula de Córdova y Ordóñez, simply known as Tapachula, is a city and municipality located in the far southeast of the state of Chiapas in Mexico, near the Guatemalan border and the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most important cities of ...
, only to be found and surrounded by dozens of underground survivors.
Although the series was canceled, the plan for the subsequent season was to have both groups of survivors live together and gain one another's trust before the main characters ended up infecting and killing all of the others as
carriers of the virus.
Cast
Main
![Will Forte April 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Will_Forte_April_2015.jpg)
*
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Forte is known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (2002–2010), a recurring character on the show leading to a feature film ada ...
as Philip Tandy Miller (first addressed by the other characters as "Phil", then "Tandy"), an average, socially challenged man and seemingly the only human survivor after a virus wiped out nearly the entire population about a year earlier. He moves back to his hometown of
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
, after having painted "Alive in Tucson" on billboards and highway signs in all 50 states, hoping others might see the message. In his pre-virus life, he worked temp jobs and lived in a studio apartment for which his parents paid the rent. Out of loneliness, he draws faces on various sports balls as his "buddies", begins speaking to them, and gives them such names as
Terence, Trent and D'Arby. In season 1, to avoid confusion with the second Phil Miller, Phil claims his middle name is Tandy, which the other characters use to address him despite finding it unusual. In the season 1 finale "Screw the Moon," Phil reintroduced himself to Carol as Philip K. Miller, suggesting his actual middle name is Kandy. Phil is married to Carol and they have twin girls together. Forte describes him as "a selfish person who sometimes borders on being a flat-out sociopath".
Jacob Tremblay
Jacob Tremblay ( ; born October 5, 2006) is a Canadian actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Canadian Screen Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award, tw ...
portrays young Phil, who appears to his brother Mike in multiple visions in the episode "Pitch Black".
*
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on '' ...
as Carol Andrew Pilbasian Miller, a
notary
A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems.
A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...
from
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
who sees Phil's "Alive in Tucson" sign and travels there to find survivors. She pressures Phil to marry her so they can work towards repopulating the Earth with "legitimate" children, but they are a poor match early on as Phil isn't attracted to her (something that gets reinforced when a prettier survivor named Melissa makes her way to Tucson) and Carol spends most of her time badgering Phil for his bad behavior. Carol is shown to be compassionate and is good friends with Melissa and Todd but can hold grudges and be stridently moralistic.
Carol and Phil divorce in the middle of the first season, but Carol chooses to leave with Phil after he is banished from Tucson and they subsequently remarry. In the second season, she and Phil regain the survivors' trust, and she becomes pregnant with Phil's child after he finally tells her he loves her. In the fourth season, she gives birth to twin daughters Bezequille and Mike, the latter named for Phil's brother.
*
January Jones
January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and model. She played Betty Draper in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Pri ...
as Melissa Shart ("Chartres" was used in the season 2 episode, "
The Boo
''The Boo'' was the first book by writer Pat Conroy. Written when Conroy was newly graduated (1967) from The Citadel
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military col ...
",) a former real estate agent from
Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...
who used to be married to the late Greg until he cheated on her with a police officer. She meets Phil and Carol after they crash their pickup truck into her limousine. She saw Phil's original "Alive in Tucson" sign and traveled to Tucson before Carol. Phil is initially very attracted to her and frequently vies for her affection despite having just married Carol, but Melissa does not like or trust him. She begins dating Todd after he joins the group.
In the second season, Melissa decides she does not want to have children and breaks up with Todd, but when she changes her mind, she and Gail eventually agree to simultaneously date Todd. In season 3, Melissa kills Darrell, one of paranoiac Pat Brown's crew, and consequently starts acting strangely, ultimately forcing Todd to lock her in a focus-group room to stop her from jumping off a building. The survivors help cure her condition using
Clozapine
Clozapine is a psychiatric medication and is the first atypical antipsychotic (also called second-generation antipsychotic). It is primarily used to treat people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders who have had an inadequate respo ...
, and Melissa marries Todd near the end of the third season.
*
Mel Rodriguez
Melvin Dimas Rodríguez (born June 12, 1973) is an American actor, best known for starring as Nurse Patsy de la Serda on the HBO comedy '' Getting On'', as Todd Rodriguez on the Fox comedy '' The Last Man on Earth'', and as Ernie Gomes on the S ...
as Todd Dimas Rodriguez, another surviving man who, while on his way to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, finds Phil and company after he sees some fireworks set off by Phil. Kind and selfless, Todd's nature leads to him becoming the most likable member of the group, much to Phil's increasing annoyance. He and Melissa become very close and begin a romantic relationship shortly after they meet.
[ In season 2, Todd's love life becomes increasingly complicated: he finds himself torn between Melissa, who breaks up with him for a while; Gail, who starts dating him simultaneously with Melissa; Erica, who tells him that the late Phil II chose him as a surrogate father for her baby; and even Carol, who approaches him with a surprise request to impregnate her when she thinks Phil (Tandy) is sterile. In season 3, when Gail breaks up with him, Todd hopes to win back Melissa until he is frightened by her strange behavior resulting from killing Darrell. He is eventually able to cure her condition using Clozapine, and they marry. In the fourth season, after Melissa decides once again that she does not want to have children, Todd struggles with baby fever until Erica agrees to have a child with him, and she announces her pregnancy with his first child at the end of "Designated Survivors".
* ]Cleopatra Coleman
Cleopatra Coleman (born 29 October 1987) is an Australian actress. She is known for playing Erica on the American comedy series '' The Last Man on Earth'' and Rya in the Netflix original sci-fi thriller '' In the Shadow of the Moon''.
Early l ...
as Erica Dundee, an Australian woman and self-described "political nerd." After the outbreak of the virus, she met Gail at the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
and the two became traveling companions. They discover Phil upon spotting a fire he started, then move in with the rest of the survivors. In the second season, Erica becomes pregnant with Phil II's child but decides to not involve him in their child's life when he openly flirts with Carol. In " Smart and Stupid," she tells Mike, whom she is dating, that she was imprisoned for armed bank robbery before traveling to the United States and getting a job at the State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
under an assumed name. Toward the end of season 3, she gives birth to her daughter, whom she names Dawn. She later starts a romantic relationship with Gail and they get married in season 4.
* Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film ''Goin' ...
as Gail Klosterman (recurring season 1; starring seasons 2–4), a chef and former restaurant owner from Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States.
With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...
. After the outbreak of the virus, she met Erica, and the two became traveling companions. Gail mentions having had a husband but does not reveal what happened to him. In season 2, she develops a relationship with another survivor named Gordon (Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...
), but after Gordon dies of a heart attack, she has trouble finding closure and even dresses up a mannequin to look like Gordon, until she starts dating Todd. In season 3, she tells Carol, who wants Gail to adopt her so her child can have a grandmother, that she also had a child who died before the outbreak of the virus. To avoid being annoyed by Carol about their newly formed family, Gail finds solace in an elevator, but the elevator loses its power and traps her inside until Phil restores the power in " The Spirit of St. Lewis". She begins a romantic relationship with Erica during the six months after the episode " Name 20 Picnics...Now!", which continues into the season 4 and leads to them getting married.
Recurring
* Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...
as Michael Shelby "Mike" Miller (guest season 1, recurring seasons 2 and 4), the more successful younger brother of Phil (Tandy) and an astronaut who survives in Earth's orbit aboard the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
. Like Phil and his sports balls, he talks to pet worms out of loneliness. He also appears in a still photograph in the premiere episode with his brother and parents. In the season 2 mid-season finale, Mike begins his return to Earth with a newborn companion worm. After he lands in the sea, paranoid seaman Pat Brown abandons him on shore, but he finds his way to Malibu using an "Alive in Tucson" sign, his inference that Phil would have moved into the cul-de-sac following the apocalypse, and a letter from Melissa. Though his sibling rivalry
Sibling rivalry is a type of competition or animosity among siblings, whether blood-related or not.
Siblings generally spend more time together during childhood than they do with parents. The sibling bond is often complicated and is influenced ...
with Phil resurfaces, the brothers eventually reconcile and explain to each other how their parents were proud of them both. In "Smart and Stupid", Mike starts coughing up blood, a sign of the virus, and departs to avoid having the group grieve his death. When Phil finds Mike at their childhood home in Tucson, they spend a day growing closer than ever before Mike begs Phil in his "dying wish" to leave. Phil returns to the house briefly in season 3 to see if Mike is still alive but chooses not to enter Mike's bedroom, leaving without confirming his brother's status. Mike rejoins the group near the end of the season 4, having recovered from what was actually a weakened immune system he suffered from being in space. He is then introduced to his new nieces Bezequille and Mike, who he is happy to learn was named Mike in his honor. The thermal imaging device Mike used to find the group soon indicates a mysterious blob, which the group does not initially know means there is a colony of dozens of survivors living nearby. He then leaves in hopes of finding a way to start his own family.
* Boris Kodjoe
Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe (; born March 8, 1973) is a German actor, producer, and former model best known for his roles as Kelby in the 2002 film ''Brown Sugar'', the sports-courier agent Damon Carter on the Showtime drama ser ...
as Philip Stacy "Phil" Miller (seasons 1–2), a former member of the Special Forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
from High Point, North Carolina
High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...
. He discovers the rest of the survivors after finding the original Phil sunburned and unconscious on a billboard. Also a former contractor, his skills with construction—as well as his good looks—soon make him a favorite among the women in the group. He and the original Phil, who must go by "Tandy" after losing a Jenga
Jenga is a game of physical skill created by British board game designer and author Leslie Scott and marketed by Hasbro. Players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then placed on ...
competition to him, become rivals shortly after meeting. In season 2, he openly flirts with Carol while he is dating Erica. He attempts to leave the group, frustrated by their lack of seriousness and dependence on him to do all of the physical labor, but learns that Erica is pregnant with his child. Just as he mends his relationship with her and Tandy, he suffers from appendicitis and requests that Erica not let Tandy help raise their child if he does not survive. He finally dies during a botched appendectomy performed by Gail and Todd, neither of whom has medical experience. After the group says goodbye to Phil, Tandy learns that, despite Phil's earlier claim that he had no middle name, his middle name was Stacy.
* Mark Boone Junior
Mark Boone Junior (born Mark Heidrich; March 17, 1955) is an American character actor, best known for his TV roles as Bobby Munson in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–14) and Patrick "Pat" Brown in '' Last Man On Earth'', and film roles in Christopher ...
as Patrick "Pat" Brown (seasons 2–4), the first person Mike encounters after returning to Earth. A former tennis champion and ice cream truck driver, he wanders the sea on a yacht, fearing that the virus has still contaminated the land and that anyone he meets could be carrying it. He also believes the U.S. government has gone into hiding in bunkers and plotted a conspiracy to trap survivors. He abandons Mike in Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
when he thinks he has accidentally killed him by exposing him to the virus. Between the events of "Pitch Black" and "30 Years of Science Down the Tubes", Pat meets two other survivors named Darrell and Lewis while sailing around North America via the Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...
. Armed with rifles, the three men approach the Malibu mansion at the start of the third season. Although Pat and Lewis later convince the group of their peaceful intent, Pat suddenly turns on them when he realizes Phil and Mike are related, but he is hit with the ''A-Team'' van as everyone else escapes from him in it. He is presumed dead until his body and boat vanish. When he sees the group driving towards a marina at the end of season 3, Pat tries to kill them before Pamela shoots him in the head.
* Kenneth Choi
Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), Chester Ming in Martin Scorsese's '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), and Judge Lance It ...
as Lewis (season 3), a gay arborist from Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
whose partner Mark is presumed to have been killed by the virus. He first comes to Malibu as part of Pat's crew but defects and joins the main group when Pat refuses to make peace with Phil (Tandy). He greatly fears Pat, especially since Pat told him he previously killed someone. After moving into a self-sustaining office building in San Jose with the rest of the group, he considers the possibility that Mark might still be alive in Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
and begins teaching himself aviation so he can fly there and investigate. In the middle of season 3, Lewis is killed 10 seconds after takeoff when he attempts his first flight in a real plane.
* Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig (; born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York. She moved to Los Angeles, where she joi ...
as Pamela Brinton (seasons 3–4), a wealthy socialite and philanthropist who hid from the virus in an underground bunker with her dog Jeremy. During her time in the bunker, she learned to pilot its surveillance drone
A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, reconnaissance, observ ...
, which Gail first saw near the end of the second season. She leaves the bunker upon discovering the others even though the connection is lost because Melissa shoots the drone out of the sky. Pamela introduces herself to the group after shooting Pat in the head to save them. She then abducts Tandy for herself upon hearing the other ladies' plans to abandon her, but she redeems herself as she realizes the errors of her actions and joins castaway Glenn on a search for his children.
* Keith L. Williams as "Jasper" (seasons 3–4), an initially silent young boy who is discovered in the background of Carol and Gail's family photos wearing a Yoda
Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' universe, first appearing in the 1980 film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until ...
costume. Phil names him "Jasper" after his JanSport
JanSport is an American brand of backpacks and collegiate apparel, now owned by VF Corporation, one of the world's largest apparel companies. JanSport is the world's largest backpack maker, and together, JanSport and The North Face, also owned by ...
backpack, and the child chooses Erica as his parental figure despite Phil's attempts to bond with him. The group put together a party for him that celebrates every major holiday packed into one and make various attempts to get his attention and obedience to their authority. Six months later, he finally starts speaking. Following the births of Dawn, Bezequille and Mike, Carol and Erica begin competing for their children to start relationships with Jasper so they don't end up alone without any playmates. Jasper becomes uncomfortable with this competition along with Todd's repeated attempts to bond with him, so he runs away from the house. Two episodes after his disappearance, Melissa, seemingly the only adult who can bond with Jasper, reveals that she knows his location and has been dropping off coolers of food near him so he can eat.
* Chris Elliott
Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...
as Glenn (season 4), a castaway whom the group meets on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. He missed the apocalypse and thus knows nothing about the virus until Carol informs him about it, then joins the group in their return to the mainland, where he begins a relationship with Pamela and invites her on a search for his children.
* Fred Armisen
Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series ''Portlandia''. He ...
as Karl Cowperthwaite (season 4), a cannibalistic serial killer who was arrested before the outbreak of the virus and placed in a prison near Zihuatanejo, Mexico, where Phil and Todd find him while looking for Jasper. His preferred method of killing his victims is by bringing them to his house, painting portraits of them, and killing them, presumably with a knife. Karl kills the only other survivor in the prison, a guard named Martinez (Geoffrey Rivas), who had planned to leave Karl to die alone, before Phil and Todd find him. Karl steals Martinez's uniform and identity and is welcomed into the main group, but Phil and Todd soon catch him eating part of a long-deceased corpse. Though the survivors put him back in prison, Karl escapes and is eventually killed after he solves a Rubik's Cube, setting off a bomb hidden inside it.
Guests
* Alexandra Daddario
Alexandra Anna Daddario (born March 16, 1986) is an American actress who had her breakthrough portraying Annabeth Chase in the ''Percy Jackson'' film series (2010–2013). In 2021, she starred in the first season of the HBO series ''The White ...
as Victoria (season 1), an attractive woman that Phil (Tandy) hallucinates before he meets Carol.
* Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...
as Gordon Vanderkruik (season 2), a survivor living in Malibu, who dies from a heart attack from the shock of Carol's sudden appearance. When Gordon first met the other survivors some time between the events of the first and second seasons, he developed a relationship with Gail. His grave indicates that he was born in 1978 and died in 2023.
* Jon Hamm
Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televisi ...
as Darrell (season 3), a man who sails to Malibu with Pat and Lewis but is shot and killed by Melissa in the ensuing confusion on their intentions.
* Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Born to actor Bruce Dern and ac ...
as Catherine (season 3), Pamela's socialite friend, who purchases a bunker to escape infection but ultimately succumbs to the virus before she can enter.
* Timothy V. Murphy as Benjamin Brinton (season 3), Pamela's husband, who dies from the virus.
* Jack Black
Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...
as Rear Admiral Roy Billups (season 4), a United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
officer and Pamela's lover whom Pat shoots before she finally kills Pat outright.
* Alma Martinez as "La Abuela" Gordillo (season 4), a Mexican drug cartel leader who, in a flashback to 2017, occupies the Zihuatanejo mansion wherein the main group settles in the present before she is slain by her henchman Panchito, who is presumably an undercover police officer.
* Jack Guzman
''Power Rangers Wild Force'' is the 2002 Power Rangers season that tells the story of the Wild Force Power Rangers and their fight against the Orgs.
Wild Force Power Rangers
The Wild Force Rangers are granted mystical powers and charged to prot ...
as Hector (season 4), one of La Abuela's henchmen who, in a flashback to 2017, prepares a bomb to avoid being killed by her before hiding the bomb in a Rubik's Cube.
* Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester (; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on ''Gossip Girl'' on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films ...
as Zoe (season 4), a woman with whom Karl goes on an unsuccessful date.
* Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada.
He ...
as an unnamed sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
driver (season 4), whom Karl kills so he can quickly escape to Mexico in his stolen car.
Background and production
The show originated from the writing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Philip Lord (born 12 July 1975) and Christopher Miller (born 23 September 1975) are an American filmmaking duo. After a meeting at Dartmouth College, they are known for creating the adult animated sitcom ''Clone High'' (2002–2003), directing an ...
, who had the idea initially for a feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
. They approached longtime collaborator and former ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' cast member Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Forte is known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (2002–2010), a recurring character on the show leading to a feature film ada ...
with the premise, who "took a spark to it and took it in his own direction", according to Miller. He was partially inspired by the series ''Life After People
''Life After People'' is a television series on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of planet Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. The featured experts also talk about the impact of hu ...
''. "I love comedy where there's a lot of tension and even though it's very far-fetched, it seems very relatable", said Forte of the premise. Forte's treatment for the series, crafted over a weekend, was pitched around Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
to positive responses. They mainly pitched to cable and Internet services, as Forte believed a broadcast network would be stricter on content. In their pitch, much of the outline of the series' first season was formulated. Fox, the show's eventual distributor, was instead doing "something different" and specific to his vision, according to Miller.
Forte spoke on the show's creative freedom in a 2015 interview:
Filming the series was challenging. For example, maintaining silence and not picking up sounds of cars in the distance made it difficult. In addition to Forte's fascination with ''Life After People
''Life After People'' is a television series on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of planet Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. The featured experts also talk about the impact of hu ...
'', similar films discussed while writing the show included ''The Omega Man
''The Omega Man'' (stylized as ''The Ωmega Man'') is a 1971 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston as a survivor of a pandemic. It was written by John William Corrington and Joyce Corrington, b ...
'', '' I Am Legend'', and ''28 Days Later
''28 Days Later'' is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. It stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagi ...
''. Fox particularly appreciated the heart of the story, with its universal theme. According to Lord, "We always talked about that this is a person who is very flawed, and a person who maybe needed the entire world to end in order for him to become his best self. ..That was our big thought, well here's a guy who maybe he wasn't the best guy in the regular world, but if you took the regular world away, could he eventually get back to being the person that all of us hope that we can be."
The name of the main character, Phil Tandy Miller, is based on the names of the two executive producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
According to Miller, "there are no zombies" in the series.
For the second season, Dan Sterling
Dan Sterling is an American screenwriter and television producer who has worked on many successful television shows, including ''King of the Hill'', '' Kitchen Confidential'', ''The Daily Show'', ''South Park'', ''The Sarah Silverman Program'' and ...
joined as executive producer and took over the role of showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
from Forte, who was the showrunner for the first season.
The main recording location for the series was a 20th Century Fox studio in Chatsworth, California
Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley.
The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...
.
Episodes
Reception
Ratings
For its one-hour premiere, ''The Last Man on Earth'' received 5.75 million viewers with an average 2.4 rating among adults 18–49, making it the highest-rated broadcast series of the evening in that demographic. While ratings declined overall, the show did well enough with young male viewers to justify renewal.
Critical reception
''The Last Man on Earth'' received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the first season has a score of 72, based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the season has an 84% approval rating with an average score of 7.74 out of 10 based on 50 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "It may run out of steam before the season's over, but ''The Last Man on Earth''s ambitious concept and comedic undertone are enough to lure viewers in." Tim Goodman of ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' called the show "a genre-busting breakout that's creative, nuanced and inspired". Robert Bianco of ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' praised Forte's "audacity, inventiveness and achievement". Hank Stuever of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' called it "a charming and intelligent sendup of pop culture's obsession with the end of everything". ''Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' Willa Paskin called the program "well-made, polished, odd, surprisingly funny". "For a show that shouldn't really work at all, ''Last Man'' works pretty well", remarked Margaret Lyons of Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
.
''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' Jeff Jensen called it "profoundly funny", and sustainable if it continues the "ingenuity, surprises, and craftsmanship". "I was impressed by ''The Last Man on Earth'', and hope it can continue to spin stories and character development out of its somewhat narrow premise", wrote Matthew Gilbert of ''The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''.
Several critics, such as Maureen Ryan of ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' and David Hinckley of the ''New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'', have questioned the show's future. Mike Hale of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' deemed the show "well made, meticulous in its comic details and pleasantly acted", though noting that part of the show's appeal "dissipates" past the pilot episode. Brian Lowry of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' opined that "the premise calls for a level of creativity from the producers that these episodes don't consistently deliver. That's not to say 'I wouldn't watch him if he were the last man on Earth.' But like the fate of humanity within the series, while the future certainly isn't hopeless, neither does it look particularly bright."
Subsequent seasons also received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an 86% approval rating with an average score of 7.76 out of 10 based on 14 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "Season two of ''The Last Man on Earth'' brings a change of venue and renewed focus on the chemistry between Forte and Schaal, and may win back some viewers who were turned off in season one." The third season has a 78% approval rating with an average score of 7.09 out of 10 based on 9 reviews, with a critical consensus of, "Though it at times feels stuck in place, ''The Last Man on Earth''s third season manages to find a way to make the end of the world fun again." The fourth season has a 92% approval rating with an average score of 7 out of 10 based on 12 reviews, with a critical consensus of, "''The Last Man on Earth''s fourth and final season is an apocalyptic affirmation of friendship, plumbing such joyful chemistry between its ensemble that it will satisfy audiences in spite of the cliffhanger conclusion."
Accolades
Home media
The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 22, 2015. The set contains audio commentaries for "The Elephant in the Room" and "Screw the Moon"; ''The Last Man on Earth'' Q&A Panel; "Survival of the Funniest: Creating ''The Last Man on Earth''" featurette; deleted scene
A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...
s; and a gag reel
A blooper is a short clip from a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms o ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Man on Earth, The
2015 American television series debuts
2018 American television series endings
2010s American single-camera sitcoms
English-language television shows
Fox Broadcasting Company original programming
Post-apocalyptic television series
San Jose, California in fiction
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television series set in the 2020s
Television shows set in Malibu, California
Television shows set in Santa Clara County, California
Television shows set in Tucson, Arizona
Television shows set in Mexico
Television shows scored by Mark Mothersbaugh