| The Last Man on Earth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Will Forte |
| Starring | |
| Composer(s) | Mark Mothersbaugh |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 67 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Chris Plourde |
| Cinematography | Christian Sprenger |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
|
| Distributor | 20th Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Picture format | |
| Original release | March 1, 2015 (2015-03-01) – May 6, 2018 (2018-05-06) |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Last Man on Earth is an American post-apocalyptic comedy television series created by and starring Will Forte.[2] It premiered on Fox on March 1, 2015.[2] The pilot episode was written by Forte, and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.[2] On April 8, 2015, the series was renewed for a second season,[3] which premiered on September 27, 2015.[4] On March 24, 2016, the show was renewed for a third season,[5] which premiered on September 25, 2016.[6] On May 10, 2017, Fox renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered on October 1, 2017.[7][8] On May 10, 2018, Fox cancelled the series after four seasons.[9]
Contents
Plot
Almost a year after a deadly virus sweeps the world, Phil Miller (Will Forte) 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, 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).[10] 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. Over the next several months, more survivors join them. 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.[11] They discover the group has relocated to Malibu, California and travel there to reunite with them and rebuild trust. Meanwhile, Phil's astronaut brother Mike Miller (Jason Sudeikis) 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 a paranoid and violent survivor Pat Brown (Mark Boone Junior), the other survivors move to a self-sustaining office building in San Jose, California, where Melissa (Will Forte) 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, 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).[10] 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. Over the next several months, more survivors join them. 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.[11] They discover the group has relocated to Malibu, California and travel there to reunite with them and rebuild trust. Meanwhile, Phil's astronaut brother Mike Miller (Jason Sudeikis) 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 a paranoid and violent survivor Pat Brown (Mark Boone Junior), the other survivors move to a self-sustaining office building in San Jose, California, where Melissa (January Jones) struggles with mental instability and Carol discovers a young boy living in the woods whom they name Jasper. As time passes, Erica (Cleopatra Coleman) gives birth to a girl named Dawn, and the group decides to leave the United States for Mexico after they see a nuclear facility meltdown close to the office.
In season 4, we see the story of a survivor named Pamela Brinton (Kristen Wiig), a rich woman who lives in a bunker and discovers the group via drone. The group ends up on a boat and first meet Pamela after she kills Pat. Pamela kidnaps Tandy while the other survivors end up stranded on an island. Here they meet Glenn (Chris Elliott), 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, 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) 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, Tandy and Todd end up meeting Karl (Fred In season 2, Phil and Carol continue their road trip in the middle of 2023.[11] They discover the group has relocated to Malibu, California and travel there to reunite with them and rebuild trust. Meanwhile, Phil's astronaut brother Mike Miller (Jason Sudeikis) 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 a paranoid and violent survivor Pat Brown (Mark Boone Junior), the other survivors move to a self-sustaining office building in San Jose, California, where Melissa (January Jones) struggles with mental instability and Carol discovers a young boy living in the woods whom they name Jasper. As time passes, Erica (Cleopatra Coleman) gives birth to a girl named Dawn, and the group decides to leave the United States for Mexico after they see a nuclear facility meltdown close to the office.
In season 4, we see the story of a survivor named Pamela Brinton (Kristen Wiig), a rich woman who lives in a bunker and discovers the group via drone. The group ends up on a boat and first meet Pamela after she kills Pat. Pamela kidnaps Tandy while the other survivors end up stranded on an island. Here they meet Glenn (Chris Elliott), 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, 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) 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, Tandy and Todd end up meeting Karl (Fred Armisen) at a jail, who poses as a jailer but is in fact a cannibal. He terrifies them until they decide they must kill him before he kills one or all of them; however, he ends up finding a Rubik's Cube that, once solved, explodes. The main group then moves to Tapachula, only to be found and surrounded by dozens of underground survivors as season 4 concludes.
Although the series was canceled with season 4, 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.[12]
The show originated from the writing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who had the idea initially for a feature film. They approached longtime collaborator and former Saturday Night Live cast member Will Forte with the premise, who "took a spark to it and took it in his own direction", according to Miller.[33] He was partially inspired by the series Life After People. "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.[34] Forte's treatment for the series, crafted over a weekend, was pitched around Hollywood to positive responses. They mainly pitched to cable and Internet services, as Forte believed a broadcast network would be stricter on content.[33] In their pitch, much of the outline of the series' first season was formulated.[35] Fox, the show's eventual distributor, was instead doing "something different" and specific to his vision, according to Miller.[33]
Forte spoke on the show's creative freedom in a 2015 interview:
I think we always saw this as more of a cable show, to be honest. They claimed from the get-go that they didn't want to change the tone of the show, and I think I went in with an eyebrow raised, thinking, okay, well when's it going to come out that we have to change it around? And they were great. They stuck by their pledge and let us make this different type of show. We're so happy to have had this experience. It was just a great, great experience with Fox.[35] Filming the series was challenging. For example, maintaining silence and not picking up sounds of cars in the distance made it difficult.[34] In addition to Forte's fascination with Life After People, similar films discussed while writing the show included The Omega Man, I Am Legend, and 28 Days Later.[35] 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."[35]
The name of the main character, Phil Tandy Miller, is based on the names of the two executive producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.[36]
According to Miller, "there are no zombies" in the series.[37]
For the second season, Dan Sterling joined as executive producer and took over the role of showrunner from Forte, who was the showrunner for the first season.[38]
The main recording location for the series was a 20th Century Fox studio in Chatsworth, California.[39][40][41]
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 13 | March 1, 2015 (2015-03-01) | May 3, 2015 (2015-05-03) | ||
| 2 | 18 | September 27, 2015 (2015-09-27) | May 15, 2016 (2016-05-15) | ||
| 3 | 18 | September 25, 2016 (2016-09-25) | May 7, 2017 (2017-05-07) | ||
| 4 | 18 | October 1, 2017 (2017-10-01) | May 6, 2018 (2018-05-06) | ||
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.[42] While ratings declined overall, the show did well enough with young male viewers to justify renewal.[43]
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Viewership rank |
Avg. viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) |
Date | Viewers (millions) | ||||||
| 1 | Sunday 9:30 pm | 13 | March 1, 2015 | 5.75[42] | May 3, 2015 | 3.51[44] | 2014–15 | 93[45] | 6.07[45] |
| 2 | 18 | September 27, 2015 | 3.14[46] | May 15, 2016 | 2.23[47] | 2015–16 | 114[48] | 4.23[48] | |
| 3 | 18 | September 25, 2016 | 2.23[49] | May 7, 2017 | 1.80[50] | 2016–17 | 122[51] | 3.29[51] | |
| 4 | 18 | October 1, 2017 | 2.28[52] | May 6, 2018 | 1.66[53] | 2017–18 | 152[54] | 2.93[54] | |
Critical reception
The Last Man on Earth received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, 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".[56] On Rotten Tomatoes, 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."[57] Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called the show "a genre-busting breakout that's creative, nuanced and inspired".[58] Robert Bianco of USA Today praised Forte's "audacity, inventiveness and achievement".[59] Hank Stuever of The Washington Post called it "a charming and intelligent sendup of pop culture's obsession with the end of everything".[60] Slate's Willa Paskin called the program "well-made, polished, odd, surprisingly funny".[61] "For a show that shouldn't really work at all, Last Man works pretty well", remarked Margaret Lyons of Vulture.[62]
Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen called it "profoundly funny", and sustainable if it continues the "ingenuity, surprises, and craftsmanship".[36] "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.[63]
Several critics, such as Maureen Ryan of The Huffington Post[17] and David Hinckley of the New York Daily News, have questioned the show's future.[64] Mike Hale of The New York Times 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.[65] Brian Lowry of Variety 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."[66]
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."[67] 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."[68] 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."[69]
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Actor in a Comedy Series | Will Forte | Nominated | [70] |
| Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Will Forte | Nominated | [71] | |
| Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | Will Forte for "Alive in Tucson" | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | Phil Lord and Christopher Miller for "Alive in Tucson" | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series | Stacey Schroeder | Nominated | |||
| EWwy Award | Outstanding Comedy Series | The Last Man on Earth | Nominated | [72] | |
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Kristen Schaal | Nominated | [73] | ||
| 68th Writers Guild of America Awards | New Series | The Last Man on Earth | Nominated | [74] | |
| Episodic Comedy | Will Fort Forte spoke on the show's creative freedom in a 2015 interview: I think we always saw this as more of a cable show, to be honest. They claimed from the get-go that they didn't want to change the tone of the show, and I think I went in with an eyebrow raised, thinking, okay, well when's it going to come out that we have to change it around? And they were great. They stuck by their pledge and let us make this different type of show. We're so happy to have had this experience. It was just a great, great experience with Fox.[35] Filming the series was challenging. For example, maintaining silence and not picking up sounds of cars in the distance made it difficult.[34] In addition to Forte's f Filming the series was challenging. For example, maintaining silence and not picking up sounds of cars in the distance made it difficult.[34] In addition to Forte's fascination with Life After People, similar films discussed while writing the show included The Omega Man, I Am Legend, and 28 Days Later.[35] 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."[35] The name of The name of the main character, Phil Tandy Miller, is based on the names of the two executive producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.[36] According to Miller, "there are no zombies" in the series.[37] For the second season, Dan Sterling joined as executive producer and took over the role of showrunner from Forte, who was the showrunner for the first season.[38] The main recording location for the series was a 20th Century Fox studio in Chatsworth, California.[39][40][41] 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.[42] While ratings declined overall, the show did well enough with young male viewers to justify renewal.[43] |