Over the past month or so, there’s been plenty of anticipation for FOX’s new show “The Last Man On Earth” starring Will Forte, but that didn’t make the choice that TV fans were faced with last night any easier. Airing at the same time as “The Walking Dead,” fans had to choose between finding out what happens at the new community that Rick and the group have arrived at or tune in to find out what funnyman Will Forte would do if he were the last man on earth. As a huge Walking Dead fan, this was an extremely hard choice. Though I may take some heat for choosing Phil Miller over Rick Grimes, to turn down the comedian that is Will Forte, is something that I couldn’t bring myself to do.
The scene opens to Phil Miller (Will Forte) driving across the country in an RV looking for any sign of life one year after the virus. After finding no one, he returns to his home, but then realizes, he can live anywhere he’d like. Just like the rest of us would, he finds the biggest and fanciest house he can in Tucson and brings all of his treasures he’s collected along the way into his new home. A few include Michael Jordan’s jersey, the Declaration of Independence, King Tut’s tomb, Academy Awards, a rug from the Oval Office and famous paintings.
Will Forte brings out a perfect comedic performance, acting out some dreams that most people would have if they were the last person on earth. Throwing bowling balls at lamps and fish tanks, blowing cars up, creating a margarita pool for swimming and drinking and knocking down the display of perfectly stacked cans in the grocery store are just a few of the laughable fantasies that Phil gets to live out.
While watching “Castaway,” Phil talks of never becoming that person who talks to sportsballs, saying “I have news for you Tom Hanks, I would never, ever talk to a volleyball.” Later, we see Phil at a bar asking all of his friends if they’d like a drink, his friends consisting of a variety of sports balls and the scene consisting of nothing but continuous laughter!As Phil starts to realize how lonely it is being the last man on earth, he invites Gary to stay with him, but on the way home, they make a stop, visiting Phil’s mannequin girlfriend. Even after shooting the window out to get to her, things seem to be going pretty well, that is until he realizes it’s a mannequin when he pulls her arm off.
Reaching his limit, he’s told all of his sports balls that hes giving up and is ending his life. Seconds before he’s about to drive his truck into a boulder, he looks over to see smoke from a campfire. Upon reaching the campfire, he realizes it’s a woman he’s come across and passes out, awakening in a dream-like state, we see a beautiful woman as they sing the “Ghostbusters” theme song, only for Phil to be snapped out of it by the new character we know as Carol ( Kristen Schaal from “Flight of the Concords”).
Out of all the women that could have been known as “the last woman on earth,” Carol works perfectly, in a weird-still-have-to-stop-at-stop-signs-and-park-in-the-proper-parking-spot kind of way. She’s become Phil’s worst nightmare, but once he sees her happy-go-lucky behavior take a dive, creating a toilet pool just as Phil did, he realizes that he’s got to start changing his ways. He sets up a watering system for Carol’s tomatoes, and has dinner over at her house. They talk more about the “big elephant in the room,” having kids together, but Carol can’t take part until she’s officially married. Phil proposes and Carol gets ready to start planning the wedding, which leads into the preview for next week’s episode.
Overall, “The Last Man On Earth” is a show definitely worth watching. It’s hilariously funny, but is also dark without being depressing. Will Forte delivers a performance that only few could pull off. Besides the actual time that the show is on, on Sundays, I’m very impressed with “The Last Man On Earth.”
Remember, “There’s no wrong way to use a margarita pool.”
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