The Last Man on Earth is an American post-apocalyptic comedy television series created by and starring Will Forte. The series premiered on Fox on March 1, 2015. The pilot episode was written by Forte and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. On April 8, 2015, the show was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 27, 2015. On March 24, 2016, the show was renewed for a third season, which premiered on September 25, 2016.
Almost a year after a deadly virus spreads across Earth, Phil Miller (Will Forte) is seemingly the only human survivor in late 2020. While he searches for others and paints signs stating he is alive in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona, he finds no one. However, before attempting suicide, he discovers another survivor, Carol Pilbasian (Kristen Schaal). Despite being annoyed by each other, Carol and Phil marry for re-population purposes. Over the season, more survivors arrive, but Phil's increasingly irritating attitude towards them leads him and Carol to search for a new home after he is banished from Tucson.
In Season 2, Phil and Carol continue their road trip in the middle of 2023. They soon discover the group has relocated to Malibu, California and travel there to reunite with the group 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 possibly being infected by the virus.
In Season 3, Phil and the survivors move to a self-sustaining office building in San Jose, California, following a potential threat by Pat Brown (Mark Boone Junior).
Main
Will Forte as Philip Tandy "Phil" Miller (later called "Tandy"), an average man and seemingly the only human survivor after a virus wiped out nearly the entire population in 2019. He lives in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona, having already searched North America for signs of other living people. Out of loneliness, he has adopted various sports balls as "buddies" and drawn faces on them. He has painted "Alive in Tucson" on billboards and highway signs during his trip, hoping others might see the message. Forte describes him as "a selfish person who sometimes borders on being a flat-out sociopath". Jacob Tremblay portrays young Phil, who appears to his brother Mike in multiple visions in the episode "Pitch Black".
Kristen Schaal as Carol Andrew Pilbasian Miller, an eccentric notary from Delaware who sees Phil's "Alive in Tucson" sign and travels to Tucson. She pressures Phil to marry her so they can work towards repopulating the Earth with "legitimate" children. Carol is shown to be compassionate and is good friends with Melissa and Todd but can hold grudges. 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, Carol becomes pregnant with Phil's first child after he finally tells her he loves her.
January Jones as Melissa Chartres, a former real estate agent from Akron, Ohio 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, so Melissa does not like or trust him. She begins dating Todd after he joins the group. In the second season, Melissa breaks up with Todd after deciding she does not want to have children, 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. As Phil and Todd investigate her pre-virus history, they suspect her behavior may have something to do with taking unidentified tablets.
Mel Rodriguez as Todd, another surviving man who, while on his way to Mexico, 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 among 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. 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.
Cleopatra Coleman as Erica, an Australian woman and self-described "political nerd". After the outbreak of the virus, she met Gail at the White House and the two became traveling companions. They later discover Phil after spotting a fire he started. After Phil and Carol divorce, Erica and Gail 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 under an assumed name.
Mary Steenburgen as Gail Klosterman (recurring season 1; starring season 2–present), a chef and former restaurant owner from North Carolina. After the outbreak of the virus, she met another woman named Erica, and the two became traveling companions. Gail mentions having had a husband but does not reveal what happened to him. In the second season, she develops a relationship with another survivor named Gordon, but after Gordon dies of a heart attack, she has trouble finding closure, even dressing a mannequin to look like Gordon, until she starts dating Todd. In the third season, 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. Carol continues to annoy Gail about their newly-formed family until Gail finds solace in an elevator, but the elevator loses its power with no one aware of her missing or hearing her cries for help. Phil restores power to the building in "The Spirit of St. Lewis" and Gail then manages to escape.
Recurring
Jason Sudeikis as Michael Shelby "Mike" Miller (guest season 1, recurring season 2), the last man in space and a scientist who survives in Earth's orbit aboard the International Space Station. He is Phil's (Tandy's) younger brother and, like Phil and his sports balls, 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 seeing an "Alive in Tucson" sign inspires Mike to go there. He reunites with his brother in "Fish in the Dish". Though their sibling rivalry 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 decides to leave the next morning to avoid having the group grieve his death.
Boris Kodjoe as Philip Stacy "Phil" Miller (seasons 1–2), a former member of the Special Forces from High Point, North Carolina. 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 competition to him, become rivals shortly after meeting. In the season 2 mid-season finale, he dies after 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.
Kenneth Choi as Lewis (season 3), a gay arborist from Seattle 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 (Mike). 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 and begins teaching himself aviation so he can fly there and investigate. In the middle of Season 3, Lewis is killed during takeoff on his first flight in a real plane.
Kristen Wiig as Pamela Brinton (season 3), 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, which Gail first saw near the end of the second season. She leaves upon discovering the others even though the connection is lost.
Keith L. Williams as Jasper (season 3), a young boy who is originally discovered in the back of Carol and Gail's family photos, wearing a Yoda costume. Soon after, he joins the main group, but never speaks, and Tandy names him Jasper.
Guests
Alexandra Daddario as Victoria (season 1), an attractive woman that Phil (Tandy) hallucinates before he meets Carol.
Will Ferrell 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.
Mark Boone Junior as Patrick "Pat" Brown (seasons 2–3), 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 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. Armed with rifles, the three men approach the Malibu mansion at the start of the third season. Although Pat and Lewis 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.
Jon Hamm 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 as Catherine (season 3), Pamela's socialite friend, who purchases a bunker to hide from the virus, but ultimately succumbs to it before she can enter.
Timothy V. Murphy as Benjamin Brinton (season 3), Pamela's husband, who dies from the virus.
Background and production
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. 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. 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. 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:
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.
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, similar films bandied about while writing the show included The Omega Man, I Am Legend, and 28 Days Later. 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 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 joined as executive producer and took over the role of showrunner from Forte, who was the showrunner for the first season.
The main recording location for the series is a 20th Century Fox studio in Chatsworth, California.
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 men to justify renewal.
Critical reception
The Last Man on Earth has received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the show has a score of 72, based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called the show "a genre-busting breakout that's creative, nuanced and inspired". Robert Bianco of USA Today praised Forte's "audacity, inventiveness and achievement". Hank Stuever of The Washington Post called it "a charming and intelligent sendup of pop culture's obsession with the end of everything". Slate's 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.
Entertainment Weekly's 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.
However, several critics, such as Maureen Ryan of The Huffington Post and David Hinckley of the New York Daily News, have questioned the show's future. 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. 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."
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 scenes; and a gag reel.
