Will Forte Is ‘The Last Man on Earth,’ And That’s Okay With Us

By  · Published on May 13th, 2014

FOX

Here’s the only problem with Will Forte being the eponymous last man on Earth in Fox’s, uh, The Last Man on Earth: there’s no one left to laugh at his jokes. Well, except us.

In Fox’s upcoming high concept comedy, series creator and writer Forte plays Phil Miller (and, yes, that’s definitely a play on the names of producers and pilot directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller – yes, that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, so obviously you should be clearing your calendar for this one ASAP), the last man on Earth. Probably. Most likely. And we get to watch.

As the show’s official website tells us: “The year is 2022, and after an unlikely event, only one man is left on earth: PHIL MILLER (Forte), who used to be just an average guy who loved his family and hated his job at the bank. Now, in his RV, Phil searches the country for other survivors. He has traveled to every city, every town and every outpost in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and has found no one, which leads him to the painful realization that he is almost certainly the last living being on the face of the earth.” Let’s imagine the (hilarious, but also heartbreaking) future after the break.

Yes, being the last person (probably? they can’t really sustain this gag, can they? someone else has to show up at some point, if only a plucky kid or a friendly dog) on Earth is kind of a bummer, but it does come with its own freedoms – like the ability to wear your underwear everywhere, just as shorts, just out blowing in the breeze. The fresh air! The looseness! The ease! Think of what you could eat! Think of what you could touch! Think of what you could take.

The show is described as being “a comedy about a man trying to make lemonade out of the most soul-crushing lemon there is. But if anyone can do it, Phil Miller can. He’s not about to give up now. He is sad and so, so very lonely. But he’ll get through this. Because there’s a small kernel of hope that somewhere out there is another survivor. And maybe one day, they’ll run into each other. That would be a good day. And if that survivor happened to be a woman? Well, then that would be a great day.” Until then, there’s porn. Like, just a lot of porn. A grocery cart full of porn.

Forte and Lord & Miller (like a cool department store for older ladies, which is probably why the creative duo don’t use that as their shared moniker) go way back – the comedian has provided voicework for the pair since the beginning of their careers, voicing Abraham Lincoln on their animated series Clone High (a role he reprised in this year’s The LEGO Movie), which he then followed up with still more voicework in their Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. The trio have never worked together in a live-action capacity, but there’s clearly a familiarity and shared sense of mirth that will run through The Last Man on Earth.

Also, singing. Just probably a lot of singing.

The Last Man on Earth will premiere on Fox sometime in 2015.