TV Review: Fox’s ‘The Last Man On Earth’

Fox will premiere new Sunday Funday addition The Last Man on Earth March 1 at 9 p.m. The post-apocalyptic comedy stars Saturday Night Live alum Will Forte as the titular sole survivor of a massive viral plague. The following are reviews from TV critics around the web, compiled by B&C.

“The opening act of the pilot is both catastrophically tragic and endearingly silly, demonstrating a kind of emotional dexterity that's rare in any story but especially in a half-hour comedy..”
—Margaret Lyons , Vulture

“At least in The Walking Dead and The Last Ship, civilization as a whole still exists, and that allows drama to perpetuate. In the end, everything in Last Man on Earth loops back to a single question that could run out of steam faster than a global plague: what happens when the last remaining human doesn’t want to face the truth of the only destiny he has left?”
—Merrill Barr, Forbes

“Will Forte, the show’s creator and star, gifted at character-oriented comedy and poignancy (see: his eight seasons on SNL; his revelatory big-screen turn in Nebraska), keeps Phil light, grounded, affecting. The images are breakdown poetic, the pacing is brisk, the tone is gritty-sweet.”
—Jeff Jensen, Entertainment Weekly

“There’s only so much time the audience can watch a lonely man tool around Tucson (although, to be fair, it is quite funny to watch him do so). This odd experiment works at times and drags at others, pulled along by that curiosity factor surrounding its sustainability, considering the only reason the show can go on is to render its title incorrect.”
—Molly Eichel, A.V. Club

“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.”
—Brian Lowry, Variety