Okay, now that Transformers month is over, I don’t really have a theme for this month. I figured that I would just cover some speculative fiction stuff that is pretty recent. You might notice I put (Fox TV show) after the title, it is because there is an old Vincent Price movie of the same name. This series is all new, premiering last week, and was created by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the same guys who gave us The Lego Movie.

In fact, the Vincent Price movie has the same premise as the TV show, which is also the same premise of The Omega Man with Charlton Heston, and is also the same premise as I Am Legend with Will Smith. Yeah, there is nothing original about this premise about a man who is the last man on Earth, but the take that Lord and Miller use is incredibly funny and serious at the same time.

The story is about Phil Miller, and yes, that is a combination of the creators’ names. Phil is played by Will Forte, and on the premiere episode, he is about the only cast member. It opens with “7 years after the virus”, and there doesn’t seem to be an more explanation than that. It shows Phil wandering throughout the United States, and there is no one, not even bodies. Yeah, I don’t know where the bodies have gone, but maybe they have completely decomposed. Of course, that would pollute the atmosphere, and yeah, who really cares.

The story of the pilot episode is essentially the same as the commercial. Phil decides to live at some nice mansion of a house, and lives like he is the only person on Earth. Which means he steals anything he wants and decorates his house with it. When he gets hungry, he just goes and gets food. In very little time, his house becomes a mess, and he sees no reason to clean it. What is really funny is how he is watching the Tom Hanks film Cast Away, saying that no person would talk to volley balls. Then later on, he is talking to a whole bunch of balls in a bar.

Now, the first airing of The Last Man of Earth was actually two episodes. The first episode was just Phil doing nothing but being dissatisfied, and eventually trying to kill himself. He does so in the dumbest possible way, by attempting to drive a truck into a large rock. He then sees smoke, and where there’s smoke, there’s people.

The second episode begins with Phil meeting the last possible woman on Earth, Carol. Carol is played by Kristen Schaal, who is a very funny voice actress. What is funny is how she and Phil do not get along. Phil has fully embraced his lackluster lifestyle, but Carol still believes in some dignity. It is funny how she corrects Phil’s grammar and get upsets when he parks in a handicapped space. It is pretty clear that Carol is in a lot of denial, while Phil erred on the other side.

What is funny is how the two decide to get married, simply to propagate the human race. None of them are happy with the decision, but they still put up the best of acts.

I don’t know why The Last Man on Earth works, but it does. I have no idea where this show is going, but it could easily go the wrong way. I remember when I watched I Am Legend thinking that the film was ruined when other humans showed up. In the case of The Last Man on Earth, it improved it. I don’t know if they will ever address the cause of the virus, or introduce other people, but Lord and Miller better have a long-range plan for this. Otherwise, it could get old real fast.