Will Forte’s new Fox television show “The Last Man on Earth” premiered last night with two episodes, including one titled “Alive in Tucson.” That’s right, folks: in a beautiful alternate universe Will Forte is running around in his underwear, blowing up cars and drinking out of inflatable pools somewhere off Oracle.
The show tells Forte’s story of searching the continent for anyone, with no success. “The Virus” has done away with everyone and Forte is left to roam around by himself. Eventually, discouraged, Forte (well, his character Phil—it doesn’t look like this was actually filmed in Tucson) heads to the Old Pueblo.
From the A.V. Club:
Where Tucson once felt like his sunny retirement spot, it’s now a desert blanched of color. It’s no longer a playground; it’s a vast emptiness that’s devoid of any sign of life, whether that means human bodies leftover from The Virus or even a single sign of animal life.
That’s us! Wooo!?
The reviews thus far seem generally positive, praising the balance of humor and grief.
More from the A.V. Club:
The Last Man On Earth is in no rush to answer the question it raises. For 18 astonishing minutes, we follow one person’s struggle to maintain his humanity in a human-free world. That’s it. There is one brief flashback to Phil’s life in “the old world,” and the arrival of Kristen Schaal’s “last woman on earth” at the episode’s end signals where the series might be going for a while, but the vast majority of the Forte-penned pilot rests on his shoulders as Phil goes through all the stages of grief, all by himself.
Oh, but it’s a comedy—and a very funny one at that.
And some thoughts from Entertainment Weekly:
The Last Man on Earth is the ultimate Gen-X dystopian fantasy, but with a sober twist that makes it more like that Twilight Zone episode about Burgess Meredith after the apocalypse, tailored to a hyper-relational social-media age. Hooray! Phony, rotten civilization has finally fallen away! We can play with our toys and talk about pop culture and just hang out and chill…except everyone’s dead. Womp-womp!
Womp-womp indeed. I haven’t had the chance to watch it yet. Tell me, Tucson: Are we proud to have our name on this?
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2015.
But it was not filmed in Tucson.
Exactly, Dan. There’s nothing to be proud of here. I wonder if New Mexico is once again standing in for southern Arizona. Breaking Bad was originally slated to be filmed here but moved one state east due to tax incentives. Think of the money that would have brought to the local economy. The film and television opportunities we’ve lost because of our tone-deaf legislature are staggering.
Right. Was filmed at the most shot-up movie location ranch in motion picture history, the Iverson Movie Ranch, situated in the picturesque rocky foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains just northwest of Chatsworth, has been used to simulate terrain in Africa, Asia, the South Seas, the Wild West, Alien Planetscapes and Tucson.
Breaking Bad was never supposed to be filmed in Tucson. It was supposed to be filmed in the Inland Empire in Southern California.
So funny. The Joshua trees I sighted in the second episode indicate it might bee shot in the national park of the same name. LOL
The producers of Breaking Bad were in contact to film in Tucson.
I don’t think Tucson missed much…after watching the pilot I can’t see the show lasting long.
Yes, I’m proud it’s set here. Phil has his choice of anyplace in the country (if not world) to live and he chose here. With my new job I could too and Tucson was #1 on my list.
Speaking of BB, I would NOT want my home to be presented to the world as the center of the meth trade.
FTR, Last Man is filmed in Chatsworth, Calif.
Bummer it’s not filmed in Tucson. The Joshua trees were also my clue that at least some parts were not filmed here. But I really thought the McMansion he moved into was one of those Italianate houses off Gates Pass on your way down to the Desert Museum. The bowling alley that was labeled Tucson Bowl also looked vaguely familiar, but I guess that’s just the way crappy old bowling alleys look the world over.
Loved the margarita pool — “There’s really no wrong way to use a margarita pool” should become some sort of unofficial slogan.
I noticed the latest episode had some exteriors shot in Santa Clara, CA. See Oak & Main in Santa Clara for the intersection where they first ‘ran into’ Melissa.
The first big clue that it’s not Tucson is…. no Saguaro cactus anywhere. We have them all over the foothills of the Santa Catalina, Rincon, and Tucson Mountains. They only grow naturally in the Sonoran Desert.
Sadly people who watch this show and do not know Tucson will think that our beautiful city is a brown run down small town. Tucson has some amazing sites, great architecture and more. I am always disappointed when a show says it takes place in Tucson and one glimpse shows it is not.