Emmy Episodes: The Last Man on Earth

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. This year, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

The Last Man on Earth: Season 2, Episode 18 “30 Years of Science Down the Tubes” (D)
Nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series (Will Forte)

Color me very confused. When I last watched this show – the Emmy-nominated pilot “Alive in Tucson” – there was one man left on Earth, and he met and couldn’t stand the last woman left. Now, suddenly, he has a family, they drink together, and there’s plenty of people around for him to talk to. I don’t know what happened over the course of the first two seasons to change everything, but clearly a lot has happened. I gave the pilot a C+ and decided that it wasn’t for me, though I do sometimes like Forte, who earned a deserved Emmy nod for guest-starring on “30 Rock” three years ago. He’s got a certain way of speaking that makes him very entertaining, but I don’t think that needs to translate to an Emmy nomination. The title of this episode references Will’s character Phil’s frustration that the fart that he tried to bottle up for his brother to experience didn’t last. It’s highly unsophisticated and I get that it’s why it’s supposed to be funny, but it didn’t do it for me. This is a weird show and Forte’s chances are considerably lower this year since his show didn’t earn directing and writing bids like it did last year. I was intrigued by the always great Mary Steenburgen, though, and I spent a while trying to figure out if that really was January Jones as one of those inexplicably alive people. It turns out it was – who would have thought? Let’s hope I don’t have to watch this show next year.