‘The Last Man on Earth’ Showrunner Will Forte Reveals Extreme Dark Moments
The Last Man on Earth has faced a unique problem, created by the very premise of Will Forte’s concept of a lone survivor living in a post-apocalyptic world: how does one consistently deliver laughs and drama without bringing in new characters. Last season, Forte caved on that rule and brought in a number of survivors played by January Jones, Mel Rodriguez, Mary Steenburgen, Cleopatra Coleman, and Boris Kodjoe.
Eventually, our lone survivor, Phil Miller, played by Forte, found him banished by the group and forced to once again strike out on his own. In an odd twist, Phil’s ex-wife, Carol (Kristen Schaal), joined him at the last moment.
This season, however, Will explains that there won’t be those cast additions, The Last Man on Earth showrunner told The Hollywood Reporter. Mr. Forte says that The Last Man On Earth relied so heavily on bringing in new characters to move the plot along that viewers came to expect new additions to the show on a regular basis, negating the effect of using a new character as a twist in The Last Man on Earth‘s story.
“So we’re trying to find new ways to give you twists and turns this year that might not involve the introduction of characters. So far we’re pretty happy with our ideas,” Will said. “Honestly, we learned so much, but ultimately it comes down to what we agree on in the writers room and we just go for it.”
Will says that he is not trying to alienate The Last Man on Earth audiences and he obviously wants the show to build a large fanbase, but, at the same time, Forte and his writers are writing the stories that they want to tell, knowing that some topics won’t sit well with some audiences. The Last Man on Earth creator feels that they have to be true to themselves first.
“There were a couple things that happened in the first season that were a bit polarizing for the audience, but we stand by them. Hopefully, people who watch this show know we aren’t trying to please everyone,” says Forte. “We’re very committed to telling the story the way that we feel like telling it and it’s not always going to be the most popular thing that everyone is going to like. Hopefully, they’ll give us a little credit for sticking to our guns and trying different things.”
IGN learned from The Last Man on Earth‘s executive producer, Chris Miller, that the group of survivors left behind in Tucson may not be seen for awhile, if ever again. Moving forward with the second installment of The Last Man on Earth, the series will be following the lives of Phil and Carol as they try to iron out their differences and begin to build a life together.
Miller admits that Phil wasn’t a very likable character in the first season of The Last Man on Earth, with Will Forte’s character acting in some pretty despicable ways and really getting as low as he possibly could by the season finale. As The Last Man on Earth picks up its second season, audiences will see a change in Forte’s character, especially with Kristen Schaal in his company, but it won’t be the kind of miraculous change some might be expecting.
“He’s still an average person with a lot of weaknesses. But the difference this season is that he’s really trying to be a good person. The first season he wasn’t really trying to be a good person. Now he’s fully committed to trying, it’s just really hard for him and the situations he gets himself into make it really hard.”
The next episode of The Last Man on Earth airs Sunday, October 4 on Fox.
[Featured image courtesy of Fox/The Last Man on Earth]
