By Milan Polk ’16

Fox’s advertising shows it is excited to premiere “The Last Man on Earth” on March 1, but it looks like its intended money-maker most likely will not last.

“The Last Man on Earth” stars former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Will Forte as Phil Miller, the last man alive in the year 2020 after a virus wipes the planet of all life. The show is somewhat funny: Phil breaks into Hugh Hefner’s home but has to use his pool as a toilet because there is no more running water.

The premiere episode even alludes to “Castaway,” the 2000 movie starring Tom Hanks as the only man on an island who ends up befriending a volleyball. Phil watches the movie and ends up with a tribe of various sports balls, and thanks the writers of “Castaway” for “getting it right.”

As the premiere progresses, Phil deals with the emotional problems that arise with humanity’s collapse. He is at first elated at the chance to be alone, and then becomes depressed, having conversations with God and praying he can find a woman. He does, but instead of the supermodel he imagines, he finds Carol (Kristen Schaal), an average-looking woman who he cannot stand.

The show has a promising start, with Phil crisscrossing the country to find any signs of life, and the viewer hoping to learn more about him as the episode goes on. Unfortunately, the character does not develop much past what the viewer sees in the beginning. Phil Miller mostly mopes around the entire episode, complaining about his life and situation. He is completely unrelatable, and although there are some funny moments, he is generally a flat character with no other purpose than to find another human being.

The show is also mildly sexist, with the tired clichés in which the man is lazy and dirty, and the woman must tirelessly pick up after him and yell at him to do something productive. Phil is the careless man, and Carol is the high-strung woman who will stop at nothing until Phil does as he is told.

At the episode’s end, it seems like most of Phil’s complaints are solved, so there does not seem like there could be a second episode, much less a whole season. The plot is predictable and does not feel unique or remarkable. After a while, the episodes of this show will get repetitive and bland.

In the second episode, Phil and Carol decide to marry, even though they are not attracted to one another. The episode tries to establish some sort of bond between the two characters, even though the audience knows little about the two and cannot connect with them.

The mild sexist undertone continues. Carol is excited about the wedding, but Phil cares little and even forgets the rings. The episode ends with the duo driving off, then hitting a car, in which Phil’s supermodel dream girl exits. The show sounds more like a man’s fantasy of human extinction rather than a comical take on it.

It would be easier to find another television show to watch, one that stands out and develops its characters.