The TV Column

Last Man just one of new viewing opportunities

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH: Will Forte as Phil Miller. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is set for a special One-Hour Season Premiere Event, Sunday, March 1 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and makes its time period premiere Sunday, March 8 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2014 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Jordin Althaus/FOX
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH: Will Forte as Phil Miller. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is set for a special One-Hour Season Premiere Event, Sunday, March 1 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and makes its time period premiere Sunday, March 8 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2014 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Jordin Althaus/FOX

Don't let the post-apocalyptic title scare you off. This is a comedy. And it's a hoot.

The Last Man on Earth debuts at 8 p.m. today on Fox. It's a special one-hour series premiere. Beginning March 8 the regular half-hour time slot will be 8:30.

Sunday nights are chock-a-block with favorites for most viewers, but don't let this one sneak in under your radar. At the least, set the DVR and watch it later.

For once, the title for a new series is accurate. As far as we know, Phil Miller (Will Forte) is, indeed, the last man on earth. It's 2020 and some sort of deadly virus has swept across the planet (one that makes the bodies disappear, evidently) and after an extensive search in his RV, Miller realizes it's a lonely world.

He has traveled across the United States, Mexico and Canada, and has found no one. He leaves messages everywhere that he's "Alive in Tucson" and returns to his hometown.

All he wants is for anyone to find him in Tucson -- preferably a woman. As the Fox teaser says, "Be careful what you wish for, Phil." To say more than that would be a major spoiler.

Caution: The first half hour, "Alive in Tucson" almost takes too long demonstrating how alone Miller is. It flirts with becoming tedious after 15 or 20 minutes. The second half, "The Elephant in the Room," quickly picks up the pace. Stick with it if you find yourself saying, "OK. OK. We get it. He's the last man on earth."

The 44-year-old Forte created and writes the series. He's best known for his 2002-2010 stint on Saturday Night Live.

Battle Creek. Yes, tonight's got a full programming plate. Not only are there new episodes of Madam Secretary and The Good Wife on CBS, they're followed at 9 p.m. by the premiere of the mismatched buddy cop show Battle Creek. See today's TV Week insert for more on that series.

Basic info: From Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The X-Files), the police procedural stars Josh Duhamel (Vegas) and Dean Winters (Oz) as polar opposites working to clean up the mean streets of Battle Creek, Mich.

Secrets and Lies. Wait! There's more! ABC rolls out the two-hour premiere of its mystery thriller, Secrets and Lies, at 8 p.m. today. It stars a couple of big names -- Ryan Phillippe (Cruel Intentions, Gosford Park) and Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers).

The series, a reboot of the Australian series of the same name, will remind some of Fox's recent (and generally panned) murder mystery remake Gracepoint.

Phillippe plays Ben Crawford who, while out for his early morning jog, discovers the body of his neighbor's young son in the woods.

Crawford is married to Christy (KaDee Strickland, Private Practice) and is the father of two daughters. He makes his living as a house painter and frequently stepped in when the little boy's father was serving abroad.

The unflappable and formidable Andrea Cornell (Lewis) is the top homicide detective for the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Police Department. Cornell embarks upon an unrelenting pursuit of the killer, who she suspects early on is Crawford.

Fighting to keep his marriage, kids, job and reputation, and barely clinging to his sanity, Crawford sets out to find the real killer. The case unfolds from his perspective.

In trying to clear his name, Crawford peels back the layers of the lives on his quiet cul de sac "revealing their dirty little deceptions and all-too-crowded closets overflowing with skeletons."

But is Crawford innocent or guilty?

Secrets and Lies is a limited series (it could become an anthology) and will have only 10 episodes. After tonight, the regular time will be 8 p.m. Sundays.

Farewell Downton. The two-hour Season 5 finale of Downton Abbey airs at 8 p.m. today on AETN.

After a grouse shooting party in Northumberland, where there's a shocking surprise revelation, the Crawleys return to Downton for Christmas. There's a surprise proposal, a surprise rejection, a surprise confession and a surprise reunion.

There are several cliffhangers that will be dealt with in Season 6 next January.

The Following returns. All the above takes place tonight. I'm exhausted just writing about it. But looking ahead to Monday, The Following returns for Season 3 at 8 p.m. on Fox with a two-hour premiere.

Season 3 begins a year after Season 2. Evil serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) is on death row, and Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) has moved on with his life. He has returned full time to the FBI, alongside his niece, Max Hardy (Jessica Stroup), and Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore).

Hardy also has found a happy new relationship with Gwen (Zuleikha Robinson, Homeland, Rome). But his world is shattered when a new threat forces the team to face the terrifying truth: Joe Carroll was just the beginning.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style on 03/01/2015

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