Cover Story One and only Fox tackles the loneliest number in ‘The Last Man on Earth’ By Cassie Dresch people after a virus takes out him get into a lot of really silly TV Media all of Earth’s population. His shenanigans. family is gone, his coworkers “It’s all just kind of stupid ello? Hi? Anybody out are gone, the president is gone. stuff that I go around and do,” Hthere? Of course there is, Everyone. Gone. he said in an interview with otherwise life would be very, So what does he do? He “Entertainment Weekly.” very, very lonely. Fox is taking a travels the United States doing “That’s been one of the most stab at the ultimate life of lone- things he never would have fun parts of the job. About once liness in the new half-hour been able to do otherwise — a week I get to do something comedy “The Last Man on sing the national anthem at that seems like it’d be amaz- Earth,” premiering Sunday, Dodger Stadium, smear gooey ingly fun to do: shoot a flame March 1. peanut butter all over a price- thrower at a bunch of wigs, The premise around “Last less piece of art ... then walk have a steamroller steamroll Man” is a simple one, albeit a away with it, break things. The over a case of beer. Just dumb little strange. An average, un- show, according to creator and stuff like that, which pretty assuming man is on the hunt star Will Forte (“Saturday Night much is all it takes to make me for any signs of other living Live,” “Nebraska,” 2013), sees happy.” Registration $25.00 online: www.skseniorsmechanism.ca or phone 306-359-9956 2 Cover Story Flame throwers and steam- ally proud of what has come rollers? Again, it’s a strange out of it so far.” concept, but Fox is really be- Of course, you have to won- Index hind the show. As if engaging der with the show title worded in a multi-network bidding war the way it is: is Forte’s character, for the rights to the show’s pi- Phil Miller, the last man on Earth Sports .............................6 lot wasn’t dedication enough or is he the last person? While Saturday .........................8 to the idea, a few months after Forte hasn’t really opened up it won the bid, Fox completely about that — there are a lot of Puzzle Solutions .......... 19 skipped the pilot episode pro- aspects of this show being kept cess and ordered a full season under wraps — the answer to Sunday ..........................20 without airing a single episode. that question was let out of the Weekday Daytime ........32 “It’s been really fun and ex- bag at the Television Critics As- citing because it’s such a weird sociation winter press tour in Monday ........................ 40 concept and Fox has really em- January. Kristen Schaal (“Bob’s Tuesday .........................44 braced it, giving us their full Burgers,” “Toy Story 3,” 2010), support,” Forte said. “Trying to whose casting announcement Wednesday ...................48 figure out how to tell a story was made in December, joined with one person has been an the Q&A sessions with Forte Thursday .......................52 incredible challenge, but also a and executive producers Phil Friday ............................56 really exciting challenge. Figur- Lord and Chris Miller, lending ing out how to do it all has credence to the idea that maybe Weekday Late Night .... 60 been really, really fun. We’re re- she’s the last woman on Earth. Late Laughs Conan: Conan Seattle, but at the last The Late Show: David O’Brien second New England jumped Letterman in the way. I was watching Lance Armstrong and his the Super Bowl, girlfriend were out at a and for the first The Tonight Show party and he accidentally hour, I was like, “These Starring banged into two parked cars. guys are just standing So then he told the cops that around doing nothing!” And Jimmy his girlfriend was driving. then one of my kids told me Fallon: That’s the kind of thing that I had forgotten to turn off Jimmy Fallon can hurt the man’s image. “Madden 2015.” I read that more than 100 million people Yesterday, a man was Jimmy Kimmel Live: tuned in to tonight’s Super arrested for attempting to Jimmy Kimmel Bowl on NBC. In response, get into the White House. NBC will be re-airing the On the heels of winning Luckily, the man was one of the craziest football Super Bowl every Thursday intercepted after taking games ever last night advice from Seahawks coach night at 8 p.m. — from the Super Bowl Pete Carroll. champion New England There was actually a fight Patriots — Rob Gronkowski Boston postponed a victory between some Patriots and is here. Rob is six-foot-six, celebration for the New Seahawks at the end of 265 pounds. So, if anyone England Patriots due to the game. I’m not saying it knows any good Polish a record-breaking winter was embarrassing for the jokes, this might be a storm. The storm was Seahawks, but the Patriots good time to keep them to originally supposed to hit won that, too. yourself. 3 Feature Story The hunt for a killer ‘12 Years a Slave’ writer John Ridley puts a fresh twist on crime drama By Jacqueline a small English town is rocked Fortunately, “American Spendlove by the vicious murder of an Crime” has its own ingredients TV Media 11-year-old boy. The eight-epi- for success, including a fantas- sode arc focuses on the hunt tic ensemble cast to deliver the for the boy’s killer, but also on still-compelling concept. Em- here’s no shortage of grip- how the horror, grief and suspi- my-winning actress Felicity ping crime dramas on tele- T cion that follow impact the res- Huffman, who’s best known for vision right now. If the long- idents of the close-knit com- her role as Lynette Scavo in running “Law & Order” and munity. The show became a “Desperate Housewives,” “CSI” franchises are anything “national obsession” in the plays grieving mother Barb to go by, it’s a genre that audi- U.K., according to “Entertain- Hanlon, who has been reunited ences love. ment Weekly,” averaging more with her estranged ex-hus- Most of these series tend to than nine million viewers per band, Russ (Timothy Hutton, present the heinous deed at episode. It’s raked in heaps of “Leverage”), over the murder the beginning of the episode, awards and nominations, in- of their son, Matt (Grant Mer- and after a few dubious inter- cluding three BAFTA wins and ritt, “Bullets for My Baby,” views and a wild goose chase a Peabody for its “pitch-perfect 2013). Barb, who is determined or two, the culprit is nabbed by take on the classic crime dra- to pin Matt’s murder on some- the good guys before the end ma.” body, has convinced herself credits start rolling. All that considered, you that her son was murdered by ABC’s new series, “American might think “American Crime” a racial minority. Russ, who Crime,” is shaking up the for- has the makings of an instant spoke to his son on the phone mat a bit. Someone has perpe- success, but “Broadchurch’s” every week, comes to learn trated a brutal attack in a American remake, “Grace- that he didn’t know him as well young couple’s home, leaving a point,” proved that the concept as he thought he did. war vet murdered and his wife alone is not what made its Brit- Huffman and Hutton are in a coma. Instead of having ish forerunner such a massive joined by W. Earl Brown (“True things wrapped up in a neat lit- success. Critics and audiences Detective”) and Penelope Ann tle package within the hour- alike were disappointed with Miller (“Mistresses”), who play long time-slot, however, audi- the version, which simply the distraught parents of ences will follow the racially didn’t have the magic of Matt’s pretty blond widow, charged investigation that fol- “Broadchurch,” Gwen (Kira Pozehl, “Fall to lows and, more importantly, despite the com- Grace,” 2005), who may still the impact the murder has on a pelling material. live or die. wide range of individuals over “While it’s While the show does focus the course of the season’s hard to pin- heavily on the investigation 11-episode run. Created by point, ‘Grace- and the hunt for the killer, Academy Award-winning writ- point’ can’t one element that sets it er John Ridley (“12 Years a help but feel as apart from other crime dra- Slave,” 2013), the anthology if something mas is that the angle is less crime drama premieres Thurs- significant has on the police and detec- day, March 5, on ABC and CTV. been lost in tives and more on the The concept of following the transla- people close to the vic- aftermath of a murder tion,” tims, as well as the sus- throughout an entire series is wrote Bri- pects and their families. uncommon, but not unprece- an Lowry Felicity Huffman dented. In the first season of for “Vari- stars in “American the British hit “Broadchurch,” ety.” Crime” 4 CrosswordTV 8 Shawn of FOX’s “The Following” 9 King of a tragic play 10 Edible root 11 Harbinger 16 Moray __ 20 Gives the thumbs-up sig- nal 21 Mr. Owens of “Hee Haw” 22 Woody Guthrie’s son 23 Unhappy droplet 27 1957 Igor Stravinsky ballet 28 Burkina __ (Nation in West Africa) 29 Train: Spanish 31 “__ and Lies”, new murder mystery on ABC 32 Tempo ACROSS 25 ‘Press’ suffix 51 Mend, as a bro- 37 “CSI: __” star- 1 Country star Mr.