No Tomorrow had me intrigued from first look. When
ads began billing the show as "From the network that brought you
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and
Jane the Virgin", I knew I had to give it a try. Those are two of the best shows on network TV right now, and no matter what stereotypical prejudice you may have against the CW, you should check them out. (They're
award winning, guys.)
When I sat down to watch the Pilot, the question was: would
No Tomorrow deliver on its promise to be another CW show I'd enjoy? For me, the answer was a resounding: Maybe. Here's the premise: A Type-A type woman meets a uninhibited and possibly insane man who thinks the world is going to end in eight months and lives his life accordingly.
Naturally, I have a few questions.
Are the characters likable?
Like,
Crazy-Ex and
Jane,
No Tomorrow banks on a relatively unknown cast. Ok, Joshua Sasse was
Galavant, but with a shaved head and that beard, did you recognize him at first glance? Me either. Tori Anderson, who plays Evie, hails from Canada and, apparently,
teen nick.
|
Evie meets Xavier at the Farmers' Market.
(Revealing the show's hipster/millennial target audience.)
Source: imdb.com |
If we have any question about who Evie is, it's answered by Kareema: "Just don't be one of those women defined by the quest to find the guy." Ah, so she's a hopeless romantic. This is a step in the right direction. It gives the character a subtle sweetness that belies her model appearance. Each line and look makes her ever more the ingenue. Evie forgoes even the mildest profanity and instead says, "Oh my gosh" and "Holy smokes." Her apocalypse "list" contains mild ambitions like putting tinfoil in the microwave. Yes, I like Evie. But what about her leading man?
It takes a little longer to figure Xavier out. Sure, he may look like a charming ladies-man-hipster-player, but it turns out he's a poser. This is revealed not only in the flashback of his former life sitting in a cubicle, but also his internet fame as "Doomsday Man." And more importantly, he's probably out of his mind. And a little stalker-ish there with his telescope.
Furthermore, starting them out with infidelity (or whatever you call cheating when you're
on a break) isn't the most likable move. But Evie redeems herself at least a little by confessing her indiscretion to potential fiancé Timothy. So while I like Evie, and can sympathize with her struggles, Xavier is going to have to work a little harder to win me over.
Does this show know what it wants to be? Even if what it wants to be is weird?
This is something I bring up a lot in my reviews, because I think it really matters: Good television shows are self-aware. Though made up of many characters, the world they inhabit must have a distinct sense of humor, or in the case of a drama, a distinct mood. Characters can be dynamic, but they cannot be unbelievable. That's not to say that shows can't surprise us; instead, such surprises must add depth to what we already know about a show - not
discredit the show's very premise.
Again, like its sister shows,
No Tomorrow isn't a drama or a comedy. It's also not a comedy with heart or a funny drama. It's both and it's neither. It's weird. And some of its characters are
really weird, particularly the side characters. Evie effectively plays the
straight man both to Xavier's unpredictability and her co-workers standard comedic odd-ball-ness. In fact, the side characters are so much fun, there is a chance they'll outshine Evie.
The most difficult line that
No Tomorrow will have to walk is balancing the quirk with the sincerity. Walking that line is possible. Other hour-long so-called "comedies" have done this successfully.
Pushing Daisies used bright colors, sweeping camera entrances, and retro-like transitions between scenes to develop a distinctive "
storybook" look.
Crazy-Ex does it by pairing their stories with song. Toward the end of the pilot of
No Tomorrow, when Evie is confronting her bad-breathed boss Deirdre, the camera pushes in on the two of them in incremental jerks as Deirdre breathes right in Evie's face. I thought this was clever, but it caught me off guard. Is the show aiming to make its camerawork distinctive? If so, I'm all for it. I think it matches the mood of the show - but, we'll need more of it. Otherwise, it will just seem out of place.
No Tomorrow must embrace its own brand of weird.
Is the premise sustainable?
Should Xavier turn out to be correct, this show has only got an eight month shelf-life. (If they make it that far -
A to Z only made it to M.) The last show about the end of the world got us to doomsday just in time to break my heart. (I still get chills thinking about the
You, Me, and the Apocalypse finale - and not good chills. Not getting a second season for that one hurts).
Maybe it's more like
My Name is Earl - each episode will send our heros on a wild quest to fulfil an item on their list. That show managed to eek out four seasons (although I didn't make it past Season 3 when I binged my way through on Netflix.) A procedural format might serve this show well, as long as the characters can grow and remain interesting throughout.
No Tomorrow debuted to less than great ratings.
Some critics already list it among the doomed. I'm not so sure. The CW has a willingness to bet on weird shows that they know are good. In an unprecedented move last spring,
they renewed everything. I have a theory: the network knows that they can't compete with the other major broadcast networks for quantity of viewers. Where they can beat them is quality. The leading ladies of
Jane and
Crazy-Ex each have a Golden Globe to their name. Will Anderson follow? I don't know yet, but I'm willing to keep watching to find out.