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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, December 9, 2016 2 By Shona Dustan TV Media W ill Forte ("Saturday Night Live") has long been an staple of the comedy world. A consistent underdog, Forte's comedy is his very own, a particular blend of silly and crass absurd- ism that has a tendency to fall flat with broader audiences as often as it succeeds. Forte, however, has officially hit his stride, and despite any previ- ous swings and misses, his cur- rent television series is on fire. A new episode of "The Last Man on Earth" airs Sunday, Dec. 11, on Fox. Now well into its third season, critics and viewers alike are singing its praises — the series has even been nominated for five Em- mys in its short life, and Forte has worked hard for this suc- cess, as he told Indiewire: "I'm part of the writing and part of the editing, too, and I can't do that stuff during the week while I'm acting. I have to act, and then I write after- ward, so it's like seven days a week. I catch up on the editing on weekends, and the writing on weekend nights." The show has come a long way in its two-and-a-half sea- sons to date. At the beginning, viewers watched as Forte's character, Phil, wandered a de- serted America one year after a virus killed off almost every- one on the planet. Being alone for long periods of time can drive anyone a little mad, and the choices Phil made with no one around to judge him were hilarious to observe, and even caused many viewers to con- template what they'd be like under similar circumstances. But that aloneness was shortlived. Along came Carol (Kristen Schaal, "Bob's Burg- ers"), a shrill, strange wom- an, just as weird a Phil, but somehow in total conflict with his personality. Being, to their knowledge, the only two people on Earth, they set aside their differences and began to build a life together, even getting married (as married as you can get with no clergy or government offi- cials left on the planet) to seal the deal. And then the gorgeous Melissa (January Jones, "Mad Men") rolled into town. And that's how the series does it: it reels you in with a delightful setup that makes you think you know where things are going, then delivers a punchline that sets the show on a different track entirely. Executive producer Chris Mill- er told Indiewire: "We don't wanna do something that feels extra safe because why bother? ... I think audiences appreciate that you are push- ing the boundaries of what a TV show can do. I'm really ex- cited about where the show is going now and how fun and daring and funny it is." Besides Forte, Schaal and Jones, the series stars Mel Ro- driguez ("Getting On") as Todd, a sweet, giving man whose niceness woos Melissa and other women, but annoys Phil; Cleopatra Coleman ("Neighbours") as Erica, an Australian political nerd with a surprisingly criminal back- ground; and Mary Steenbur- gen ("Justified") as Gail, Eri- ca's traveling companion and a chef in her pre-virus life. These survivors band to- gether in an effort to make this post-apocalyptic world bear- able, and, of course, hilarity en- sues. Whether it's love trian- gles, divorce, surprising back- stories, road trips or attempts at social justice, everything this group does is tinged with Forte's signature absurdity. Phil's name, for example, is changed when, in season 2, another Phillip (Boris Kodjoe, "Code Black") arrives on the scene. The two compete for ex- clusive rights to the name, and the original Phil loses, causing the group to declare that he will forever be addressed us- ing his middle name: Tandy. And Tandy it is for the rest of the series, even after Phil No. 2 departs (I won't tell you how — spoilers! — but it's oh so dramatic). I would argue that it's the fun unpredictability that draws in the caliber of guest stars the show enjoys as much or more than the Emmy nominations or the show's general popularity. Oh, didn't I mention the guest stars? Since Alexandra Daddario's ("True Detective") appearance in the very first ep- isode as Tandy's literal dream girl, there have been more great casting surprises: Forte's former "SNL" castmate, Jason Sudeikis ("Son of Zorn"), for example — he showed up in seasons 1 and 2 as Mike, Tan- dy's astronaut brother, who has been in orbit since before the virus struck. Kenneth Choi's ("The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Sto- ry") Lewis, a gay arborist, ar- rived this season, and he's been a very funny addition to the core crew of survivors. Mark Boone Junior ("Sons of Anarchy") guest stars as Pat this season, an ice cream truck driver and tennis pro whose dark side is a little insane. It's Pat who brings Lewis to the group, along with another character played by a high-pro- file guest star: Darrell, played by Jon Hamm, is killed almost immediately by Melissa, which is a hilariously meta joke since Hamm and Jones played the ill- fated husband-and-wife team at the center of "Mad Men." In this week's new episode, Tandy works hard to cheer Carol up when Gail departs, whisking her off on the honey- moon the once-married pair never got to have. All signs point to comedy as the survi- vors continue their outrageous antics when "The Last Man on Earth" airs Sunday, Dec. 11, on Fox. coverstory 'Last' laughs Fox's absurd comedy enjoys continual success Will Forte and Kristen Schaal in a scene from "The Last Man on Earth" By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Who's the actor who plays Sherlock's brother in "Elementary"? He looks familiar to me, but I can't figure out why. A: If you're one of the (relatively) few people who saw the 2011 historical drama "Anonymous," you'll remember Rhys If- ans as the leading man, playing the Earl of Oxford. If you didn't see it, you probably remember him as The Lizard in "The Amaz- ing Spider-Man" (2012). Sadly (for his prestige level), it's more likely you remember him from "The Amazing Spider-Man," which was a huge hit, while "Anonymous" was a flop. But there are dozens of other potential reasons to know If- ans, to go with his dozens of film and TV roles. Early on, they mostly happened in Britain (Ifans was born in Wales in 1967) — from this lot, you're most likely to have seen "Notting Hill" (1999), in which he played Hugh Grant's dishev- eled roommate. However, he soon started getting work in Hollywood, and has appeared in some big titles, such as "Hannibal Rising" (2007) and 2016's "Alice Through the Looking Glass." He also appeared in the Adam Sandler comedy "Little Nicky" in 2000, because they can't all be fancy. Most of his work now seems to come in films that have a foot on both sides of the Atlantic. "Elementary" is a good ex- ample of this, since he plays an Englishman who occasionally visits his brilliant brother Sherlock Holmes in his adopted New York home. Other examples include "The Golden Age" (2007) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" (2010), both set and filmed in the U.K., but made by Hollywood stu- dios. Most recently, he appeared in this year's ripped-from-the- headlines feature biopic "Snowden," and in the spy series "Berlin Station," one of the Epix cable channel's early forays into original programming. Q: I've recently started watching "Bones" reruns, but a lot of the storylines seem to mirror the original "CSI." Which came first? Do they share writers or anything? A: You may be on to something there. I can't speak to specif- ic plots, since both shows have produced hundreds of episodes over their combined 26 years on television, but they both shared a pretty significant behind-the-scenes figure: Josh Ber- man. Berman served as a producer and writer for several years on both "Bones" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." In fact, he was part of the team that created "CSI" back in 2000. That was five years before "Bones," to answer your other question. He left "CSI" in 2006 and started "Bones" in 2007 — as for whether he recycled any of his ideas for the latter show, it's hard to say. Procedural crime shows all start seeming similar if you look at them closely enough. Though it may look, from the dates, as if he jumped straight from "CSI" to "Bones," he actually took time to create another show in between — 2006's "Vanished," which only lasted a season. Indeed, Berman is sort of an ideas man in L.A. these days: He's created four other shows since then, the most re- cent being "Notorious," which premiered this year on ABC. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. hollywoodQ&A

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