Photo Credit: Jordin Althaus/FOX

From writer/producer Will Forte (“Nebraska,” “Saturday Night Live”) and directors/producers Chris Miller and Phil Lord (“The Lego Movie,” “21 Jump Street”), THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is a new single-camera comedy that chronicles the life and adventures of an average guy – and humanity’s last hope – who discovers what life is like when no one is telling you what you can and cannot do.

The year is 2020, and after a deadly virus has swept the planet, only one man is left on earth: PHIL MILLER (Forte). He used to be just an average guy who loved his family and hated his job. Now, in his RV, Phil searches the country for other survivors. He has traveled to every city, every town and every outpost in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and has found no one. As he returns to his hometown of Tucson, Phil comes to the painful realization that he is almost certainly the last living being on the face of the earth. All he wants is for someone – anyone – to find him in Tucson – preferably a woman.

This Sunday night, the new single-camera comedy, The Last Man on Earth premieres on Fox and I am so, so, so excited for you all to see it. I was intrigued by the show from the moment Fox announced it and have been anticipating it ever since. Finally, after watching the one hour premiere, I can say that this is one of my favorite new series, perhaps my favorite new comedy of this TV season.

If you’re worried about the longevity of a show with such a small cast, don’t. Or what you think is such a small story, don’t. Because it’s not a small story. Anything is possible. It’s the end of the world. And by the end of the premiere, it’s the beginning of a new one. I love the cast. I love the writing, the world, the pacing. Everything about this not only works but works so, so well. And it goes there while managing not to be too risqué for primetime TV. It’s a tight rope but there’s no chance of falling here. The writing is sharp. The cast is brilliant. The cast and crew aced it. The challenges that Phil faces, the choices that he makes to get by everyday, it really is fascinating and thought provoking and makes for some really, really great TV. All in all, this show seems to have everything working in its favor…all it needs is your views so make sure you watch this show because it really is something special.

“That was like a $400 sip.” – Phil

I knew that this was my kind of show as soon as I heard about it and what makes me so happy and proud of this show is that it exceeded my expectations. This is truly one of the most captivating, charming, and clever shows in quite some time. It’s intimate, yes and that’s what makes it so engrossing. What Phil does because of the world that he lives in…that’s the show. His reaction to all of the inaction around him and what he does when he’s comfortable with what he’s settled on in this world only to discover it’s not what he thought. This is very much character driven and those are usually my favorite kind of shows so this just really had winning all over it from the very beginning.

We follow Phil on his everyday life as he searches for survivors and then we see him settle down in Tuscon and wait and almost give up on it all. It’s a wonder how the writers went through all of that in one hour so, so well with it being executed so wonderfully on screen. Everyone really did such an awesome job here. Long story short, The Last Man on Earth is a true delight. I know this show is going to bring a smile to my face and more than a few laughs each week because it’s proven itself to be a comedy that can stand on solid ground, stomp all over that ground and create something really poignant. It’s smart, funny, and compelling. It’s got the perfect amount of all of the ingredients that make a fantastic show. The cast and crew should be very proud of this work. The Last Man on Earth is truly a comedy gem. Be sure to watch. I’m telling you, you don’t want to miss this.

In addition to watching an advance screener, I had the opportunity to chat with creator, writer, and star Will Forte and executive producers Chris Miller and Phil Lord during a conference call earlier today. Since seven is my favorite number, here are seven things from the call that stood out to me:

1) Filming for the entire first season of The Last Man on Earth wrapped yesterday. Season one is in the books!

2) There are a lot of surprises in store for the audience. Pretty much every episode ends with a twist, cliffhanger, or new development.

3) Phil and Chris came to Will as a writer first when they came together to create the idea for the show. A treatment for the entire season was written over an entire weekend after Phil and Chris brought the idea to Will. They pitched the show with the general outline of the entire first season already mapped out.

4) A lot of the things that Will would do in his character’s position are many of the things we see his character, Phil do in the Pilot. “It doesn’t take much to make me happy,” Will says. He adds, “Another thing that would be at the top of the list would be going and finding all of the classified information that’s down there in Washington D.C. and figuring out what really is happening with all of the conspiracy theories. Love that stuff.”

5) The biggest challenge getting the pacing right? They like to spend a lot of time in the editing room. Will is equally passionate as the producers are about getting the right frame and feeling out what’s right. The writers also like to watch the show with a group. They actually asked Fox for a multi-camera sitcom focus group to sit down and watch their show. What they got? The complete opposite of their target audience…and major laughs. The big thing that was important was that the show allowed for processing and understanding what something means before responding to it. The writers were careful in making sure that the audience has time to project into the characters what they might be thinking and feeling instead of being told that with so much dialogue. The goal? Making this fully immersive. (I say, achievement unlocked!)

6) Post apocalyptic movies and books that are mentioned in the writers room: The Omega Man, I Am Legend, 28 Days Later, and Life After People. Will says, “The parts that I always love are the parts where the character is just wandering around in an empty city. That’s so fascinating to me. It always makes me wonder what it would be like if I were that person, what I would do.”

7) Piggybacking off of number 6, Phil says he feels like no one had explored how silly this experience would be. He says, “I think in a strange way, Will wrote the most grounded, most real version of that experience.” (I agree!) “What you really do is fart around and we got to how lonely that would feel.. doing a comedic version but also the most honest version.”

Be sure to watch the series premiere and if you’re on Twitter, use #thelastmanonearth when talking about the show!

Watch the series premiere of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH Sunday, March 1, 2015 9:00-9:30 and 9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT on FOX.