Series premiere: No Tomorrow – 2016/17
I really want to hate this show. I do. I really want to. Up front, I watch very few comedies on TV. Frasier, Cheers, Mash, sure. Friends, not so much. Seinfeld at times. With all the TV watching I do, the only one that currently makes my “possible” list is The Big Bang Theory and I have missed lots of episodes. I enjoy it but it’s lost its appeal as it approached everyone’s coupled status.
Romantic comedies for movies? Almost never. Heck, I’d almost prefer male slapstick stuff, and I *hate* that. It’s like Porkies for a less T&A-oriented crowd.
So what attracted me to this 1 hour romcom about two young 20 somethings? It wasn’t the RomCom side. It wasn’t that she works for the equivalent of an Amazon distribution centre leading an Office-Space-like position. The first ten minutes are almost mindless to watch. I simply didn’t care about Evie’s life. Fate, serendipity…zzzzz. But there was something a bit intriguing about two people ticking off things on their bucket lists.
When she actually meets Xavier, he’s awesome. Except for one minor red flag. He believes the Earth will go bye bye in about 8 months because of a meteor. So he’s quit his job, living each day to the fullest, ticking off things on his bucket list. Or his apocalist. And he wants someone to share the last 8 months with.
Xavier lives life to the fullest; Evie takes no chances. And that is the basis for two thirds of all RomComs out there, which I don’t watch; and the basis for some shows like Remington Steele, Castle, Moonlighting, etc., that I do like, but those are mysteries. So why the RomCom? Here’s the catch.
Evie is charming. The two of them together are even more charming. I am sick this week and taking tylenol to keep any fever at bay, but I may be losing my mind cuz I really like the show.
I’ve seen Evie before or rather the actress Tori Anderson. She played Sabine on Killjoys last season, and will likely come back in the future. She was badass there, here’s she’s sweet and, umm, well, charming. Delightful even. Totally light. Xavier is played by Joshua Sasse (Galavant) and while I don’t know him, he’s pretty good here as the roguish bachelor tempting the sweet princess. Right up until he commandeers her phone and sends an email to her boss as her, saying she resigns. That wasn’t so cute. Given the control issues that go with stalkers, and men who isolate women, I didn’t find it a particularly appealing note, particularly when she forgives him later. A fickle hand of fate does seem to be playing with their lives, making it better as it goes, but still.
The sister and mother are beyond annoying though, complete caricature characters, as are some of her friends and coworkers.
Hopefully as the two focus on their bucket lists, the final premise of the show, the others will fade into the background.