Tonight NBC kicks off the 10-part comedic drama You, Me and the Apocalypse. A comet is racing its way towards Earth, and in 34 days humanity will be completely wiped out. In England bank manager Jamie Winton (Mathew Baynton, The Wrong Mans) continues to search for his wife who went missing 7 years prior, just after their honeymoon, while his mother Paula (Pauline Quirke, Birds of a Feather) and housemate Dave (Joel Fry, Game of Thrones) try to convince him to accept that she’s gone. Meanwhile, in Italy, foul mouthed, chain-smoking Vatican priest Father Jude (Rob Lowe, The Grinder) and his young new partner Sister Celine (Gaia Scodellaro) are tasked with trying to find the second messiah. Across the pond in New Mexico, Rhonda MacNeil (Jenna Fischer, The Office) takes the blame for an NSA hacking crime committed by her son, and in prison she meets white supremacist Leanne (Megan Mullally, Parks and Recreation, Childrens Hospital). Finally, in Washington D.C., the government is hard at work trying to find a solution to stop the comet. Leading this effort are Army Major General Arnold Gaines (Paterson Joseph, Law & Order: UK) and analyst Scotty McNeil (Kyle Soller, Silent Witness).
The series is a co-production with the UK’s Sky 1, which already aired all 10 episodes this past fall. As the series follows these four seemingly-disparate stories from around the globe, the connections between these characters and events are slowly revealed as this big puzzle comes together. I liked how the show blends the talented UK and US cast–and there are a lot of other fun familiar faces that show up throughout the season, including Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) and film and TV screen legend Diana Rigg (The Avengers). The series has a great blend of drama and humor–while there are a lot of really funny moments, there is also mystery, action and some really dramatic turns of events. Each episode picks up right where the previous one left off, so it plays out like one 10-hour (minus commercials) film. I really enjoyed this series–it was a lot of fun discovering how all the pieces and characters fit together.
In tonight’s premiere, “Who Are These People?”, an unlikely and eclectic group of characters survive a comet’s collision with Earth and become humanity’s last hope.
YOU, ME AND THE APOCALYPSE — Season: 1 — Pictured: (l-r) Paterson Joseph as General Arnold Gaines, Kyle Soller as Scotty, Jenna Fischer as Rhonda McNeil, Megan Mullally as Leanne, Pauline Quirke as Paula Winton, Matthew Baynton as Jamie Winton, Rob Lowe as Father Jude Sutton, Gaia Scodellaro as Sister Celine Leonti, Matthew Baynton as Ariel Conroy, and Joel Fry as Dave Bosley — (Photo by: Guy Levy/WTTV Productions Limited)
