The Last Man On Earth was canceled following a huge season 4 cliffhanger – here’s what season 5 would have been about. The Last Man On Earth was a high concept sitcom pitch that came from Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie), where a selfish loser named Phil finds himself as seemingly the last living human. They brought the project to star Will Forte who then injected his own ideas into the story. Despite being a comedy, The Last Man On Earth took inspiration from the likes of I Am Legend and documentary series Life After People. Lord and Miller would direct the show’s pilot episode and executive produce the show.

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Forte’s talent aside, it would have been next to impossible to sustain a comedy with only one actor, so Phil soon encounters more survivors to complicate his life. Over the course of its run, The Last Man On Earth proved to be a witty and surprisingly existential series, which could be darkly funny one moment and heartbreakingly sad the next. The series also attracted an impressive line-up of guest stars, including Kristen Wiig, Jack Black, and Jon Hamm. The show soon gathered a fanbase and while the ratings were modest, its critical reputation only seemed to improve with each new season.

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The Last Man On Earth was canceled after four seasons in 2018, with the final scene teasing a major storyline. Let’s take a look at what would have happened with The Last Man On Earth season 5.

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The Last Man On Earth Season 5 Would Have Introduced New Survivors

The Last Man On Earth’s final episode appeared like it was ending on a positive note, with Phil and the other survivors about to settle down on a new piece of land, only to be surrounded by a mysterious group wearing gas masks. With The Last Man On Earth being canceled shortly after, this would be the final scene of the show. However, Will Forte later revealed the rough plan for how this new group would have functioned on the show.

The Last Man On Earth season 5 would have explained this group had been living in an underground bunker following the outbreak of the virus that wiped out most of mankind. When they believe the virus has died out they reemerge, only to encounter Phil’s group. After a few episodes of mistrust, the two groups eventually bond, with the leader of the other camp earmarked for a major celebrity. Unfortunately, while Phil’s group has built up an immunity to the virus over time, they’re also carriers, so in a darkly comic twist, the other survivors are wiped out once they take their masks off.

The Last Man On Earth Season 5 (Probably) Would Have Ended The Show

Prior to The Last Man On Earth being canned, Forte had heard the show might be brought back for a shorter, 10 episode run. He felt this was enough to wrap up the series, with the gas mask survivor storyline taking up roughly five episodes. Unfortunately, the network pulled the plug before this happened. Forte also admitted there wasn’t a clear plan for exactly how The Last Man On Earth’s final season would have ended the story, but he just trusted they would come up with something fitting once the season was mapped out.

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Padraig Cotter
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It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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