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PILOT REVIEW: No Tomorrow

NO TOMORROW











Starring: Joshua Sasse, Tori Anderson, Jonathan Langdon, Sarayu Blue, Jesse Rath, Amy Pietz

Developed by Corinne Brinkerhoff
Teleplay by Corinne Brinkerhoff, Tory Stanton & Scott McCabe, Directed by Brad Silberling

In the CW universe, there are two types of shows for the most part with the vampire shows disappearing: action heavy superhero shows and light and frosty romantic comedies. No Tomorrow is decidedly in the latter category. This is my first ever review for a CW show and there are none of them that I watch regularly but No Tomorrow could become my first. Its sunny, lighthearted take on an apocalyptic story is unique and the pilot was very enjoyable.

Evie (Tori Anderson) is stuck in a bit of a rut with her monotonous job and an on-again, off-again relationship with nerdy Timothy (Jesse Rath). In the midst of this rut, she has a chance meeting with Xavier (Joshua Sasse) who has reason to believe there are only eight months and 12 days before the world ends. He encourages her to let loose and live carefree and they set out to accomplish bucket list items and life changes before the coming doomsday.

At the heart of this show and what made it work is the relationship between Sasse and Anderson. They had genuine chemistry and they were so enjoyable to watch together. Anderson was such a likable lead to root for and Sasse had a lot of charisma. Their relationship wasn't the only element that worked though. The family scenes were enjoyable even with noted show-killer and recurring guest star Ted McGinley. The work scenes were probably my least favorite part because I found Amy Pietz a little bit annoying, but even they were decent.

This hardly felt like an apocalyptic show and I wonder what it will look like as we get closer to the impending doomsday. But it was a freeing feeling, it was probably the most feel-good show of the year so far with a relentlessly optimistic outlook and a Parks and Recreation level brightness that is missing in a lot of shows including many dark dramas and many cynical comedies. I don't think it was the best new drama of the season but it was certainly strong on many levels. I hope it can find an audience that is acceptable to CW standards.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. As I said before, this might become the first CW show I watch regularly!

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