The Future Of ‘The Last Man On Earth’ Is Uncertain, But It’s Been On The Bubble Before

It seems that ever since Tandy and his crew made their way to Mexico to avoid an American nuclear fall-out, the hilarity and the Saturday Night Live cameos on The Last Man on Earth have only increased. Will Forte's apocalyptic comedy is set to wrap it's forth season on Sunday, May 6 on Fox, and fans of the show are likely already mourning the end of another season. But will The Last Man On Earth return for Season 5?

Unfortunately for fans,The Last Man On Earth has yet to be renewed for a fifth season by Fox, per TVLine. A network's decision regarding whether or not to renew a series for another season is often based on a combination of ratings and critical acclaim, so it's actually a little surprising that The Last Man On Earth has found itself near the chopping block. TVLine reported that Season 4 of the show has been averaging 2.24 million viewers, and that these ratings are actually better than that of Fox's other comedies Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Mick.

Fellow SNL alum Andy Samberg's Brooklyn Nine-Nine has yet to be renewed by the network for a sixth season, and The Mick is also still waiting to hear whether it will return for a third season. Since these sitcoms all have very similar ratings, it is likely that Fox is taking some more time to decide which of the three shows they are going to renew, and which might not make it another year.

But The Last Man On Earth fans shouldn't panic just yet: the show has survived being on the chopping block before. The show spent a long time on the bubble during its Season 3 run before being renewed for a fourth season, per another TVLine article. A week before the news was announced Forte shared with the outlet that he had been feeling hopeless about the chance of renewal until late into the process. He said:

“The latest is that there might be some hope. I was feeling kind of pessimistic a few weeks ago and now I feel like, ‘Oh, we might have a shot.’ I got together with [Fox CEOs] Dana [Walden] and Gary [Newman] and told them what we wanted to do in Season 4; we had a really nice lunch. I understand the position that they’re in. We have [unspectacular] ratings. I think they like the show creatively, but they have to run a business. So I just told them how I thought we could improve the show for us on the creative level.”

The fact that even though Forte was feeling pessimistic about the show's chances, Fox eventually decided to renew the show for a fourth season should be a thread of hope for fans to hold onto as the people behind The Last Man On Earth waits to hear of its fate.

It would be a shame if the show were cancelled now, especially since Forte and the other showrunners keep finding creative ways to spice up the show. From the group's departure to Mexico, to the cameo appearances from beloved SNL castmates Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, and Fred Armisen, the show continues to innovate and excite. After all, who wouldn't want to watch Kristen Wiig as a murderous socialite? Maybe if fans rally together to voice their support for the show, Fox executives will think seriously about renewing the series. They're definitely trying on Twitter.

So if Fox decides to cancel the show, the network will have a lot of disappointed The Last Man On Earth fans to answer to. But even if the Season 4 finale proves to the be the last episode of the series, viewers can at least rest easy that Tandy is not, in fact, the last man on earth, and he and his friends have all managed to find each other. And that's the best ending a show could ask for — a post-apocalyptic show, anyway.