It seems as if superhero dramas have become synonymous with The CW. Between “Smallville,” “The Tomorrow People,” “Arrow,” “Flash,” “Legends of Tomorrow” and now “Supergirl” taking up valuable primetime space on the schedule, ithe network’s mandate these days is tight costumes and flawed heroes. Dig a little deeper though, and you can find other types of shows – specifically, those in which females have become quirky romantic leads in larger-than-life series.
In keeping with the success of “Jane the Virgin” and “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” CW is looking towards another charming but goofy leading lady in the form of Canadian Tori Anderson for Tuesday’s premiere of “No Tomorrow.” And they’ve enlisted former “Galavant” star Joshua Sasse to help.
The series revolves around a by-the-rules girl who always does everything that’s expected of her, despite the heavy mental toll that sometimes takes. But when she meets a man who believes the world is ending in eight months, the two of them begin to check items off his bucket list (actually, the “apocalyst”) and she in turn learns to let loose.
It’s a charming and quirky romantic tale with an overarching twist thanks to the notion that the world may indeed be ending, and it’s pulled of by two completely watchable leads. You can’t help but root for these two to be together despite the obvious opposites attract setup, in part because they’re both so likable and in part because the writing is light and breezy – this isn’t a show that takes itself too seriously.
Where “No Tomorrow” runs into huge problems is in its close-ended arc. If leading man Xaviaer (Sasse) is to be believed, a meteor will crash into the world in eight months and 12 days, leading to the end of life as we know it. Whether that leads to the end of this series remains to be seen. There are certainly several ways to deal with that end date should the show make it that far, but devices like that are always bound to divide viewers. Should Xavier’s mental state actually turn out to be dicey, it ruins the show’s central relationship. But should something else happen and the meteor either gets diverted or the scientific community wises up and stops it, then what does that mean for two characters who have just led charmed lives in the month leading up to the event?
That’s why it’s always tricky to give viewers an end point in your pilot; unless things are perfectly crafted and worked back from finale to start, you open yourself up for these sorts of questions. Viewers have been burned too many times before with high-concept shows that didn’t plausibly answer pressing questions in a post-“Lost” world. And so it’s with a wary eye that they invest in something of this nature if at all.
For now at least the leads are what make the show worth sticking around for as we see their potential romance bloom. Sure, neither of these characters would ever be an underdog in real life, but Anderson and Sasse sell it. Perhaps it’s their great chemistry, or maybe it’s just that there aren’t enough good, old-fashioned rom-coms on TV these days. Either way this is a fun, light romp for the romantics out there who aren’t bothered by a little old thing like the end of the world.
“No Tomorrow” premieres Tuesday at 9 p.m. on The CW.