On Halloween, TBS debuted their new comedy series “People of Earth.” It stars Wyatt Cenac (“The Daily Show”) as Ozzie Graham, a New York City journalist who goes to the town of Beacon, New York, to write a story on an alien abduction support group called StarCrossed. This is the newest entry into a growing genre of film and television known as science fiction comedies or sci-coms.
The pilot episode starts with Graham on his way to Beacon when he hits a deer with his car. He wonders why people are making a big deal out of something that happens all the time.
The supporting cast plays well off of Graham’s skepticism of Cenac’s character, who sees the members of StarCrossed as weirdos and attention seekers. As Graham is interviewing members of the group, it seems that their individual stories of abductions are all very similar and somehow familiar to him, only he cannot figure out why.
The StarCrossed group are a wonderful mix of characters led by Gina Morrison (Ana Gasteyer, “Saturday Night Live”). Their experiences are all similar, but different based on the characteristics of the individuals in the group, such as a toll booth operator (Luka Jones, “Up All Night”), a postal worker (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “Selfie”) and a woman who is a part-time temp receptionist for a funeral home (Debra McCabe, “Perception”).
The pilot episode has a very dry sense of humor which plays well with Cenac’s portrayal of a skeptical big-city journalist who covered big stories such as gun control and prison reform for the biggest publications in New York City. In the episode though he is assigned a click-bait story by his editor (Michael Cassidy, “Argo”), who seems to be a cross between the stereotypes of dotcom millionaire and spoiled rich kid millennial.
Cenac’s time as a correspondent for “The Daily Show” makes him well suited to show the skepticism and disbelief that drives the character of Graham as he deals with the members of the group, who call themselves experiencers.
The pilot also shows many scenes of the alien abductors, described as Reptilians, Greys, and Nordics, bickering like office workers, who a tell their abductees, “They are special,” following every experience
Viewers who are fans of jokes that come often and obvious as in many of today’s popular sitcoms may not be fans of “People of Earth,” due to the fact that this show has a very dry style of humor and many of the jokes are subtle.
This show may not spend much time near the top of the ratings, but it has the potential to be around for quite some time.
