Welcome to the future! Or is it 1952? It’s hard to tell, really. In this vintage-futuristic world, the charismatic Jack Billings (played by the Emmy-winning Billy Crudup), along with his posse of travelling salesmen, is kick-starting people’s lives by selling them timeshares on the moon.
If that sounds like a possibility that is almost too good to be true, that’s probably because it is – even for Jack and all his charm.
The show opens in a classic American diner, but not like any you’ve seen before. Behind the till are robots serving the customers, and rather flirtatious ones at that. In fact everywhere you turn, robots roam the streets, waiting on man’s every beck and call with varying degrees of success. We soon meet Sal (Michael Harney), a man down on his luck, drowning his sorrows in booze. But not for long it seems, for who should sit next him but Jack Billings, who promises that all his troubles – both fiscal and familial – will soon fall into place if he takes his chances on moving to the moon.
Sal is not the only desperate soul seeking comfort in the possibility of a lunar escape. Jack – alongside his colleagues Eddie (Hank Azaria), Shirley (Haneefah Wood), and Herb (Dewshane Williams) – dazzles anyone that will listen. But after one particular presentation, he is unexpectedly reunited with the son he once abandoned, who is now all grown up and does not recognise his father at all. Soon enough Jack’s professional mask starts to slip, uncovering desperation and deceit, as well as a horrifying truth that not even his coworkers are privy to.
Hello Tomorrow! is much like its leading character; full of charm and spectacle, with little to follow through with. It ultimately struggles with an enticing concept that can’t get its feet off the ground (gravity joke fully intended). A quirky futuristic-yet-retro setting (with a vast array of dystopian robots and abundance of diner milkshakes) serves merely as a backdrop to a plot that won’t make the most of the stunning visuals at its fingertips.
We’ve got turbulent family dynamics between Jack and his son, Eddie (who is grappling with a crippling addiction to gambling that threatens his personal life), and a toxic long distance relationship on the rocks. All captivating, admittedly, but familiar all the same. Take these characters away from their little robot friends and very little would change – all you’d be missing is the moon.
But in spite of its drawbacks, Hello Tomorrow! does not fall short in its heart. Crudup leads the cast with unsurprising ease, showcasing his ability to give us equal parts charm and desperation. Nicholas Podany as Jack’s son, Joey, also gives as heartfelt a performance as you could hope for, nailing the delicate determination of a young man caught between the love for his sick mother and his ambition.
For anyone that chooses to switch it on, Hello Tomorrow! will almost certainly entertain, with the performances and writing making for a captivating series. The glaring issue, sadly, is wasted potential. In a vintage world filled with robots eerily waiting on every possible need, the Apple TV+ series spends a little too much of its time on human issues caused by human mistakes, instead diving into the world of intrigue it put on its own doorstep.
