The streaming era has seen several different studios attempt to create their own market-cornering science fiction show, from Netflix’s 3-Body Problem to Prime Video’s Fallout, and Disney+’s plethora of Star Wars content. However, despite all of their efforts, the undisputed champion of sci-fi on streaming is Apple TV, with shows like Severance, Silo, For All Mankind, Foundation, and now Vince Gilligan‘s <em>Pluribus</em> dominating both in-house streaming charts and wider discourse amongst audiences.
However, with this range of projects in the genre comes the higher odds that some of these shows, however compelling they may be, go unjustly under the radar. One of these shows was Hello Tomorrow!, and it truly is a great shame. Hello Tomorrow! not only created a fascinating premise and touching narrative, but features a fantastic performance from Billy Crudup that should have been given far more praise than it garnered upon its release in 2023.
What Is Apple TV’s Sci-Fi Series ‘Hello Tomorrow!’ About?
Hello Tomorrow! is set in a retro-futuristic America and follows a salesman named Jack Billings (Crudup) as he travels the country selling timeshares for a supposed residential community on the moon. Jack is the classic idea of a traveling salesman, in that he values the sale above all else, and can struggle to form meaningful connections because of it. As the show goes on, we become more and more suspicious of the existence of these residences on the moon. Jack keeps pushing back customers’ launch dates, and our trust in him is challenged as we wonder if he is a reliable narrator or not.
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“Open the pod bay doors, Hal.”
Hello Tomorrow!‘s true emotional tale is about Jack’s relationship with his estranged son, Joey (Nicholas Podany), whom he hasn’t seen in 18 years after leaving him and his mother. After Joey’s mother is accidentally killed by an automated delivery drone, Joey tries to move to one of Jack’s timeshares, which Jack denies and hires him as an assistant, trying to rebuild their relationship. However, the tension that underscores most of their narrative throughout the season is the fact that Jack doesn’t tell his son that he is his father, further complicating the audience’s relationship with him as we try to sympathize with his intentions.
Apple TV’s ‘Hello Tomorrow!’ Uses Sci-Fi To Critique the American Dream
Sometimes, it can feel like a show is only in the sci-fi genre to add a glossy layer to an otherwise basic narrative. However, Hello Tomorrow! folds in its world-building with its thematic message, creating a poignant visual and tone throughout the series. The show has a 1950s aesthetic with magnificent pieces of technology like automated bartenders and robot dogs.
Interestingly enough, Hello Tomorrow!‘s retro-futuristic world doesn’t create a feeling of utopia. From the very first scene where a man is sitting in a bar after losing his job to a robot, the technology only reminds people of how far they are from it. It is impossible not to look at the ’50s aesthetic, the time when the idea of the American Dream was at its peak, and not relate the superior technology to a sense of lost hope that has occurred in our own time period, with Jack remarking how, despite their world of plenty, everyone still has a “sh*t deal.”
Billy Crudup Balances Hope and Cynicism as Jack Billings in ‘Hello Tomorrow!’
Image via Apple TV+
This delicate balance of cynicism and emotive nuance is personified by Billy Crudup’s Jack. Crudup plays the character with the right amount of salesman tactics to distract those around him from his inner pain while giving brief drops of his facade to show the audience his inner conflict. This makes Jack a character that goes from frustrating with his over-the-top sales tactics to tragic. In moments when we see the con-man’s true nature, it is obvious we shouldn’t hate him but pity him.
It doesn’t seem like Hello Tomorrow!‘s story will continue on for another season, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting lost in this glossy world and compelling story that will make you think. With great characters, world-building, and poignant themes, Hello Tomorrow! has plenty to offer its viewers and deserves far more praise than it got.
