Good salespeople can sell almost anything, but here, they are selling dreams of a better tomorrow in this retro-futuristic series is about owning timeshares on the moon! Billy Crudup is the super salesman whose amazing talent is the ability to sweet talk anybody into anything. And he has put together a door-to-door sales team of characters who are hungry for cash while they promise to change lives. There are backstories and subplots to each of these hopeful hustlers who reminded us of having a Guys and Dolls, Damon Runyon kind of vibe.
Co-creators Amit Bhalla and Lucas Jensen are the writer/producers and show-runners of this episodic original series. They cast Crudup as the leader Jack, who command Eddie (Hank Azaria), Herb (Dewshane Williams) and Shirley (Haneefah Wood) as their team.
Watch our interviews with the creators and stars who talk about their characters, the writing and working together.
It’s set in a 1950’s alternate universe that even make the Jetson’s look out of date. There are shiny, cool vintage cars that literally hover down the street. There are robots for everything from counter service in a diner and bar, to mail carriers and policemen. As advanced as that is, all of the housing and wardrobe trappings are from the 1950’s. You see men in baggie suits wearing fedoras and women dressed up wearing the kind of hats you might see on I Love Lucy. But then there’s a version of Face Time and TV, including a jumbotron at the ball park broadcasting in Black and White!
Jack is the mastermind who has put together this bunch. Eddie is a scoundrel and a gambler with a soft spot for Shirley, the office manager who is the one person trying to keep the business afloat. She’s Jack’s conscience, but when Eddie turns on the charm, love for the guy clouds her decision-making. Herb is a super nice guy whose wife wears the pants in the family. Betty (Susan Hayward) is constantly nudging him to make more money for a better future. Herb is a devoted employee always trying to please Jack so he can keep Betty happy.
Enter Joey (Nicholas Pedant), the wide-eyed, gee-whiz, local kid, who falls for Jack’s pitch and sees the moon as his ticket a new life. Jack takes him under his wing as his new junior sales guy and we find out that there is a complicated reason why.
Interesting side story with a volatile Myrtle Rayburn (Alison Pill). Pill plays crazy Myrtle with wide emotional range as a woman desperate to do just about anything to dramatically change her life. Then there’s, Lester, (Matthew Maher), the paper pusher sneaking around trying to investigate if there’s anything amiss in Jack’s business practices.
Directors Jonathan Entwistle and Ryan McFaul help create this almost idyllic 1950’s tableau with deeply saturated colors along with costumes and sets of that era. They did a good job dreaming up the robots using puppeteers and motion capture for their movement and gestures. Special effects showing vintage cars zipping down streets, hovering a few feet above the road would be a fun to travel now.
While there’s a lot visually to enjoy with these retro-futuristic touches. Crudup’s fast patter and wry smile continue to light up the screen as he leads his sales staff trying to corner real estate on the moon. The humor doesn’t land a lot of big laughs. But they come close to closing the deal.
Apple TV+ 10 episodes. TV-MA
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