Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Apple TV+/Wikimedia Commons
Hello Tomorrow! is a story about people who believe that telling enough lies will eventually make those falsehoods—and their dreams—come true. No amount of deceptions, alas, can turn this Apple TV+ series into a winner. Wasting a charmingly slick performance from star Billy Crudup, it’s a retro-futuristic affair that’s built out of unoriginal scrap and hollow beneath its shiny surface.
Created by Amit Bhalia and Lucas Jansen, Hello Tomorrow! (which premieres Feb. 17) is set in an alterna-1950s that’s awash in the latest and greatest techno-gadgets. Big chrome-fendered hover cars glide down suburban streets, passing by self-driving delivery trucks and mechanical dogs. Robots are ubiquitous, handling just about every service job society requires, from caring for lawns and tending to bars to functioning as desk clerks and police officers.
It’s The Jetsons come to brilliant, sparkly, smooth-edged life, and that includes the rocket ships that promise to transport humans to the moon—a destination that Jack Billings (Crudup) sells as the prime spot to achieve happiness, courtesy of one of his luxury Brightside timeshare properties.