Rob Lowe And Jenna Fischer Starred In An Overlooked Sci-Fi Series About The Apocalypse

Both Jenna Fischer and Rob Lowe count as comedy royalty today, since the two have been an integral part of two of the greatest American sitcoms, "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation." For that alone, they've become iconic in the genre, in addition to appearing in a bunch of other comedies (both on the big and small screen) separately, such as "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," "Wayne's World," "Blades of Glory," "The Invention of Lying," and so on throughout their decades-long careers. But what many might not know, however, is that the two actually shared a screen (if only briefly) in the 2015 British-American co-production, "You, Me and the Apocalypse."

Iain Hollands' dramedy miniseries follows a bunch of oddballs in England, New Mexico, Washington, D.C., and the Vatican as they learn that a humongous comet is heading toward Earth with a pretty definite chance of causing the end of the world as we know it, for humanity. It turns out, however, that 15 people can survive the impending doom in a bunker under the British town of Slough, and three that will be in that group are Rhonda (Fischer), who's wrongfully imprisoned for a crime her son committed, Jamie (Mathew Baynton), a British bank manager searching for his wife who mysteriously disappeared seven years ago, and Father Jude (Lowe), a hedonist priest at the Vatican in search of the Antichrist (or Messiah) who can potentially save the world.

Despite widespread critical acclaim (the series currently holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), "You, Me and the Apocalypse" only ran for one season on Sky and NBC, respectively, before it was canceled for low ratings and because its main story largely concluded at the end of the 10-episode season.

Given its "Don't Look Up"-esque premise, Hollands' show certainly doesn't seem as unique now as it did a decade ago, but thanks to its intersection of British and American culture, quirky humor, and unusual casting, it's still an absolute delight in its own way. Although it might be bleaker and darker than you'd initially expect at times, that peculiar flavor of oddly profound drama and facetious yet sharp wit is what gives it a rather singular taste of compelling television. As IndieWire's critic Ben Travers put it, "Comedy or drama, stars or non-stars, half-hour or an hour, the show doesn't fit snugly into a pre-existing mold, and that's always a plus. So call it whatever you like: It's still good, no matter what."

It's a shame neither Sky nor NBC put much effort into its marketing, barely promoting the series during its run, which resulted in the show reaching far fewer viewers who could've been its target audience. Whether we're talking streaming (see these underrated Netflix shows, for instance) or network TV, it's hardly a rarity that small yet terrific projects like this are neglected by the very service or channel they air on. So if you're on the lookout for something weird yet intriguing, and a binge-watch you can complete in a single weekend, "You, Me and the Apocalypse" might do the trick — as it's currently available to stream on Now TV and Sky Go.