'You, Me and the Apocalypse' a Blast

“You, Me and the Apocalypse,” a miniseries co-production from NBC and Britain’s Sky 1 network, debuted in the United Kingdom almost four months ago. Now it’s finally reached stateside—and thank goodness, because, well, it’s pretty darn good.

Here’s the gist: A massive, extinction event-sized meteorite is about to strike Earth, and whoever you are—“black or white, straight or gay, rich or poor”—the end is nigh. In a bunker deep underground, however, an unlikely collection of survivors finds themselves witnessing the demise of the human race on television. “You, Me and the Apocalypse” is the comedic chronicle of this ragtag band: who they are, how they came to be the last lifeline of humanity, and ostensibly how they might manage after the end of the world as we know it.

“Apocalypse’s” eclectic group of characters is portrayed brilliantly by one of the more impressive casts in broadcast comedy. British comic Mathew Baynton makes his U.S. television debut as Jamie, a young bank manager who is still haunted by the disappearance of his wife, much to the chagrin of his more fun-loving mates. Meanwhile, in Vatican City, Rob Lowe stars as Father Jude, an irreverent, chain-smoking priest whose job is to run background checks on potential saints—or in his own words, to find out if they “felt up kids and parked in handicap spaces.” The group is rounded out in a New Mexico maximum-security prison, where a meek-mannered librarian named Rhonda (Jenna Fischer of “The Office” is serving time for crimes she obviously did not commit—with the always brilliant Megan Mullally in her cell block as a white supremacist.

With such a geographically dispersed ensemble and just an hour of time, the pilot is understandably a bit disjointed, but there’s no reason to think that the plot won’t resolve itself once all of our characters are together in one place. In the meantime, “Apocalypse” makes do with what it has, employing well-structured vignettes rather than rambling exposition to dip into its characters’ quirky backstories. To its credit, the show also makes no attempt at being high-concept. Despite its sci-fi premise, “Apocalypse” is decidedly indifferent about crafting a complex mythology, instead relying on sharp performances, crisp dialogue and a clever sense of humor that, while dark at times, nonetheless manages to remain fresh and funny. The world may be ending, but humans—and not whatever is going to kill them—are the center of attention.

“You, Me and the Apocalypse” airs Thursday nights at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.