'Hello Tomorrow!' is An Unusual Character Study of a Lunar Salesman Who Can't Stop Believing

"No one's not a dreamer, right?"

In Apple TV+’s new perky sci-fi dramedy, Hello Tomorrow!, Jack Billings (Billy Crudup) is selling hope. He’s a master at telling people what they want to hear. Take Michael Harney’s middle-aged man in the opening scene, for instance. He’s sitting at the bar in a diner late at night, beat down, chugging beer after beer like someone who just lost his job and family, and suicide might be a few days away from him. He’s got nothing left. Jack enters and immediately recognizes his despair. He gives him an inspirational speech that gets him hooked. It’s a home run, and Jack knows it. Then he places a piece of rock on the counter, his prized possession, and tells him it’s from the Moon (gifted to him by his son). The poor bastard’s eyes lit up: He knows Jack’s offering a way out of whatever trouble he’s in. And before you know it, he’s signing the paperwork to buy an apartment up there — a magical solution to all of his problems.

Of course, Jack is actually a traveling salesman — a regional manager at Brightside Lunar Residencies — in the fictional retro-future world of the 1950s. Think hovercars, R2-D2-esque friendly robots, countertop bubble microwaves, gleaming baseballs, black-and-white facetime calls, and what have you with a futuristic spin. Not all that different from our current technology, but made in a stylish, old-school, and crafty design. It’s an atmosphere that feels welcoming and lived-in enough to seem believable.