People of Earth

It’s a set-up that leads to one of the most humanist shows I’ve seen in a while, truly spotlighting the unique energy of its ensemble in a way that suggests real love is involved.

As Ozzie’s empathy for the group’s misfits grows, so does the show’s, and the supporting characters, including Ana Gasteyer, who plays the group’s empathetic leader, develop into more than mere punchlines.

People of Earth deserves praise more for its high concept and intelligence than for its ability to generate laughs. It’s the kind of show that doesn’t make you LOL so much as chuckle softly while admiring its subtext.

Like the supporting casts in early seasons of The Office and Parks And Recreation, secondary players in Ozzie’s story make the most of their time in the spotlight—particularly Ana Gasteyer as the disgraced therapist at the head of Starcrossed, and Brian Huskey as a self-proclaimed business mogul who’s convinced that Reptilians have made off with his wife.

It follows the tenets of each genre it tackles with little attempt at straying into its own cosmic path. That’s okay, because it does what it does well, and where it does feel original and worthwhile is in its total confidence to be unusual without trying to excuse its unusualness for a broader audience.

People of Earth is a very, very strange series, and not all of it works (including a recurring talking deer). But it has a surprising amount of character development, a great cast, and a low-key, almost indy approach to humor (“There is dickery happening in Beacon”) that makes Ozzie’s transformation from skeptic to believer one that is both silly and sincere, and worth watching.

Instead of ridiculing the abductees, the show is a surprisingly earnest look at a group of lonely oddballs struggling with hazy but traumatic memories. But both its humor and its more serious themes feel undernourished, and the end result is a comedy that, despite its potential, feels slight.