Changes are afoot for the Fox comedy series The Last Man on Earth. Will Forte served as creator, executive producer, writer, star, and showrunner throughout the first season’s 13-episode run, but fresh off a season two renewal, the folks at Deadline report that a new showrunner is stepping in to lighten the load. Dan Sterling—whose TV producer credits include The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Sarah Silverman Program, and the final season of The Office—has signed on as executive producer and showrunner for The Last Man on Earth’s second season. He joins existing executive producers Forte, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller on the series.

The unique concept for Last Man on Earth got off to a stellar start with glowing reviews, but it took an unexpected turn a few episodes in that saw Forte’s protagonist turn into the semi-villain of his own show, while the week-to-week stories themselves became more standard sitcom-y than the first few episodes indicated. Though it hit a few bumps in the road, I think the show ended strong with a fantastic finale, and I’m more than happy to continue along this strange, hilarious journey with Forte and Kristen Schaal in tow. Schaal in particular kind of became the heart of the series by season one's end, and I'm eager to see how Carol and Phil's relationship develops going forward.

Forte was no doubt under immense pressure juggling all his duties throughout the first season, so it will hopefully be to the show’s benefit that Sterling steps in as showrunner. He most recently co-wrote the Seth Rogen/James Franco film The Interview and also worked on Girls’ first season.

For more on The Last Man on Earth, be sure to check out Allison’s full postmortem.


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Image via Fox