# Hello Tomorrow!
**Hello Tomorrow!** is an American science-fiction dramedy television series created by Amit Bhalla and Lucas Jansen for Apple TV+, in which traveling salesman Jack Billings ([Billy Crudup](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-crudup)) leads a team hawking timeshares on the moon in a retro-futuristic world styled on the 1950s and early 1960s.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow) Its single season of ten episodes ran from February to April 2023 and the show was not renewed.[2](https://epguides.com/HelloTomorrow/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | Apple TV+; season 1 premiered February 2023, finale "What Could Be Better?" aired April 7, 2023; status ended[2](https://epguides.com/HelloTomorrow/) |
| Creators | Amit Bhalla and Lucas Jansen, who also served as showrunners and executive producers[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow) |
| Premise | In a retro-futuristic world, charismatic salesman Jack Billings leads a team of sales associates selling timeshares on the moon[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow) |
| Lead cast | Billy Crudup (Jack Billings), Haneefah Wood (Shirley Stedman), Hank Azaria (Eddie), Alison Pill (Myrtle Mayburn), Nicholas Podany (Joey Shorter), Dewshane Williams (Herb Porter), Jacki Weaver (Barbara)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow) • [3](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/hello-tomorrow-billy-crudup-and-cast-on-the-sci-fi-series/) |
| Episode format | 10 episodes of roughly 31 to 34 minutes, released weekly on Fridays[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/55121/hello-tomorrow) |
| Critical reception | Rotten Tomatoes: 55% Tomatometer from 51 reviews, 71% Popcornmeter; Metacritic: Metascore 60 (mixed or average) from 26 critic reviews[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/hello-tomorrow%21/) |
| Production | Shot in New York, NY from October 2021 to February 2022; produced by Media Rights Capital and Mortal Media[6](https://www.productionlist.com/production/hello-tomorrow) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and setting
The series is set in an alternate, retro-futuristic version of mid-century America: hovering cars with tail fins, robots that walk dogs and deliver mail, jetpack commuters, and video calls made on machines resembling black-and-white tube televisions.[7](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec) • [8](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/28/arts/production-design-worth-mooning-over-hello-tomorrow/) The Washington Post described it as a "retrofuturistic" version of the early 1960s, "a Mayberry with jetpacks and hovering cars."[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2023/02/16/apple-crudup-hello-tomorrow-review/)
At its center is Jack Billings, a traveling salesman who sells "lunar residencies" to customers disappointed with life on Earth.[7](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec) The sales operation is a scam that only Jack knows about; his own team is unaware that their orders come from Jack rather than a faceless moon-based headquarters.[7](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec) • [10](https://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/hello-tomorrow-review-billy-crudup/) The story turns when Jack's team is sent to the town of Vistaville, where his estranged wife Marie and son Joey live, and Jack hires the young Joey without revealing that he is his father.[11](https://time.com/6255213/hello-tomorrow-review/)
### Episodes
The ten episodes of season 1, with original air dates, were:[2](https://epguides.com/HelloTomorrow/)
1. "Your Brighter Tomorrow, Today" (February 17, 2023)
2. "Great Salesmen Make Their Own Turf" (February 17, 2023)
3. "A Traveling Salesman Travels" (February 17, 2023)
4. "Forms, Appropriately Filled and Filed" (February 24, 2023)
5. "From the Desk of Stanley Jenkins" (March 3, 2023)
6. "The Numbers Behind the Numbers" (March 10, 2023)
7. "Another Day, Another Apocalypse" (March 17, 2023)
8. "The Gargon Mothership" (March 24, 2023)
9. "Certain Forces Once Unleashed" (March 31, 2023)
10. "What Could Be Better?" (April 7, 2023)
## Themes and creative approach
Co-creator Lucas Jansen said the show treats utopia with suspicion: "Utopias terrify us... The 'bots can do a lot for you, but they can't relieve you of your human burden."[7](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec) Bhalla and Jansen, who met writing for [David Milch](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-milch)'s series *Luck* and later worked together on *Bloodline*, were inspired in part by 1950s car-salesman training videos, which Jansen called "holy texts of capitalism," and by the idea of a salesman who begins to believe his own pitch.[7](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec) Bhalla cited advertising from the World's Fairs of the 1930s through the 1960s and [Norman Rockwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/norman-rockwell) imagery as stylistic touchstones.[3](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/hello-tomorrow-billy-crudup-and-cast-on-the-sci-fi-series/)
**Design and music.** The creators asked designers for robots that felt "warm and rusted" rather than sleek, so the technology would feel lived in.[7](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec) Composer Mark Mothersbaugh, formerly of Devo, used vintage synthesizers and instruments to recreate period sounds, while the music team chose unfamiliar deep cuts by artists such as [Louis Prima](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-prima) and The Dreamliners instead of well-known hits.[7](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec) The title sequence was created by the design studio Imaginary Forces, which deliberately avoided the dark, moody look typical of drama series.[12](https://www.commarts.com/exhibit/hello-tomorrow-main-titles)
Crudup described his character not as a con man but as a preacher of the future: "In Jack's mind, providing that hope is proselytizing."[7](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec) Time's review placed Jack among sympathetic dreamers rather than the nihilistic scammers fictionalized in recent TV docudramas.[11](https://time.com/6255213/hello-tomorrow-review/)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the season holds a 55% Tomatometer from 51 reviews, with a 71% average audience score on the Popcornmeter.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 60, labeled "mixed or average," based on 26 critic reviews, with a user score of 5.7 from 19 ratings.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/hello-tomorrow%21/)
Reviewers consistently singled out the production design. [The Boston Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-boston-globe) called the retrofuturistic look "beautifully constructed" and noted that it tinges the storylines with pathos, showing a future people once imagined that now appears "kind of sad and clunky."[8](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/28/arts/production-design-worth-mooning-over-hello-tomorrow/) [The Wall Street Journal](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wall-street-journal) called the production design "a constant wonder and curiosity" and the series "an ingenious construction."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/hello-tomorrow%21/) Collider, in the most positive review tallied by Metacritic at 91, called it "the fresh reinvention of Death of a Salesman that we never knew we needed."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/hello-tomorrow%21/)
The recurring criticism was pacing and story. The Guardian's reviewer gave two of five stars, writing that "its pace is sluggish and its plot thin. It looks lovely, though."[13](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/feb/17/hello-tomorrow-apple-tv-review-billy-crudup) The critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes held that the show is "visually striking enough to periodically distract from its rambling story and thinly sketched characters," but that the first season "fails to live up to its potential."[14](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow/s01) Time judged that the first-time creators spent roughly half the ten-episode season getting the plot moving.[11](https://time.com/6255213/hello-tomorrow-review/) The Washington Post found the tone confused, careening from antic comedy to the mournful, and concluded the show "can't decide whether it's drama, comedy or satire."[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2023/02/16/apple-crudup-hello-tomorrow-review/) Several critics compared it to *Severance* and *Mad Men* while judging it shallower than either.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/hello-tomorrow%21/) • [9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2023/02/16/apple-crudup-hello-tomorrow-review/)
## Production
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) was scheduled in New York, NY from October 2021 to February 2022, with Jonathan Entwistle attached as director and Media Rights Capital and Mortal Media as production companies.[6](https://www.productionlist.com/production/hello-tomorrow) Executive producers listed by Rotten Tomatoes include Entwistle, Billy Crudup, Ryan Kalil, Noah Weinstein, Stephen Falk, Bhalla, Jansen, and [Blake Griffin](https://www.edgepedia.org/blake-griffin).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow) The series was not renewed for a second season, and TVmaze and epguides list its status as ended.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/55121/hello-tomorrow) • [2](https://epguides.com/HelloTomorrow/)
## References
1. [Hello Tomorrow!, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow)
2. [Hello Tomorrow! (a Titles & Air Dates Guide), epguides](https://epguides.com/HelloTomorrow/)
3. [Hello Tomorrow! Star Billy Crudup and Cast on the Retro-Optimism and Heartbreaking Drama of the Sci-Fi Series, Rotten Tomatoes editorial](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/hello-tomorrow-billy-crudup-and-cast-on-the-sci-fi-series/)
4. [Hello Tomorrow!, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/55121/hello-tomorrow)
5. [Hello Tomorrow! and Hello Tomorrow! critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/hello-tomorrow%21/)
6. [Hello Tomorrow!, Production List, Film & Television Industry Alliance](https://www.productionlist.com/production/hello-tomorrow)
7. [Hope, robots and Billy Crudup power series 'Hello Tomorrow!', AP News](https://apnews.com/article/08dd51a7a17764a0008732390afe6dec)
8. [Production design worth mooning over in 'Hello Tomorrow!', The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/28/arts/production-design-worth-mooning-over-hello-tomorrow/)
9. ['Hello Tomorrow!' wants to dream but makes you snore, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2023/02/16/apple-crudup-hello-tomorrow-review/)
10. ['Hello Tomorrow!' Review: Less Than Meets the Eye, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/hello-tomorrow-review-billy-crudup/)
11. [Retro-Futuristic Dramedy Hello Tomorrow! Starts Slow, But Stay for Billy Crudup in Don Draper Mode, Time](https://time.com/6255213/hello-tomorrow-review/)
12. [Hello Tomorrow! main titles, Communication Arts](https://www.commarts.com/exhibit/hello-tomorrow-main-titles)
13. [Hello Tomorrow! review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/feb/17/hello-tomorrow-apple-tv-review-billy-crudup)
14. [Hello Tomorrow!: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/hello_tomorrow/s01)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › American sitcoms and comedy series › 2020s cable and streaming comedies*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license