Topic: Space Force (Netflix series with Steve Carell)
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-16-2019 04:27 PM
Steve Carell and Greg Daniels, who created "The Office," are teaming up again for "Space Force," a Netflix series about a group of "people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services."
oly Member
Posts: 1387 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2015
posted 01-17-2019 04:34 AM
Cant wait to see this, should be funny.
Rick Mulheirn Member
Posts: 4468 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
posted 01-17-2019 04:41 AM
Wasn't "The Office" created by Ricky Gervais and then "spun off" to the States? Personally I'm not keen on Ricky Gervais and the whole "cringe humour" thing but have to give the chap credit where due.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-17-2019 10:20 AM
Yes, Daniels developed the U.S. version of "The Office" based on the UK edition created by Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The two shows follow the same concept but differ in tone.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Tawny Newsome, and Diana Silvers will all appear in series regular roles, while Jimmy O. Yang, Don Lake, and Alex Sparrow have landed recurring guest star roles.
Carell will star as Mark R. Naird, a General tapped by the White House to lead a new branch of the Armed Forces with the goal of putting American "Boots on the Moon" by 2024
Malkovich will play Dr. Adrian Mallory, the head science advisor. He is described as brilliant, arrogant and hoping to prevent space from becoming the next great international battlefield.
Schwartz will play F. Tony Scarapiducci, a self-centered media consultant whose Machiavellian goals only sometimes line up with those of Mark or Space Force.
Silvers will play Erin Naird. Described as popular and an A-student in Washington DC, Mark's daughter is an outcast in Wild Horse Colorado after transferring to a remote military base and turns to delinquency.
Newsome will appear as Angela Ali, a helicopter pilot. Described as ambitious and competitive, Ali has secret dreams that she keeps close to the vest.
Yang will appear as Doctor Chan Kaifang, Doctor Mallory's right hand man. Chan is a brilliant astrophysicist and rocket engineer who immigrated from China as a teenager and loves all things American, from fly fishing to the Baltimore Orioles.
Sparrow will play Yuri "Bobby" Telatovich, a charming observer from the Russian Government. Yuri is curious about many things in Mark's life, like his daughter, or the tech specs of the Javelin missile.
Lake will play Brad Gregory, Marks' gatekeeper and assistant. Brad is actually a one-star general in his own right.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-08-2020 11:45 AM
From the Twitter feed for Netflix's "Space Force":
What did you think? This was some kind of joke? Space Force is coming May 29.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-04-2020 10:23 AM
The Space Force teaser trailer will be released on Tuesday (May 5).
We wear our love for the moon on our sleeves.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-05-2020 09:53 AM
Teaser trailer:
p51 Member
Posts: 1745 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 05-05-2020 10:16 AM
Turns out, the Moon pattern camouflage uniforms are actually being used on the show, if you look carefully at that trailer.
AstronautBrian Member
Posts: 310 From: Louisiana Registered: Jan 2006
posted 05-06-2020 10:21 AM
I think the pattern is pretty awesome! I'd like a set of those BDUs.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
What do NASA, Netflix and Ben & Jerry's now have in common?
They all have orders to put boots on the moon.
"Boots on the Moooo'n," Ben & Jerry's latest Limited Batch flavor, is inspired by Netflix's newest original, "Space Force," which is launching on the streaming video service on Friday (May 29).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
Posts: 1745 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 06-01-2020 04:33 PM
I'm assuming I'm not the first person on this site to have seen the series, but I see that no one commented on it yet.
It wasn't comedy so much as I thought it was satire. As a former military officer, I found several things taking place in the show to be sadly realistic.
No spoilers, but it ended in one heck of a cliffhanger.
The critics, and a great deal of the internet, absolutely hated it. But as for me, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-01-2020 04:52 PM
I haven't finished the season yet, but among the episodes I have watched, there were some scenes that surprisingly rang true to life but which I suspect the public (outside of the space community) might have absolutely no idea that is the case (and very well might assume the opposite to be true).
That said, the series plays and fast and loose with the structure and management of U.S. space activities, folding civilian and commercial missions under the umbrella of the Space Force. It also ignores real concerns (like launching over populated areas) while making up others (like humidity being a reason to scrub a launch).
I wasn't as turned off to the series as others seem to be (including some fellow space journalists), but it fell short of my expectations, especially given the writing team behind its creation.
Kevmac Member
Posts: 299 From: College Station, TX Registered: Apr 2003
posted 06-01-2020 09:49 PM
Being a career AF Space Command guy, I thought the first two episodes were ok, and as mentioned before, somewhat realistic. But the amount of cussing is cringeworthy and gratuitous, overwhelming me to the point where I couldn't enjoy it.
I haven't watched any series on Netflix, HBO, etc. before so this was a rude awakening for me and don't plan to watch much else if this is what TV on those channels is like. I don't know if I'll watch any more Space Force.
dsenechal Member
Posts: 562 From: Registered: Dec 2002
posted 06-06-2020 12:25 PM
Well, I finished all ten episodes. The series doesn't seem to quite know what it is. Comedy, drama, farce? Kind of all mixed together and comes out as a sort of sausage.
It's modestly watchable - not the best I've ever seen - but the cliff-hanger ending leaves me looking forward to the next season. It was also nice getting re-acquainted with Harry Nilssen's "Spaceman".
Whether watchable or cringe-worthy, though, it would have been nice if the American astronauts had actually attached their helmets to the neck rings when they were on the moon...
oly Member
Posts: 1387 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2015
posted 06-06-2020 10:14 PM
quote:Originally posted by dsenechal: The series doesn't seem to quite know what it is. Comedy, drama, farce?
I like to think it is a documentary, it helps to put the real life events into a perspective that fits.
I can imagine Bridenstine standing at his office window mouthing the words to Kokomo.
Boots on the Moon!
jimsz Member
Posts: 638 From: Registered: Aug 2006
posted 06-06-2020 11:05 PM
Dismissing this series for everything except entertainment and it simply is not very good. It's not a comedy because it isn't funny. It's not a drama because here isn't any. It's not a satire because it is not clever.
Carell to me is horribly miscast and he is simply a one-trick pony from many years ago.
If others enjoy the show that's great. I won't invest any additional time into it.
AstronautBrian Member
Posts: 310 From: Louisiana Registered: Jan 2006
posted 06-09-2020 09:34 AM
I finished all ten episodes. I really wanted to to like it, but I was very much underwhelmed. Probably the character I liked the most out of the ordeal was the Brigadier General. He had some funny, subtile one-liners.
space1 Member
Posts: 913 From: Danville, Ohio Registered: Dec 2002
posted 06-09-2020 10:42 AM
I enjoyed the series. I agree with Kevmac that the expletives were gratuitous. It would have been so easy to make this a PG-13 or even a PG show.
I liked the mix of sarcasm, family drama, political gamesmanship, and comedy. I am not sure I like how things were left at the end.
As dsenechal noted, the helmets would have worked better connected (or was there a flexible black neck seal that we could not see well with the lunar lighting?).
Headshot Member
Posts: 1072 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
posted 06-09-2020 12:12 PM
I did not get beyond the first two episodes. The series would have been better if the people behind it had decided if it was a comedy or not. If a comedy, Carell should have expanded his acting repertoire, taken a page from the William Shatner playbook, and played his character as an over the top James Kirk/Denny Crane.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
Production on the pricey comedy will move from Los Angeles to Vancouver in a bid to reduce the show's budget. Filming will begin next year. A return date has not yet been determined.
As part of a larger creative revamp, Norm Hiscock has also joined the series and will serve as co-showrunner alongside Greg Daniels. Hiscock, a frequent collaborator with Daniels, counts Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Recreation, People of Earth and King of the Hill among his credits. The hope, per sources, is that a second season will allow Space Force the runway to grow creatively and better connect with viewers and critics alike much in the same way The Office broke out in its subsequent seasons. In addition to Hiscock, co-star Jimmy O. Yang has also joined the Space Force writing staff.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-05-2022 07:56 AM
Netflix has announced that season two of "Space Force" will debut Feb. 18, 2022.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 48505 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-29-2022 05:59 PM
Not surprising, but for the record, Netflix has canceled "Space Force" after two seasons.
The news comes after Netflix attempted to creatively reboot the pricey comedy in its second season, moving the production from Los Angeles to Vancouver in a bid to reduce its budget. A co-showrunner was also added alongside Daniels with the hope of growing the series creatively as Carell and Daniels’ "The Office" did during its run.
But that was not the case, and reviews for season two remained tepid.
dom Member
Posts: 999 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 04-29-2022 06:40 PM
That’s a shame. Although the plot lines were often weak, I thought the cast worked well together. Time might be kinder to Space Force and it could become a future cult classic?
p51 Member
Posts: 1745 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 06-09-2022 12:55 PM
They ended it on another cliffhanger, one that really could have had potential for what they'd do for the 'global killer' asteroid heading straight for Earth.
Oh well...
mode1charlie Member
Posts: 1335 From: Honolulu, HI Registered: Sep 2010
posted 06-09-2022 04:40 PM
I didn't get past the first two episodes. Did it get better after that? (I'm not trying to be unkind; honest question.)
posted 01-16-2019 04:27 PM
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