Space Force (TV series)


Space Force is an American comedy web television series created by Greg Daniels and Steve Carell. It is centered with a group of people tasked with establishing the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces, the United States Space Force. It stars Steve Carell, John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Diana Silvers, Lisa Kudrow and Tawny Newsome. The series premiered on Netflix on May 29, 2020.

Premise

Space Force is a workplace comedy series that centers on a group of people tasked with establishing the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces, the United States Space Force. Carell's character, Mark Naird, is the first general of the Space Force, and is in charge of the effort and the series follows his collaboration to get "boots on the moon" by 2024, per the orders of the president.

Cast

Main

Military

Production

Development

On January 16, 2019, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for a ten-episode first season. The series is co-created by Greg Daniels and Steve Carell and is executive produced by Daniels, Carell, and Howard Klein through 3 Arts Entertainment.

Casting

Alongside the initial series order announcement, it was confirmed that Carell would star in the series.
On September 26, 2019, it was announced that John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Diana Silvers and Tawny Newsome had joined that series as main cast and Jimmy O. Yang, Alex Sparrow and Don Lake as recurring cast. In October 2019, Noah Emmerich, Fred Willard and Jessica St. Clair joined the cast in recurring roles. In April 2020, it was announced Lisa Kudrow had joined the cast in a recurring role. In May 2020, it was reported that Jane Lynch and Roy Wood Jr. were cast in recurring roles.
The series features the last television performance by Willard, who died on May 15, 2020.

Filming

Principal photography for the first season commenced in Los Angeles, California, on September 26, 2019, and ended on January 10, 2020. Most exterior shots of the fictional Space Force base were shot on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Release

On May 5, 2020, a teaser trailer for the series was released. The series was released on Netflix on May 29, 2020.
At their Q2 report meeting in July 2020, Netflix reported the series had been viewed by about 40 million households since its release.

Critical reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of the series has an approval rating of 39% based on 93 reviews, with an average rating of 5.73/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "An all-star cast and blockbuster-worthy special effects aren't enough to keep Space Forces uneven blend of earnestness and satire from spinning quickly out of comedic orbit." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times praised Carell, for his "impeccable comedic timing and his uncanny ability to play yet another character who's often an insufferable buffoon with not a speck of self-awareness" but criticized the hit-and-miss humor, and unrealized potential, saying "Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed Space Force... It’s just with all the credentials of the main contributors, we hoped for greatness and got... pretty good." Caroline Framke of Variety wrote: "For all the heft behind it, Space Force should be an easy win. Ten episodes later, it's safer to say that Space Force is really just okay." Rahul Desai of Film Companion gave a mixed review, "Space Force is stuck between the space of The Office and the force of Veep." Nick Allen, writing for RogerEbert.com says, "Space Force has the supporting characters to color its cringe-worthy absurdity," praising its cast but calling out on the story's incompetence. The Guardian gave the first season of the series only 2 out of 5 saying, "Above all, despite occasional laughs to be gleaned from the twist that Malkovich can give the most unpromising of lines, Space Force is not funny, which makes it hard to class as a comedy." Joshua Rivera from The Verge gave Space Force a disappointing review stating that "the show falls apart before it even gets going", chiefly because the show strays away from the sharp political satire that shows such as Veep had nailed and instead "adheres to the conventions of the workplace comedy."