With fast foods chains dunking on our president and a shutdown that has no end in sight, 2019 is proving to be a topsy-turvy time in the ol’ US of A. Further proof? A new show from Netflix that’s leapfrogging off of one of many asinine ideas our moronic president’s been dumb enough to vocalize in public: SPACE FORCE.
A teaser for a new Netflix show appeared this morning, with the requisite Richard Strauss fanfare and the following text: “On June 18, 2018 the federal government announced the creation of a 6th major division of the United States Armed Forces. The goal of the new branch is ‘to defend satellites from attack’ and ‘perform other space-related tasks’… or something.”
Yes, there’s going to be a show called Space Force, and in case you think it could be a serious Right Stuff-style drama about brave men venturing bravely into the brave unknown, be advised the new venture comes from Greg Daniels and Steve Carell. The pair previously collaborated on The Office, a show that was pretty good back in the day and has since evolved into a streaming-rerun staple. From the Hollywood Reporter:
“Netflix has handed out a straight-to-series order for Space Force, co-created by Carell and his former Office showrunner Daniels. Carell will star in the series, which is described as a workplace comedy centered around the people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services — Space Force. Sources note the idea for the series was sparked with Trump’s June order to establish Space Force as the sixth military branch.”
The move back to episodic TV comedy is probably a good move for Carell, who’s been in three big-profile movies this awards season, two of which were half-good but transparently award-thirsty, and one of which was outright abysmal. If Carell, so effectively funny at broad characters like Michael Scott, plays someone who’s super enthusiastic about a misguided project like Space Force, there could be real comedic possibilities.
But whatever Netflix’s Space Force looks like, it will inevitably pale in comparison to this, the only true Space Force that we acknowledge.