In 2018, President Trump announced his intention to create a new branch of the US defense that would focus on space, and Space Force is series creators Greg Daniels and Steve Carell's proposal on what it might look like.
Steve Carell plays Mark Naird , a senior general in the Air Force who is given responsibility for leading the new space force. The Internet and Twitter controlled by satellites must be protected from foreign powers and the moon must be taken to achieve "total dominance in space".
Space force seems to have drawn much inspiration from the TV series Veep where the White House is depicted less as a well-oiled power machine and more as a place where non- to semi-competent narcissists fight petty battles for influence and spotlight. Here, the White House has become the defense force and the ambition seems to be somewhere between Veep's sharp satire and the everyday sense of recognition that Greg Daniels previously used in The office and Parks and recreation.
Unfortunately, it ends up somewhere in the middle, which in this case means neither.
Common to most successful comedies is that they often start with a relatively unknown actor ensemble. Here you have built a kind of all star team with actors from the 00s and 10s comedy series: Steve Carell (The office), Lisa Kudrow (Friends), Ben Schwartz (Parks and recreation), Jimmy O Yang (Silicon Valley), Dan Bakkedahl (Veep) and also John Malkovich. Several of them have been given a watered down new version of their former role characters and it pays more for disappointment than star gloss. And to underuse Lisa Kudrow in the way that is done here should be prohibited.
The overall impression of Space force is a somewhat flaky attempt to do it all at once: the moon mission, contemporary references, a gripping family history and a number of semi-silly side-tracks and romances. It's not great fun, but it's not a disaster either. The inaugural Dr. Strangelove-inspired roundtable scene is fun, Steve Carell's ability to comically humiliate degradation with a stone face works, even though you've seen it before and the ap-stronau scene in section two is really fun - an approved pastime for anyone who already plowed all seasons of Veep.
Space force appears on Netflix on May 29.