Space Force (2020) by Greg Daniels and Steve Carell

While most people are fans of Steve Carrell from ‘The Office’ I love him because of his role in ‘Crazy Stupid Love’. I have also not seen most of ‘Parks and Rec’ or ‘The Office’ but I do love B99, so that should give you an idea of the kind of comedies I enjoy. When the trailer for Space Force was released, I was quite excited, it looked like a modern day political comedy that poked fun at the absurdity of the world we live in. while also exploring the monumental task of expanding human life beyond Earth.

Personally, I think the show delivered on this front. It has a wide range of amusing characters with interesting quirks and none of them conform to their stereotypes but rather offer some nuance to those preconceived stereotypes. For example, the overly masculine military general, while oblivious about science, understands its importance and is able to use his team leading skills to make a gang of misfits work together. Though at first he seems like a goon following every order given to him by the POTUS, we soon learn that he is driven by a strong moral compass. This need to do the right thing in a wrong world lends itself to good comedy.

The whole cast is stunning and they do a good job of delivering the jokes and creating amusing moments. I do not think the show makes you laugh at every beat but it is smart and topical. It holds a lot of potential and it can only get better if the writers put in the time.

Also that Netflix budget shows. The production quality is excellent and we are no longer stuck to a few offices but rather get to explore some scenic settings, an aspect necessary in a show about Space.

While I worry that the show might not dig deeper into political situations and only crack the obvious jokes, one can only hope that next season onwards the show will start getting into the nitty gritty of situations. I’m glad that it was only 10 episodes and 30mins long. They didn’t milk scenarios or even conflicts, often escalating them every episode which made for good pacing. I’m looking forward to the next season.


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