Netflix's Space Force: Grade It!
Netflix’s Steve Carell-led Space Force shoots for the comedic stars… but does it reach them?
In a moment, we’ll want to hear what you think about the satirical new comedy series from Carell and his Office-mate Greg Daniels, which debuted Friday. But first, a quick recap:
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We meet Carell’s Gen. Mark Naird as he’s being made a four-star general; though our current president’s name is not uttered in the series’ first episode, it’s implied that Trump is the commander-in-chief in the show. At Naird’s first Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting, he’s put in charge of the newly announced Space Force, aka the branch of the military now tasked with “complete space dominance: Boots on the moon by 2024.” Space Force’s base? An old North American Aerospace Defense Command post in Colorado — which means Gen. Naird and his wife Maggie (played by Friends‘ Lisa Kudrow) and daughter Erin (Ma‘s Diana Silvers) have to move from Washington, D.C. (Maggie is not happy about this development.)
A year later in Wild Horse, Colo., it’s the day of Space Force’s big satellite launch. Throughout the day, Naird repeatedly is told that conditions aren’t favorable for a successful lift-off; these warnings come from civilian advisor Dr. Adrian Mallory (The New Pope‘s John Malkovich) and scientists like Dr. Chang Kaifang (Silicon Valley‘s Jimmy O. Yang), but Naird stubbornly refuses to heed them. After taking a minute — during which Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” plays in his head — the general moves forward with the launch of Epsilon 6 anyway… and it’s successful.
Later that night, Naird and Mallory celebrate with drinks and cigars on the porch. And when Naird is gazing at Epsilon 6 through a telescope, he watches as another, bigger craft swings by and clips the satellite’s solar panels. “Motherf–ker!” Naird yells.
Along the way, we learn that Maggie is in jail in Colorado (though we don’t know why) and Erin is dating Bobby, aka Yuri, the Russian exchange scientist (who’s definitely a spy) working with Naird. The series’ all-star cast also includes: Noah Emmerich (The Americans), Jane Lynch (Glee), Diedrich Bader (American Housewife), Dan Bakkedahl (Veep), Jessica St. Clair (Playing House), Roy Wood Jr. (The Daily Show), Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) and the late Fred Willard (Modern Family) in his final role as Naird’s father.
Grade Space Force‘s premiere via the poll below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!
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