In one of the best visual gags from the first season of Space Force, the new Netflix comedy from co-creators and former Office-mates Steve Carell and Greg Daniels, Four-Star General Mark Naird (Carell) returns to the brutalist command post of the United States Space Force, the military pet project of a (never named) commander-in-chief. A decorated pilot who survived being shot down over Bosnia while serving in the Air Force, Naird is returning from a spell in a lunar habitat simulation, where he finds every last spaceman under his command (“Air Force has ‘airmen,’ Space Force has ‘spacemen’” he says in an earlier scene) wearing the flamboyant, marching-band-in-a-Vegas-floorshow uniforms pushed on them by an eager first lady. (She is never identified by name either.) Naird allows the capes and the headpieces and the oddly suggestive piping to swirl around him, until he steps onto the elevator and declares to his personal assistant, One-Star General Bradley Gregory (Don Lake), “You will get rid of those uniforms by tomorrow.” Naird may be a man of decisive action, but the joke carries on until after the elevator doors close.
Carrying the hardened exterior of the career soldier, Naird strains to suppress emotional expressions of any kind. But they still slip out, most often in the high-decibel vocal eruptions that have been a Carell hallmark since his divinely guided meltdown at the anchor desk in Bruce Almighty. But he also has a secret release valve for all the work-related and post-traumatic stress he’s carrying around: quietly singing goofy top 40 hits to himself.
The first season of Space Force gives the first head of the military branch devoted to protecting American assets in Earth’s orbit (but also tasked with getting “boots on the Moon” by 2024) plenty of cause to give these muffled, personal recitals. They’re the show in a nutshell, the moments when all the geopolitical stakes and martial sternness in the world can no longer hold back the supreme silliness of a government operation whose name and branding give off the impression of taxpayer-funded Star Trek cosplay. Much of the season revolves around Mark and his troops fighting for legitimacy, beset by skeptical legislators, an Air Force chief hostile to Space Force’s very existence, and the other nations who’ve established a significant lead over the U.S. in the new space race. The show takes Naird and his mission seriously enough that the punchlines aren’t entirely unflattering uniforms, launchpad accidents, or headline-grabbing snafus—but those are often the sources of its biggest laughs, like a cutaway during an argument about the relative pittance Space Force didn’t spend on plastic button covers for its mission control panels.
The core competency on display makes those stray moments of absurdity so satisfying—but might also hold Space Force back from being all that it can be. Daniels has cited Dr. Strangelove as an inspiration, but its satirical jabs are never that pointed. Nor is the first season entirely successful as a workplace comedy, with a tendency to foreground the spectacular nature of what these characters are working on over how they work together. And as amusing as episodic plots about war games and viral-publicity-stunt animal astronauts can be, the scenes beyond Space Force HQ are littered with lackluster plot threads—even in the span of 10 episodes, the show never figures out what to do with Naird’s defiant teenage daughter, Erin (Diana Silvers).
In spite of all that, Space Force almost never fails as a delivery system for talented funny people doing their thing. The cast is the comedy equivalent of the Mercury Seven, a crew bearing the unmistakable fingerprints of casting director Allison Jones. Carell and Lisa Kudrow (as Naird’s wife, Maggie) are the big draws, but the premiere tosses out ringer after ringer, some cashing in on scene-stealing turns elsewhere: Ben Schwartz as slick head of communications F. Tony Scarapiducci (the “F” stands for “Fuck”—it’s not a compliment), Tawny Newsome as ambitious spaceman Captain Angela Ali, Jimmy O. Yang as second-in-science-command Dr. Chan Kaifang. And those are just the series regulars, an ensemble bolstered by a joint chiefs of staff that includes Patrick Warburton and Jane Lynch; Lake, Michael Hitchcock, and the late Fred Willard (in his final television appearance) following Lynch over from Christopher Guest Land; Veep veterans Dan Bakkedahl and Diedrich Bader; appearances from Kaitlin Olson, Chris Gethard, Aparna Nancherla, Jessica St. Clair, Punam Patel—if they cracked you up on an Earwolf podcast sometime in the past decade, odds are they’re on Space Force.
It’s an interesting move, then, to pit Carell against two actors who can do comedy, but aren’t necessarily known for it. Noah Emmerich tears out Stan Beeman’s soul and replaces it with Biff Tannen’s bullying swagger in the role of Kick Grabaston (this show really has a way with names), Mark’s old Air Force boss and current contender for control of Space Force. But Naird is more regularly at odds with Dr. Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich), the dapper chief scientist draped in withering condescension. (He is, in a sense, Space Frasier—but not that Space Frasier.) One of the simplest joys of Space Force is watching the give-and-take between Carell and Malkovich, their characters bristling while the actors take turns playing the subtle notes and carving off a little ham.
Theirs is the one relationship the show really locks in on, to a finer degree than some romantic developments that crop up later in the season. Their ongoing debate over humanity’s purpose among the stars is the heat that powers Space Force, Naird arguing that the U.S. needs to protect itself and its interests from the other countries that are already up there, Mallory countering that there are no countries in space—just infinite opportunities for research and learning. Shouting at each other from across the atrium that houses their offices, they boil things down thusly: “Not everything is World War II!” says Mallory. “Not everything is Vietnam!” Naird retorts. There are comic weak spots to be found in each position, but Space Force never articulates Naird’s as convincingly as Mallory’s. Maybe that’s the creators tipping their hands. Maybe that’s just the byproduct of science being a tougher target to lampoon at a time when the public can’t even agree on the benefits of wearing a mask in public to slow the spread of a dangerously infectious virus—let alone the consequences of turning geocentric orbit and the Moon into new territories for waging economic and military combat. (Geez, talk about tipping your hand.) It’s a huge idea to take on, and Space Force might not be built to support it.
Bigness—be it the weight of a theme of the sheer number of stories being serviced in an episode—is generally where Space Force falls short. Carell, Daniels, and their team have taken some impressively giant leaps, but it’s the small steps that land: the particulars of Naird and Mallory’s working dynamic, Schwartz doing social media attention-hog shtick in the gallery during a congressional hearing, or the Space Force base snack cart that’s dubbed Meal Armstrong’s (formerly Orion’s Melt, formerly Area Fifty Yum). There’s tremendous silliness in Space Force, but it doesn’t slip out often enough.
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What’s the point of this show? I would love to be wrong, but from the trailer, it seems like Daniels and Carrell saw the news that Trump wanted a Space Force, looked at each other and thought, that’s an inherently funny premise that won’t take any more work than getting a good cast, and never bothered to think of an actual point of view, good jokes… anything. The trailer makes it seem like they’re trying to do a goofy-inspirational hero type thing, like a more competent Michael Scott from later seasons of the office, or maybe a more machismo Leslie Knope from later Parks and Rec, but without making much use of the Space Force premise of the show. I would think that you could get something good out of this premise by going for one of two opposites: a more straight-faced, strange route like Burn After Reading, or an absurdist, Angie Tribeca-style romp. But this just seems like a boring waste of time. I guess I’ll check back in a year to see if people say it gets good after like 10 episodes.
There’s a very annoying thing in the age of streaming. It’s the “just wait until episode five… it gets real good” thing. -The Daily Beast, Space Force Review
That was true long before the age of streaming, though.
I’d say an absurdist vibe like In the Loop could work as well. That’s my favorite political movie of the last 10 years. Make the actual mission secondary to the personalities of the people involved.ETA: 2009? Jesus.
“Daniels and Carrell saw the news that Trump wanted a Space Force, looked
at each other and thought, that’s an inherently funny premise that
won’t take any more work than getting a good cast, and never bothered to
think of an actual point of view, good jokes… anything.”The series was ordered before Space Policy Directive 4 was signed.
Was Megan Amram involved in the writing of this? Because those are some pretty Amram-esque puns.
Meal Armstrong in particular sounds like her brand of so-dumb-it’s-genius pun.
Area Fifty Yum tipped me off.
That sounds like something a military administrator would find amusing, for sure. It’s the B Sharps of restaurant naming conventions.
Well the premise is about as clever as a selfie of a frat bro holding up a bottle of Corona. Trump does absurdly stupid shit every day and we all collectively rolled our eyes over this a long time ago. It’s also only at about 6 o’clock on the Trumpo-batshit-meter as the military has been involved in the space program from the very beginning. They had so much input on the space shuttle they seriously hampered its ability to perform its original scientific mission (and freaked out the Soviets so much they went out and built their own shuttle with bomb bay doors to drop nukes on us because they were that certain that’s what ours was for.)This is not material for a weekly series and it reeks of the kind of uninspired desperation typically reserved for the broadcast networks. I can only imagine this appealing to the same crowd that finds “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” a laugh riot.Just what kind of Viagra are “Office” fans taking anyway that they still have a boner for Daniels and Carell?
It sounds like you should give this a miss, I guess.
You seem fun.
“Well the premise is about as clever as a selfie of a frat bro holding up a bottle of Corona.”THIS! Ugh, the entire existence of this show is exhausting without even having to watch it.
And there’s your answer – you don’t have to watch it.
You do understand that this is a website of film and TV coverage and criticism? Where people discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of shows? This stupid poptimism where everyone’s become a big fucking baby who can’t handle others disliking the things they like is so pathetic. Just like what you like and if other people want to critique it, it shouldn’t hamper your own enjoyment. In other words: if your enjoyment of a piece of art is contingent on nobody ever saying anything but nice things about it, you’re a child.
an entire episode about a space chimp defecting to china see? i watched itit’s remarkably bland
You know what’s really remarkably bland? Spamming multiple people with the same post from the greys.
an entire episode about a space chimp defecting to china
This is why I always preferred dogs.
Yeah, it seems like the amount of time between when Trump announced this idea and now, isn’t enough to put together a great television series. Really, the main joke of the series is that they made a series at all. Hey, remember when Trump said “Space Force?” Well we made a SHOW called Space Force! Get it?
Was also kind of undercut by Neil Degrasse Tyson saying it’s a good idea to have a Space Force. Next Show Idea: Trump’s Dumb #2
I also agree all of this money should have been spent on Dan In Real Life 2.
I don’t disagree, but at least they use the establishment of the actual U.S. space force as a jumping-off point and not the entire joke. Leaving Trump and Melania unnamed was a good idea. From there you can decide if the show is any good or not on its own merits rather than as satire of something that is almost beyond satiring.
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Chief?
MCCLOUD?
mccloud!
I’m Australian. Really Australian.
The “marching-band-in-a-Vegas-floorshow uniforms” gag is straight out of true events from the Reagan presidency. When Reagan got into the WH Nancy dressed up the WH military guards in gold spangles and brocade like something out of a Busby Berkeley musical. It was grotesque.I’ve only seen the promos but I’m a bit concerned the satire won’t be satiric enough. Compare the sharp jagged edges and dark humor of the British ‘The Office’ to the gentle satire of the American version
It is impossible to satire Trump. Whatever the dumbest, silliest, thing you can think of, he’s done dumber and sillier.
it’s also not funny either way.
Exactly. It’s why any actually effective satire of his Presidency would have to be focused more on the people who have to carry his water than he himself. The ones who privately realize that this tenure has been farcicial. but cannot admit so publicly, and then, maybe, start to convince themselves otherwise. The water carriers who used to be vociferously against him, until it became expedient not to be. Satirize people like Lindsey Graham or Erick Ericckkson, and I will watch the shit out of whatever you’ve made.
I feel like it sort of is, just on a smaller level. Basically what happens when nonpartisan portions of the government are forced to enact some shit they can’t go “uhhhh no” to.
I missed that one, but a decade earlier, Nixon tried some that literally ended up with a high-school marching band. (I think they were dress number-ones for ceremonial occasions such as head-0f-state visits during their very brief use.)
And just look how fucking thrilled this guy is to be wearing it:Some critiques du jour of Tricky Dick’s couture:“they look like extras from a Lithuanian movie”“Late Weimar Republic”“Nazi uniforms”“like a palace guard of toy soldiers”“will they be goose-stepping, or what?”“falls somewhere between early high school band and late palace guard.”“They look like old-time movie ushers.”Chicago Tribune columnist Walter Trohan complained they were a “frank borrowing from decadent European monarchies, which is abhorrent to this country’s democratic tradition.”Fortunately, Meriden-Cleghorn High School in Iowa got to pick them up for five or ten bucks apiece…
Generous review for AV club given that other online reviews have beaten this show to a pulp.
Not quite sure what to make of this review. The tone is pretty lukewarm, but all the individual jokes described sound pretty hilarious.
The very existence of this show is insufferable. It was literally my second thought after Trump announced the Space Force after the obligatory “well, yes, Trump has found yet another new depth of stupidity” and that was, “Oy. Now some professional chuckelmeister is going to make a shitty TV show based on this concept.”I only shudder to think of how many other dozens, scores, hundreds(???) of spec scripts with this same premise were immediately rattled off by hack comedy writers the evening after that first announcement. This is probably as bad (or good) as any of them. The trailer for this was 100% laugh-free.
You apparently need to re-learn how to laugh. Its wasn’t knee-slapping funny, but I watched the promo about three times and every time still laughed.I’m also not taking myself very seriously these days, so maybe my comedy standards are lower? I’m going with the big red NO.
You apparently need to have better standards.
You apparently need to lower yours. Especially after three months of this idiocy.
maybe you learned how to laugh a little too well if you’re laughing at a commercial 3 times, bud.
“well, yes, Trump has found yet another new depth of stupidity”Making the US Space Command independent of the Air Force has been in discussion for 20 years.
“immediately rattled off by hack comedy writers the evening after that first announcement.”The series was ordered before Space Policy Directive–4 was signed.
Erik, this is by no means a criticism of your review, but having read it I genuinely have no idea whether or not I would want to watch this show. It seems like a very odd mish-mash.
I think that would be the problem of the entire show.
The Politico review had interviews with the actual people involved with Space Force: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/05/23/space-force-netflix-steve-carell-274951One ex-Air Force dude pointed out that the number of people involved in making this show dwarfs the actual number of people employed by Space Force.
There’s one visual gag that lands involving the IT department that seems in line with the perception of military spending.
That’s pretty much what Alan said, haha
they may be doing episodic reviews as well, but i’ve always found the ‘series’ reviews to be tough to parse, whether it’s judging an entire seasons on 3-5 episodes or not being able to spoil much they mostly just work as promotional material.
having read it I genuinely have no idea whether or not I would want to watch this showThey got the COVID-19 on, may as well give her a whirl?
Oddly enough I’ve actually been watching less TV since we went into lockdown.
that’s a good assessment for the showi wanted to ….it’s like full house WITHOUT the laughs
I was not thrilled with the first two episodes, but gradually got on board with the show. It does have strange tonal shifts, swinging wildly from painfully goofy to human drama. I could take or leave the goofiness, but was surprised by the impact of the serious moments. At the minimum, watching Steve Carrell and John Malkovich play off each other is a real treat.
“…Space Force never articulates Naird’s as convincingly as Mallory’s.”
Which is a shame, because Naird is fucking right.
Seriously. The reaction to that statement is “Yes there are immense opportunities for learning and research. That’s not what our geopolitical rivals are doing up there.”
Yeah, damn those evil Russians for evilly transporting Americans to the ISS for their evil purposes.
I’ll give the show a shot, but this subject matter really needs Iannucci-levels of bite. Greg Daniels’ trademark warmth seems out of place in what should be a biting satire.The Rolling Stone review mentions that Netflix suggested doing a show with the “Space Force” title to Steve Carrell, who then brought Daniels in. The idea was developed from there.
“We’d like you to do a show.”“What’s it called?”“Space Force.”“What’s it about?”“Figure it out. You’re the creative types.”“OK!!!”
This review really needed to address the question: is this more or less of a misfire than Avenue 5. From the tone I would guess that this is generally successful as a piece of entertainment, and therefore not like Avenue 5?
It’s baffling to me that, from the talent involved, both of these shows could be this unentertaining.
I think the premise just isn’t very interesting. “Flawed people mess up… but in space”.
It’s not as aggressively unfunny as Avenue 5, but that’s about the only thing in Space Force’s favor over A5. Both shows somehow succeed at wasting an immense amount of comedic talent on a product that’s not as funny as it should be.
Watching the trailer my two impressions were “Wow they have a lot of funny people that they maybe couldn’t get in the same room at the same time and they’re trying to edit around that a la Arrested Development season 4, which kind of defeats the purpose of an ensemble” and “Huh, they might have rushed this by going with the first draft of every joke.”
only funny part of A5 is Zack Woods. And he has probably 10 min of screen time the whole first season.
Just finished bingeing it. Its a lot funnier and better than Avenue 5 and generally decent, but its flaws show. Carrell is just regurgitating his Michael Scott character to mixed effect. Malkovich is just being John Malkovich as always, while Ben Schwarz’s chariacture of a tech bro is more irritating than funny.Its worth a watch and hopefully it’ll get better in season two.
I actively disliked Avenue 5 and inexplicably watched the whole thing, but I stopped watching Space Force shortly after episode three. So do with that what you will.
Avenue 5 was so bad that it wasn’t even a hatewatch for me. It was almost like a casestudy in “How did these people make this show where every single creative decision is the wrong one?”I haven’t started Spaceforce yet, but I was thinking that if it’s only sortof bad then that would make it less interesting than the Avenue 5 trainwreck.
I just started watching, and I think it is pretty good. Much better than Avenue 5, which I really really wanted to like.
Hollywood Reporter kinda nailed my issueother than a general “Isn’t this a wacky thing a wacky president thought up!” perspective, I don’t know what the show thinks is funny about the idea of a Space Force.
damn
Perfectly fair. You can make a show about ANYTHING funny if you try. Wacky premise and setup/reaction (a la the Hangover movies) aren’t going to do it alone.
I mean, possibly the greatest satirical TV show ever produced is about the most boring office in the federal government.
I rank Carrell pretty high on my personal “I don’t get the hype” list. My wife and kids have been re-watching The Office recently, and I find it borderline insufferable.
i felt the office was really strong once carrell left and they leaned into the sabre/james spader weirdness.
I started watching The Office and got to just about the end of the second season. I don’t think it’s terrible but I think it just didn’t age well. I did enjoy Michael Schur’s future efforts like Parks and Rec, B99, and the Good Place a lot more.
Thats probably because the office wasn’t Schur’s. He was just one of many writers and I think was only really there for a couple years. The other shows he actually created and was the show runner(s).
Ah. Thanks. Many fans have said the (very short) first season(and the Michael Scott character) were not very good and the 2nd season is where it gets better. I guess I’ll see.
Well, the same can be said of P&R. I love Leslie Knope, starting with S2E1.
Season 1 plays out as more of a ‘bonus feature’ to watch after you’re somewhere into the series. The Michael Scott character just has no redeeming qualities, which they give him starting in S2, which is essentially the reboot. That and the third season are excellent. People argue whether the show’s descent started after that or S4, but most agree it was starting to run out of gas by then.
As for Carell and the hype, I like him and all, but he’s howlingly unfunny in this.
Edit again: The show actually picks up quite a bit in quality after the first two episodes.
Ah, I just finished the first two. I’m intrigued, but not hooked. I’ll keep at. Chimpstronauts who eat their dogstronaut crew mates then hurtle toward the sun COULD be funny, but that’s a less-is-more situation. I feel like they went too long with it (I’m assuming Marcus end up doing some damage to that enemy satellite, later on).
Just to reply to a two year old post , Scott starts out as a copy of David Brent who DIDNT have any redeeming features , I dont think US audiences could handle having such an unlikeable main character, (and to be honest I couldn’t either)
I think he’s actually better in more dramatic roles. Foxcatcher, Little Miss Sunshine. Fuck, even Dan In Real Life. (Also, my personal “Why do people think he’s funny?” actor is Danny McBride.)
Carell’s fantastic in The Big Short. His generally dyspeptic demeanor was perfect for a Wall Street guy.
That’s because the Office is shit. Carrell has other good things though.Space Force isn’t one of them. Well, it’s ok. Not awful, but not…good…per se. Tries too hard.
I think I’d enjoy this show more if the U.S. Space Force weren’t indeed a thing that’s actually happening (The service is already running recruiting ads).
to me this show always looked like it was a bunch of people patting each other on the backs for how clever they were for jumping on this idea so quickly.satire barely works at its best, but this doesn’t even sound like it’s satirical.
also steve carrell hasn’t been good in anything for like 10 years.
also ‘a bunch of people patting each other on the back for how clever there were’ – the av club
Hey, turning to faithful IMDB, since 2010 Carrell has been in the final season with him in The Office, The Big Short, Seeking A Friend for the End of the World, and the first Despicable Me, all of which he was pretty good in.
I’m going to try watching, but Netflix is pushing it awfully hard which doesn’t sound promising.
I watched the first five, strong Silicon Valley vibes with regards to the pace and style of humour (at least for the first pair of episodes). Weirdly – and this could be binge view fatigue on my part – it seems to get weaker as it goes on. Episode five is one of the most poorly-directed episodes of sitcom I’ve seen on a single cam in years, from what should be an easy home run. A big BB gun battle set on the moon? Watch this clunkfest after any of the Community paintball episodes and tell me if the people who shot & edited this have ever seen an action movie. That aside, it’s not a bad show by any means, the people writing it off because the premise is ‘easy’ must have really hated the concept of having some Friends or working in an Office.
Oof , the pilot was rough. Didn’t so much as raise a smile.The tone is all over the place. I’ll watch a little more for Malcovich I guess.
Seven episodes in and for a first season I liked it, but can see why it wouldn’t be for everyone.
I have watched the first couple episodes and I’m kind of confused about what to make of Carell’s character. At first he seems like a smart guy saddled with a bad idea by idiot higher ups (he has risen to 4 star general so he must be somewhat good at his job) but then right away the show also makes him look like a complete idiot who thinks getting a chimp to spacewalk and fix a satellite is not totally ridiculous idea.I plan to keep watching but I don’t know….
Wow, I have trouble believing all of the negative opinions. But to each their own. I’m enjoying the hell out of “Space Force”. I’m not even a big Steve Carell fan, but when he and Malkovich are mixing it up, it’s like some indescribable streaming science fiction candy. It’s a bit like “what if Avenue 5 had characters that I didn’t wish they’d all die?”
i very much enjoy malkovich chewing the scenery in that restrained-but-unhinged way of his, no matter what i’m watching, but that’s all the show’s got going for itself. for me at least.
So I’ve watched 2 episodes of it. It is kind of frustrating because I think parts of it are quite funny, and there’s room for some sweet, sincere feelings (which is where Carrell shines). The concept of a space force isn’t all that amusing, but the workplace in a workplace comedy just needs to have room for stuff to happen (whether it be a paper company or Veridian Dynamics).
But every time it touched on something political, the jokes landed with a thud. Tip-toeing around the Trump presidency means using jokes that were done with the first week of Trump being in office; the Congressional delegation was sharper in a stupid way, and Brexit references were left drifting in the air like a smelly … brexit.
half-watched 6. show is ‘fine’. it also feels almost too well directed for the jokes to land. like they’re doing mockumentary/office-style jokes and beats but the framing and directing gets in the way.
Yeah that’s a good description. Watched four episodes: I don’t hate it – I find Carrell and Malkovich very compelling – but it does feel kind of like a hybrid, tripping over its own (very impressive but tonally odd) cinematography.
This may sound strange, but I feel like the show should either be funnier or less funny. Either crank-up the goofiness until it’s more farcical, or dail it back until it reaches a sort of zen, Fishing With john-style absurdity, where you have to call it ‘funny’ because no other adjective quite fits.
But as-is, it’s never bad but struggles to reach good.
That was my problem with it. It never quite knows what it wants to be. Carell’s character just has no consistency. It’s essentially ‘Agent Michael Scarn in space with requisite tacked-on folksy wisdom moment at the end’, which is an odd choice for an actor/creator who seems to have wanted to distance himself from that role.
Edit: They fix that up quite a bit after the first two.
I got through episode 5 before I finally noped out of it. If it gets a second season, maybe they’ll have figured out what’s going on.
Hmm. A couple of shows, veep and parks & recreation, had good but somewhat soft 1st half of seasons, until the talent just outshines everything. I think this has that opportunity.
This show is great. How has this been given so many non-positive reviews? I’d be curious to see if the people giving this less than stellar reviews think Rick and Morty is clever, or think that Deadpool is actually funny.
So admittedly, I only half watched it while doing other things. But I’ll say, B is probably where I’d put it too. I’m a sucker for monkeys, so the 2nd episode monkey stuff worked for me. The show never really quite approached that level of absurdity again though. I 100% missed some basic plot points (why is his wife in jail? how did that one girl go from wanting to study botany to being the lead astronaut?), I could have done with zero of any of the story featuring the daughter, and the show makes a total waste of Jessica St Clair.But Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, and Jimmy Yang are some definite high points to the show, and I enjoyed pretty much every scene involving the Joint Chiefs.
If your show is going to be based on people being stupid, you need to be smart about them being stupid. Watched the first episode and I just got all hung up on the interaction between the general and his receptionist. It was so dumb. It made no sense that such a dynamic could last so long that not only does the general accept it (even though he has a short fuse with others) but he’s still surprised when someone is in his office. I just couldn’t get past that.Also I only laughed once. I can’t remember at what.
I enjoyed the pilot so far. It’s not as knee-slapping as I or anyone probably expected it to be, but the dry-as-a-bone humor and truly weird execution is keeping me interested. The phenomenal cast is pulling it through for sure, especially Jimmy Yang and Malkovich Malkovich. I’m not quite sure what to make of Carrell’s General Naird yet. I don’t think he’s a complete buffoon, and I don’t think he’s thoroughly competent, either. Granted I’ve only seen one episode, but the show needs to make a decision on who he is. It’s a little broad so far. Carrell is selling it about the best he can. I love his overly structured walk and run, especially when he was running through the base with his arms at his sides and somehow still saluting people as he ran. Classic Carrell silliness.It’s unfortunate that it’s carrying so much baggage, too. It’s got the expectations of all those who enjoy Carrell and Greg Daniels, and the scrutiny of all those who will be critiquing it because of its Trump administration ties. I wish there was a way to remove those associations in our collective conscious so it would be a little easier to enjoy or at least watch for what it is on its own.It’s the tiniest bit Coen-esque to me. I dunno. It’s not as terrible as you’ve been told. Give it a try. Maybe you’ll want to come back and talk about it after having actually seen it. Wouldn’t that be weird? Watching a show before you cast an opinion on it?
Spoilers!!- It got really dark w/ the daughter in the last episode, fast. I mean, really, I get that she is disaffected and pissed off, but Methheads on motorbikes?? Jesus!!- So, when and how do Gen. Naird and Co. (inc. his wife (and her lover guard), who, if she was given 40 years in prison, I guess, must have killed someone? Maybe?) come back from this? I mean, seriously? The only one in that helicopter who isn’t going to jail is the daughter, I guess? -So both crews (US and China) are stranded on the moon, w/ only their capsules to live in? Ok? I was secretly hoping the whole Chinese moon base was just a fake (like the Ghost Army in WWII w/ the balloons and fake vehicles) and that the US made the trip to the moon for nothing. Wrenches!!! – The nods to POTUS and FLOTUS should have either gone completely off the rails (the new “uniforms” idea was ok, though could have been better executed) or just not addressed at all. We get it, POTUS is a moron, expand on that or don’t. Don’t half ass it. – Last, and here is what is really scary. Being a 20+ USAF veteran, and interacting w/ a lot of senior officers (inc. a handful of General Officers (GOs)), I can honestly say some of what I saw on the show, in terms of the stupidity, arrogance and the constant “putting out of fires,” was accurate. Much too accurate.
Right?! Oh, hard drug use and now a lone teen is being pursued? This is the stuff comedy’s made of! Tonally all over the place
We like it. It takes a silly premises, adds the obvious comedy but ends up making a compelling argument for things they were making fun of.
I had low expectations going in based on all of the pre-air coverage, so it was better than I expected it to be. The setup would have been so perfect for Iannucci and other Veep alums that I really wish they were working on this rather than Avenue 5, and the odd Veep actor popping up as the defense contractor or SecDef just made it that much jarring. I think that Carell’s portrayal of the general was part of the problem. He can be a great actor, and I think that the general would have been better if played more naturally. It could have been intended to show that he’s wooden and posturing in public, because he seems to be more natural when it’s just with his daughter.On the positive side, I think that John Malkovich was pretty great. I thought he was more entertaining in this than he had been in his other recent work like The New Pope or reprising Teddy KGB in Billions. Jimmy O. Yang was better than his character in Silicon Valley, but that could have been the writing. The lady that pilots the helicopter and befriends the daughter is entertaining, as is the private from Alabama. In typing this, I realized that I don’t remember any of the characters names, so that’s probably an indicator of engagement. I’d say it fluctuates between B- and C+.
Having just binged it, I would say the end result is definitely much less than the sum of its considerable parts, on both sides of the camera. Disappointing.
It’s fine? I guess – and this is entirely on me – I was expecting something with more of a Veep edge to it. Not quite as biting or as profane, but also not as bland as what we got.But it was an enjoyable, inoffensive watch.
look!!!another show that demonstrates that even if you’ve been proven to be box office poisonas long as you’re white and have celebrity friends YOU, TOO can have a Netflix seriesi’m pointing at steve “i’ve-never-been-funny” carell
Better than the review would make you think; but not consistently at the level of, say, Enlisted, which mines a lot of the “red-headed stepchild of the military” material a lot more effectively. Ben Schwartz is recycling his character from that Don Cheadle show to much worse effect. He and Yuri/Bob could get airlocked, and it would be just fine. Maybe take the useless teenage daughter with them.I’ve only watched the first 7 episodes, so I have some hopes that the Armageddon parody they’re setting up plays out. It would also be nice to find out what Maggie did between the announcement that Naird was in charge that:
a) got her sent to prison for at least 40 years in the brief time of relocating to Colorado, yet
b) DIDN’T cost Naird his position?
I liked it? I think the B is the appropriate grade. It also really, really shows off how shitty Avenue 5 was. My lord.
I just finished all ten episodes. I liked it. If I had to categorize the show, I’d say it is less literary as Clooney’s version of Catch-22, has more LOL than the High Fidelity series, is less in your face than Kimmy Schmidt and on par with Modern Family. I would definitely binge another season or three.
Waaaaaaay funnier and more relatable than Ave5, so there’s that. Funny (not Armando Ianucci funny) but funny nonetheless.
Despite a talented cast and plenty of Netflix cash, this was simply not funny for me. I made it through 2 episodes before turning off bored.
Watched the first episode and loved it. There are obvious connections to Dr Strangelove but also to Mars Attacks, but I never understood why a film with lines as dumb as “this is the war room”, the sexual innuendos or the cowboy on bomb is considered incisive satire (it’s dumb and the mix of the dumbest and smartest is the most fascinating part of Kubrick’s career – in my opinion). I see the point of people working on an incredibly expensive scientific program where no one talks about science but in a colonialist old school way as they cannot really think outside the tiny box of their daily existence. Some jokes are too slapstick dumb for its tone, but I loved it.
Ok, I watched it all now and I believe how much you like this show mostly hinges on how much you like Steve Carrell. It’s his baby so if you’re not a fan of his shtick, you probably won’t like it. It’s kind of his project in a way The Orville is with Seth McFarlane. However, even if you are fan, you may not buy him as a four-star general. I don’t know if he’s trying to be Michael Scott as a general, or trying to be a parody of a stereotypical military general. He’s not a bumbling idiot but not one who looks like a born leader. Anyway, putting aside Carrell, I wasn’t impressed with the show at first but it grew on me. It did rush things toward the end though, and while totally irresponsible, may be something the show could build on. There is no resolution so I bet they are hoping for a 2nd season but if you-know-who gets re-elected it just may not be something you can laugh at. We never find out why his Mrs. Baird went to jail(other than symbolically since she broke down on finding out she had to move to Colorado) but it does explore the idea of open relationships and there is kind-of/sort-of OITNB parody going on there. There is an potential “B-WAM” relationship festering here that looks interesting too. All in all the show has its moments but like many a first season, there are things that do not work so well. If there is a 2nd season I will check it out.
I just watched the episode “Conjugal Visit.” I thought it handled the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Naird really well, with (semi)decent hangout subplots for Erin and the inmate and Angela and Chan. Mallory’s plot about picking lunar construction workers had potential but didn’t land for me. I feel like whenever the show tries hard to be funny, it flops, but when it just lets its characters bounce off one another, it works pretty well. It might not actually be a “comedy,” in the strictest sense.
Now that’s a savage burn. A second series surprisingly appears and the AV Club just reposts the first season review.
This premise is only funny if everyone involved in Space Force is incompetent yet self-serious about the perceived importance of a program we all know will make absolutely no difference whatsoever. That’s why people laughed at the initial idea.