Steve Carell's Space Force is "a complete shitshow" in its first trailer
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Our president is dangerously stupid, but now and then it’s hard not to chuckle when he, say, nicknames an opponent “McMuffin” or, like a third-grader with milk stains on his short, throws all his weight behind something called “Space Force.” Well, Steve Carell agrees, as he reveals in a “brief oral history” of Netflix’s upcoming Space Force that he committed to the project based entirely on the name. In fact, The Office’s Greg Daniels, who serves as a co-creator, was not even on board before Carrell called him up. “It was really based on nothing, except this name that made everybody laugh,” said Carell.
After sharing some first-look images last month, Netflix has shared the first official trailer for the star-studded comedy, which also features John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, Ben Schwartz, and Noah Emmerich alongside a whole host of other comedic ringers. You can glimpse them all in the sprawling clip, which highlights the rocky path forward for the fledgling division and its desire to head back to the moon (which, we suppose, is better than blowing it up).
Here’s a synopsis:
A decorated pilot with dreams of running the Air Force, four-star general Mark R. Naird (Steve Carell) is thrown for a loop when he finds himself tapped to lead the newly formed sixth branch of the US Armed Forces: Space Force. Skeptical but dedicated, Mark uproots his family and moves to a remote base in Colorado where he and a colorful team of scientists and “Spacemen” are tasked by the White House with getting American boots on the moon (again) in a hurry and achieving total space dominance.
Other highlights from Netflix’s “oral history” include Daniels comparing the first season of Space Force to the “super hopeful early days of NASA,” adding that “the story had beautiful visuals and a mythic quality, and it echoed some of America’s best moments.”
Read the “oral history” in full below.
STEVE CARELL: Space Force came around in a rather atypical way. Netflix had this premise that they thought might make a funny show — the idea made everybody laugh in a meeting, an idea of a show about the origins of a fictitious Space Force. I heard about the idea through my agent, and Netflix pitched the show to me, and then I pitched the show to Greg, and we all had the same reaction to it. There was no show, there was no idea aside from the title. Netflix asked, ”Do you want to do a show called Space Force?” And I pretty much immediately said, “Well yeah, sure. That sounds great.” And then I called Greg, and I said, “Hey, you want to do a show called Space Force?” And he said, “Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do it.” And it was really based on nothing, except this name that made everybody laugh. So we were off and running.
GREG DANIELS: After that call, we had a bunch of creative sessions where we brainstormed at Steve’s house, outlining who his character would be and what pressures would be on him, and what we wanted to say about the notion of making space more military. We realized that the story had beautiful visuals and a mythic quality, and it echoed some of America’s best moments. It had a lot of heroism and yet it also had a strong satirical element. Suddenly everybody has realized that there are riches to be had on the moon, and we’ve got to stake our claim. It feels like there’s now a scramble to colonize space. The contrast between that and the super hopeful early days of NASA, when it was just such an achievement for all of mankind to get a person on the moon, is a good subject for satire.
CARELL: Once we had just the concept of Space Force itself, Greg and I sat down and we asked, “Well, what’s the show going to be? What will it be about?” And we landed on the idea that it should be about the inception of Space Force. It should be about the person who is entrusted with the development, the creation of a new branch of the Armed Forces. And my character, General Mark R. Naird, is the person who’s drafted into creating this branch.
DANIELS: We wanted to make sure that we were being accurate and more than respectful — I would say complimentary — of the military virtues that Steve’s character holds. We have astronaut advisors, science advisors, and our military advisor, Mark Vazquez, has been very useful in teaching us about military behavior. Both Steve and I have relatives in the military who we love and respect, and hope are going to enjoy watching the show.
Space Force rockets into your queue on on May 29.
61 Comments
Was that congresswoman in the hearing supposed to be AOC?
Short answer: yes.Long answer: She’s playing Congresswoman Definitely Not Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, At Least In A Sense That Will Hold Up In Court.
The only way it could have more obviously been based on AOC is if they’d cast Rosario Dawson in the role, given there’s more than a passing resemblance between the two.
You’d have to encase Rosario Dawson in a helium-rich environment.
Don’t insult Rosario Dawson like that…
Short answer: yes, with an if.Long answer: no … with a but.
Emma Stone as Kamala Harris!
The Office’s Greg Daniels, who serves as a co-creator,
Well, Upload was pretty good, so I’ll give Space Force a shot.
Upload was decent, but I recall watching a trailer and thinking it was more a comedy, which it definitely is not. Dramedy, perhaps? I binged it a couple days ago and that I got through to the end says it’s ok in my book. Space Force though, looks like the kind of humor I need right now.
Tawny Newsome…swoon!
Mock all you want, but President Trump will have the last laugh when he puts the first man in space!
That man.. Tom Cruise
that man? you guessed it…frank stallone.
Nice of The Donald to be so committed to the space program that he ensures his skin tone is as close to Mars as possible.
Referencing people based on skin color…how shameful!
Cue : music from Dos EquisDonald Trump, he is…the First Martian.
I’m loving this simply for the right corner emblem that some magical genius came up with. I’m the farthest thing from a Nazi, but that is just pure comedy. This mock up makes me laugh every time I see it.
Sorry, would I could claim some provenance but I do know someone was making fun of Roger Stone with it. Otherwise, if it provides some laughs, great!
No really, I know you made a slap stick joke, but in all seriousness… Yeah a “Space Force”itself might not make sense right this minute and now but in the coming years, when you have a military base out of Earth (just like we have many here on Earth)… the “Air Force” would make no sense to be in charge, or in control of an ever growing multi-planetary effort.Much like SatCom now (under the Air Force) might need to branch out as a separate entity altogether to manage all comms in and out of planet.It’ll all come down to logistics.
If it really comes down to logistics then we shouldn’t even have an Air Force. The AF was created to balance the angry infighting between the Army and Navy over air assets after WWII. It really doesn’t make you more efficient to have more services. It creates issues with standards, communication, etc. that are expensive and absurd.
“You’re fired … into space!”
Enough with the documentaries already, Netflix!
What? Like you don’t want Space King Tiger Force?
i believe you mean “space king tiger force-nado!”
I watched that anime when I was a kid. I loved the bit every episode where the Tiger Force Battle Lazer Doids merged into the Galactic King Super Power Fighter.
This almost – almost – makes me want to start my Netflix subscription back up.
Well, I think it’s estimated that 116% of Netflix users use someone else’s password.
I finally knew it was over when I stopped using her password two years after the breakup.
Reminds me of the origins of the movie “Twins,” which was: everybody cracked up at the idea of making a movie in which Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito played twins. And that one was pretty good! I’m wondering how long they’ll manage to stick to the satiric angle before lapsing into sentimental attachment (oooh, the moon … oooh, astronauts are very brave) and ending up glorifying the idea of the Space Force (which, in my head, will always be pronounced as Spaaaaaaace Fooooorce, a la Piiiiigssss innnnn Spaaaaaaace).
All Brandon Tartikoff had to do to bring Miami Vice into existence was write “MTV Cops” on a napkin.
I’m still mad they never made Triplets, with Eddie Murphy as the third sibling.
The franchise had ‘Fast & Furious’ level potential.
To be honest, it already looks a little too sympathetic to me. I’d hate for anyone to end up with the take away, “A militarised branch of space explorers would be alright as long as you just had some decent people behind it.”
The trailer looks funny and this cast is incredible stacked. I am hoping this will be the laugh we all need right now.
General Rule Of Thumb:John Malkovich: Great.John Malkovich with an accent: Not So Great.
Don’t splash ze pot!
Pay this man his money.
“John Malkovich with an accent: So, So Great.”FIFY
I don’t know. His fake British accent in The New Pope was borderline distracting but that role (and season) was outstanding.
Space Force? More like Space Farce! Amirite?
Your mom gave me an oral history last night.This looks pretty good. It made me realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen Steve Carell in anything.
“And it only lasted 5 seconds.The, End.”
I heard your mom saw him last night.
Space Force was funny until we actually did it. Now it just feels like one more ridiculous depth to which we have sunk.
I love how the “writer” finds it appropriate to curse in the title of his article, and he then begins said article by stating that the President is stupid. Both of these acts show a complete lack of class and decency on the part of this “writer,” and explains perfectly WHY nobody respects the media. And yet those of you that are a part of it get defensive? Really?
The writer of this article is quoting the show. Would they be a better writer if they misquoted it.
This reminds me of the 1998 TV movie ‘Pentagon Wars’ which took a satiric look at the development of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
My god, Richard Schiff aged a lot in two years. (Or maybe it’s just the Toby beard.)
I have never heard of this and I think this is the kind of satire I need right now.
“Our president is dangerously stupid, but now and then it’s hard not to chuckle when he, say, nicknames an opponent “McMuffin” uh, nope. nope nope nope. don’t chuckle at bullies. ever. it’s never funny.
great trailer, great cast, great creative team. hoping this is the 30 rock to avenue 5’s studio 60 on the sunset strip.
Is the Coast Guard now full-on considered a branch of the military? Or is the show’s promo material calling Space Force “the sixth branch” a reference to some other armed service it just made up?
Pretty sure the Coast Guard has always been considered a branch of the military.
Well they were under the Treasury Dept. until the early 2000s, then got reorganized under the Dept. of Homeland Security. In time of war, they would be under the Navy Dept., but act as a fifth branch — but the last time that happened was WWII.I did just look up who sits on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and USCG is not represented, but there is a seat for Chief of the National Guard Bureau. So maybe that’s the fifth branch, but I always thought Air Guard was organized under USAF and the Army Guard was under the Army (duh). Off to do more Googling.
The US Coast Guard is one of the five US Armed Forces and seven US Uniformed Services, not counting the Space Force.
It’s too bad the Space Force has become kind of a joke because of Trump. It’s a perfectly fine idea, and it’s not as though Trump himself thought of it; it was considered for almost twenty years.
So was Obamacare, and yet everybody calls it Obamacare.
I’m here for Tawny Newsome and Ben Schwartz. Rest is just icing on the cake.
wow if it’s 1/10th as good as the assembled cast it will be incredible. Big IF but I’ll watch the whole damn thing.
I guess it’s somewhat enlightening to see how incredibly half-assed some pitches are when you get to a certain level… “space force, that sounds silly, we can throw together a script later” but man, this feels like a thousand stupid Trump gaffes ago and we’ve all moved on.
I feel a concept as bizarre as “space force” needs a TV treatment that goes more absurd. I’m talking one-of-the-characters-is-a-hyperintelligent-monkey absurd.