Fifteen years after the American Office debuted, Daniels and Carell have reunited to co-create Netflix’s new comedy Space force.
The United States Space Force is, of course, a real thing, splitting off from the Air Force in 2019 as President Donald Trump claims the stars for the stars and stripes. The new Netflix comedy, streaming now, begins with a capricious (unnamed) president tweeting that he wants boots on the moon ASAP. Steve Carell is tasked with militarizing space in the new Netflix original series Space Force, and as you can imagine, hijinks ensue.
Space Force functions and bumble its way on three levels, one is the main narrative of the mission to the moon, the other is the inner, personal struggles of Naird and the third superimposed one is the satire on the current US government. Even though the body language of Naird is distinctly different from Michael Scott, the way the four-star general shuts himself in his giant office is too much of a throwback to the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin. Except while Scott cried in his office, this one sings songs from rock bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Space Force’s comic pedigree is of course impeccable. It’s created by Greg Daniels, the man behind the American adaptation of The Office and co-creator of King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation. He and Office star Carell conceived Space Force, and you can draw a pretty direct line between The Office and the new show – it’s another workplace comedy in which colleagues with variable levels of competence get on each others’ nerves while working toward a probably pointless goal.
The only difference is Space Force isn’t an office, it’s a sprawling secret base in Colorado. And it’s not the photocopier on the blink in this workplace, it’s a rocket costing the taxpayer roughly the same as four middle schools.
Good one!💜