Is Space Force on Netflix worth watching?
Mrs Scifi Ward and I thought we would check out Space Force on Netflix after we had finished watching the entirety of Community. Man, it is great being freelance during a lockdown.
The show stars Steve Carell, John Malkovich, Diana Silvers, Ben Schwartz and a ton of others. You will recognise a lot of the cast. It was created by Carrel and Greg Daniels, the team behind The Office. Greg Daniels is also behind Parks and Recreation, which I love. So I went in with high hopes and reading a lot of other reviews, so did others.
The premise is that the POTUS, who is Trump (not named but there is nothing subtle about who it is), decides to start a division of the military called Space Force. Which is freakishly is happening in real life. Carrel’s character, Mark Naird, is the General in charge and John Malkovich is the chief scientist. You don’t need to know much more than that – there are family issues and other things going on, but the main premise is the one you need to know to decide whether this is for you or not.
The main issue people seem to have with it is that given Carell and Daniel’s involvement, it should be a lot funnier. People seem to be expecting the Office in space and when that didn’t happen they slagged it off. Which I think is unfair. There are fewer laughs, yeah, but there are some funny moments. I also don’t think they are going for that kind of comedy. There are nice moments and good characters – Ben Schwartz essentially reprises his role as John Ralfio and that is a great thing. Just don’t expect all-the-time laughs.
I really enjoyed Space Force and while some bits worked better than others I will definitely be tuning in to the next series. It was fun. Which is something needed right now. If you fancy giving it a go, just keep in mind – it is not The Office in space and there are moments when you might not be laughing. It’s not a straight sitcom, it’s just an entertaining show.