Bringing Steve Carell back to the little screen with The Office writing partner Greg Daniels, “Space Force” came to Netflix on May 29th. A show about a new military branch, dedicated to putting “boots on the moon” Space Force does occasionally fall flat.
Some scenes are just a little too ridiculous, with people in high ranking positions being just a little too stupid – I’m talking about Naird wanting a dog to reattach the satellite arm – it was just a little too much. Some jokes are crude, especially in the third episode (tampon humor just isn’t for me.)
In the first episode, we are introduced to the Naird family. Four-star general Mark Naird and his family seem content with their D.C. lives. But Mark’s promotion sends the family to Colorado and seemingly off the rails. A jump in time shows us a very different family. Mrs. Naird (Lisa Kudrow) is in prison for who knows what reason. This is clearly a plot device to put more pressure on Mark, but it feels forced because it remains unexplained for so long.
The highlight is the back and forth between Naird and his head scientist Mallory. (John Malkovich) Mallory is clearly smarter than anyone else and his deadpan delivery of every line is perfection. Mallory clearly doesn’t want to be there but is going to attempt to make space a success.
Unfortunately, his definition of success is vastly different from Naird’s. One clearly focuses on conquering space and the other wishes to explore.
The show gets off to a slow start but it’s worth sticking with. It does seem to be lacking in some way. Something is missing. This show could have been brilliant, a mix of the mission of “Star Trek” with the comedy of “Red Dwarf.” But somehow it is just good, rather than brilliant.
I give it a solid 6 out of 10.
