“Space Force” Review by Josh Davis : Pop Culture Leftovers

“Space Force” Review by Josh Davis

June 7, 2020 4:19 pm |

Netflix’s new big budget, high pedigree comedy series “Space Force” landed on the streaming service in late May with a lot going for it.

First, the show comes from Greg Daniels, creator of NBC mega-hit “The Office,” and stars series co-creator Steve Carell, who also headlined “The Office” as Michael Scott, a kind of bumbling, but lovable boss of a Pennsylvania paper company.

Here, Carell plays General Mark R. Naird, a highly decorated member of the U.S. Air Force who is tasked with leading the country’s newest military branch, dubbed the Space Force.

Co-starring is multiple Oscar nominee John Malkovich as Dr. Adrian Mallory, Space Force’s chief scientist.

The cast also included Ben Schwartz (“Parks and Rec”) as Space Fore social media head F. Tony Scarapiducci, and Diana Silvers (“Booksmart”) as Naird’s daughter, Erin.

“Friends” alum Lisa Kudrow cameos on several episodes as Naird’s wife, who was recently sentenced to serve 40 years in jail for an unknown crime.

Along with the star-studied cast and creative team, is the reportedly huge budget behind the series, and it shows. Scenes of the Space Force complex, and its rocket launches and scenes in orbit and beyond, look gorgeous and cinematic.

But, is it funny?

The answer is “sometimes,” as despite everything going for it, “Space Force” is just OK.

Carell and Kudrow don’t have great chemistry as a husband and wife trying to make things work, despite their difficult circumstances — namely one of them being incarcerated for the next four decades.

The real relationship highlight in the show, at least through the 10-episode first season, is the one between General Naird and Mallory. Initially going together like oil and water, the two eventually learn to work together and even respect each other, despite Naird’s strict military background and Mallory’ long career as a man of science and reason.

The culture clash is surely a cliche, but Malkovich is great in the role, showing off range both with his unique and sometimes bizarre comic timing, and with surprisingly tender moments, including — of all things — a stirring piano ballad about falling in love with a male coworker.

Silvers is serviceable as a young woman trying to find herself as one parent is taken away by the law and the other is consumed by an important job. And Schwartz plays a wacky comic relief character not unlike his Jean-Ralphio Saperstein role in “Parks and Rec.”

Better is Tawny Newsome (“Brockmire”) as Captain Angela Ali, a helicopter pilot who later becomes a leading Space Force astronaut. While the transition from one to the other feels a little rushed, she helps elevate many of the later episodes with strong comedic chops, at one point landing on the moon, looking to the camera, and misspeaking, “it’s good to be black on the moon.”

Carell, in the lead, is typical TV Carell — he’s awkward and often over-serious, but he knows how to roll with the material and is expert in finding humor in the mundane and everyday. The lightly gravely and stern voice he adopts for the role of a general sounds and feels like a military cliche, but that’s sort of what the role calls for.

Also worth pointing out is the not-quite-there political commentary in the show. Yes, President Donald Trump helped usher in the real-life Space Force and, yes, the name and some of the other situations related to that may be dubious, but the sitcom doesn’t exactly deliver biting social commentary. Instead, the president is only referenced in a series of terse and bizarre text messages to General Naird that are simply marked as coming from the generic “POTUS.”

There’s also a cringeworthy scene where a character based on New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is questioning Naird during a congressional hearing … and it’s just unclear why the show went in that direction.

That’s what ultimately plagues “Space Force,” the series. It’s sometimes, but not always silly. It’s a workplace comedy with moments of drama and a lot of misguided satire.

The initial season does get better as it goes on and could keep improving for an already guaranteed second season, but the initial landing was, unfortunately, a little soft and otherwise uneventful.

PCL Rating: Taste It

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH 🍅