Steve Carell’s new Netflix comedy “Space Force” is set to premiere on Friday, May 29, and the streaming service has finally dropped a full-length trailer for the series.
“Space Force” reteams Carell with Greg Daniels, creator of the beloved U.S. version of “The Office,” and the show tells its own version of the origins of America’s newest military service branch.
The trailer reveals that the Air Force’s #2, Gen. Mark Naird (Carell), is drafted to run the new Space Force and packs his family off to Colorado to set up and run operations for the budding military branch.
He’s got issues with his scientists, led by John Malkovich and Jimmy O. Yang. “As scientists, you have a loyalty to reason,” says Naird. “That makes you a little untrustworthy.”
Naird has to appear before Congress, where an AOC stand-in rep observes, “Your attitude seems to be ‘give us money and don’t look’ while we militarize space.”
How’s a general supposed to handle the pressure? Carell retires to his office and takes deep breaths while chanting and then singing the lyrics to the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo.”
Netflix spent a fortune putting together an all-star cast that includes Carell, Malkovich, Yang, Ben Schwartz (“Parks and Recreation”), Noah Emmerich (“The Americans”), Fred Willard (“Best in Show”), Jane Lynch (“Glee”), Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”), Dan Bakkedahl (“Veep”), Diedrich Bader (“American Housewife”) and Patrick Warburton (“A Series of Unfortunate Events”). Stars after stars, as they say in the trade.
In an interview with Deadline, Carell revealed that the origins of the show are exactly what we hoped.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Who doesn’t get a kick out of saying Space Force? Space Force. Space Force. SPACE FORCE. It’s funny and awesome and mystical, all at the same time.
Will Gen. Naird get man back to the moon? Will Space Force earn respect from other military branches? Does our president visit the SF compound in Colorado? Tune in May 29 for the answers.
