Netflix has released the first trailer for ‘Space Force‘, a new comedy from the minds of co-creators Steve Carell and Greg Daniels, premiering 29th May 2020.
A decorated pilot with dreams of running the Air Force, four-star general Mark R. Naird (Steve Carell) is thrown for a loop when he finds himself tapped to lead the newly formed sixth branch of the US Armed Forces: Space Force. Sceptical but dedicated, Mark uproots his family and moves to a remote base in Colorado where he and a colourful team of scientists and “Spacemen” are tasked by the White House with getting American boots on the moon (again) in a hurry and achieving total space dominance.
Interestingly, the creation of the tv show ‘Space Force’ was a little backwards to the usual process. It was actually Netflix who came up with the original premise and then pitched the idea to Steve Carell…
“Space Force came around in a rather atypical way,” comments Carell. “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. 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.”
“After that call, we had a bunch of creative sessions where we brainstormed at Steve’s house, outlining who his character would be and what pressures would be on him, and what we wanted to say about the notion of making space more military,” adds Daniels. “We realized that the story had beautiful visuals and a mythic quality, and it echoed some of America’s best moments. It had a lot of heroism and yet it also had a strong satirical element. Suddenly everybody has realized that there are riches to be had on the moon, and we’ve got to stake our claim. It feels like there’s now a scramble to colonize space. The contrast between that and the super hopeful early days of NASA, when it was just such an achievement for all of mankind to get a person on the moon, is a good subject for satire.”
From co-creators Carell and Greg Daniels (‘The Office’), ‘Space Force’ is a new kind of workplace comedy, where the stakes are sky-high and the ambitions even higher. John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, Diana Silvers, Tawny Newsome, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Alex Sparrow and Don Lake also star. Howard Klein/3Arts (‘The Office’) serves as executive producer, as well.
‘Space Force‘ Season 1 premieres Friday, 29th May 2020 on Netflix UK and worldwide.
