Space Force (10 Eps)
Throughout the history of television, there have been shows trying to capitalize on buzzy news topics to get easy views with the newest being Space Force by Netflix. Taking the easy shot against the current political regime and the newly created United States Space Force, the show seems like it will be a cheap comedy until you see those behind it. With the show being created by Greg Daniels and Steve Carell, two individuals behind some of the greatest comedic shows in recent history, Space Force can deceivingly come off on paper as a show with comedic skill and potential. After all with a cast including the likes of Steve Carell, John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Jane Lynch and Noah Emmerich how bad could the show really be? Well, the answer is quite bad.
The most surprising and disappointing aspect of Space Force is its comedic incompetence, especially within the show's performances. With the incredibly strong cast of comedic actors, it would seem that even with a bad script they should be able to pull it off with some comedic flair but the performances all fall incredibly flat. Most of this is because it seems like no one is on the same page with what the show is going for cosmetically. Every single actor is giving something drastically different leading to almost no chemistry between the crew. Steve Carell is left in the dust trying to give a more subtle performance that requires others to play off of but no one is giving him what he needs, John Malkovich is lost between being reasonable and emotionally irrational never quite knowing which side to play into, and Ben Schwartz is giving more charisma and energy than everyone else combined feeling wildly out of place. It is hard to say that any of these actors are giving bad performances in general, if the show was supporting their comedic style and focusing on it they would work much better. Unfortunately, the show never clarifies what direction it wants to take leaving each actor to fall short in an absolute car crash of comedy.
The screenplay is also not only unfunny but is distasteful at multiple points. Not only does it fill itself with bad jokes trying to be relevant which is never a good goal to strive for in comedy like this, but it also tries to find the most basic sense of humor in stereotypes that come off not only as one dimensional but near offensive at times. The show constantly pokes fun at stereotypes in various communities whether than be the LGBTQ+ community or Asian community that always goes for the lowest form of that comedy without any of the nuance or self-awareness to make the jokes work as they did in a show such as The Office. Not only does the show not understand its characters from a comedic standpoint but it also doesn't from nearly any other standpoint. Specifically, when it comes to the character of General Mark R. Naird (Steve Carell), the show never seems to know what it is trying to do with that character. They try to play him off as a bumbling idiot only to have him successfully defy scientists and seemingly come out on top at the end of every conflict. The show also very questionably tries to have a deeper meaning to the character painting him as a hero not just for his previous accomplishments in service but also as a standup father doing his best considering everything on his plate.
This deeper meaning that the show tries to take on with some of its characters also fails. Instead of feeling heartfelt or powerful, it feels boring and like a waste of time. Not only does seeing Mark be a good father add nothing to the show but the scenes consistently bog the episodes down making them feel much longer than they actually are. It is hard to tell if Diana Silvers is genuinely bad or if the writing of her as Mark's teenage daughter is just terrible but easily she stood out as the worst part of the show with scenes that seemingly went on forever with only a single good line from her entire screentime. In order to get these moments of genuine emotion, the show often creates stupid contrived plot points that make no sense and really hurt any momentum the show was able to put together in that specific episode. Other than the occasional good line, the one good part of Space Force is the production quality. The show does consistently look good including when it has to use CGI which is not anything to be super impressed with but also is an area where the show easily could have dropped the ball.
In the end, Space Force might not be the worst show ever made and is technically watchable but also has nothing in it that is worth the time it takes to watch even a single episode. Where it is easy to allow the show another chance considering multiple episodic comedy series originally struggle in their first season to put all their parts together, Space Force shoots itself in its own foot in the final episode unsatisfyingly leaving the show on not just one but multiple cliffhangers that will not allow the show to simply move on. Also due to the nature of the show it isn't allowed to wander around through various episodic conflicts as there is a clear timeline to developments in space travel and the show needs to continually push forward to that end goal. Don't be fooled by those both behind and in front of the camera, Space Force is not worth your time and will easily be one of the most forgettable shows of 2020 slowly drifting further and further into the endless pit of Netflix Originals currently on the platform.
This deeper meaning that the show tries to take on with some of its characters also fails. Instead of feeling heartfelt or powerful, it feels boring and like a waste of time. Not only does seeing Mark be a good father add nothing to the show but the scenes consistently bog the episodes down making them feel much longer than they actually are. It is hard to tell if Diana Silvers is genuinely bad or if the writing of her as Mark's teenage daughter is just terrible but easily she stood out as the worst part of the show with scenes that seemingly went on forever with only a single good line from her entire screentime. In order to get these moments of genuine emotion, the show often creates stupid contrived plot points that make no sense and really hurt any momentum the show was able to put together in that specific episode. Other than the occasional good line, the one good part of Space Force is the production quality. The show does consistently look good including when it has to use CGI which is not anything to be super impressed with but also is an area where the show easily could have dropped the ball.
In the end, Space Force might not be the worst show ever made and is technically watchable but also has nothing in it that is worth the time it takes to watch even a single episode. Where it is easy to allow the show another chance considering multiple episodic comedy series originally struggle in their first season to put all their parts together, Space Force shoots itself in its own foot in the final episode unsatisfyingly leaving the show on not just one but multiple cliffhangers that will not allow the show to simply move on. Also due to the nature of the show it isn't allowed to wander around through various episodic conflicts as there is a clear timeline to developments in space travel and the show needs to continually push forward to that end goal. Don't be fooled by those both behind and in front of the camera, Space Force is not worth your time and will easily be one of the most forgettable shows of 2020 slowly drifting further and further into the endless pit of Netflix Originals currently on the platform.