Feature Story Force of nature

Steve Carell heads an impressive cast in Space Force, a different kind of workplace comedy about a special branch of the US military, writes Emily Colston

W hen Donald Trump announced he was setting up a new branch of the military that would be responsible for defending America’s interests in outer space, then called it Space Force, it was clear there would be plenty of scope for mockery.

But no one expected a fullblown spoof series to appear this quickly.

There’s a good reason why Space Force seems to have been so quick off the mark, though – show creator Greg Daniels (the guy behind the US version of The Office and Parks and Recreation) began writing it two years before Trump’s announcement.

Steve Carell – who also co-created the series – stars as four-star General Mark Naird, who is thrilled to be picked to lead a branch of the military – until he discovers it’s a new branch whose mission is “to defend satellites from attack” and “perform other spacerelated tasks ... or something,” as the show’s trailer rather vaguely puts it.

Carell says the show was initially pitched as little more than a title.

“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,” he said when announcing the production.

“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.’

“It was really based on nothing, except this name that made everybody laugh.”

You can imagine, then, the sniggers that would have been erupting in the Netflix meeting

Reaching for the stars: Steve Carell finds himself in charge of the military’s new Space Force.

rooms when Trump revealed his plans for a real-life Space Force.

However, Daniels says the show is not all about mocking the real deal.

“I think there’s an expectation that because it’s about the space force the show will just be relentless mockery,” he said in a recent interview.

“It’s not our intention to go all-out and poke fun at the military. Steve and I both have relatives in the military. We have a lot of respect.”

Daniels says it’s actually about a guy who’s just trying his best to do his job – in some

challenging circumstances. “This military guy, who’s very much about service and sacrifice, is being squeezed between politicians who are really anxious to get on the moon as fast as possible … and scientists who don’t necessarily agree with the aims of the program … He’s trying his best,” Daniels said.

“We wanted to make sure that we were being accurate and more than respectful – I would say complimentary – of the military virtues that Steve’s character holds.”

And while Daniels says he usually prefers to work with

relatively unknown actors, this time around he was so swamped with interest from heavweights – the cast includes John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, Jane Lynch, Noah Emmerich and Fred Willard – that Space Force was a different proposition.

“It was announced so early, with a promo that got a lot of attention and piggybacked on the actual news of Trump’s Space Force, so there were a lot of actors who called up and said, ‘Hey, this sounds really fun, I’d like to be involved in some way’.” he said.

“That’s what happened with Malkovich: His agent called and asked, ‘Is there anything for him’. And I said, ‘I think that can be arranged’. We hadn’t even written the script yet.”

Space Force, streaming now on Netflix

Steve Carell: Netflix asked, ‘Do you want to do a show called

And I pretty much immediately said, ‘Well yeah, sure. That sounds great.’