‘Space Force’ has troubled launch, even with stellar efforts from Malkovich
I WAS as disappointed as anyone when Nasa scrubbed Wednesday afternoon’s exciting launch of Elon Musk’s Space X rocket, upon which a hipster-era capsule named the Dragon, sitting atop a booster named after Han Solo’s hot-rod, would have carried two American astronauts, whom we all simply refer to as Bob and Doug, up to the International Space Station, after a decade in which our trips to orbit have meant hitching rides with Russia.
Even our national bad-luck charm, President Donald Trump, flew to Cape Canaveral to witness this historic moment in the history of the public-private sphere.
There is so much to satirise in all this, right?
Elon, the Donald, Bob-’n’-Doug, the Dragon on the Falcon, the logos, the lightning strikes, the weird melding of corporate uptalk and official Nasaspeak – why, one could almost write the jokes in one’s sleep. Unfortunately, that seems to be precisely what co-creators Greg Daniels and Steve Carell have done with their disappointingly clunky new Netflix comedy series, “Space Force,” which spends a lot of effort just trying to get off the ground.
How could this show have failed?
A commission will have to be appointed to conduct a more formal inquiry, but, as Nasa might remind us, don’t overlook the most likely cause: When an obvious joke has already been made in real life, it’s probably not a great idea to try to make the same joke over and over again, two years later, for 10 whole episodes.
‘Space Force’ is of course ripe with satirical potential – both as a TV show, which premieres Friday, and as the newest branch of the United States military, as put forward by the Trump administration in 2018 and established late last year with the dubious goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2024.
Carell and Daniels’ wicked little hearts are absolutely in the right place, as the show attempts to lampoon such stalwart disgraces as unchecked military spending, anti-science nincompoops elected to high office, outmoded organisational structures, Silicon Valley-style overconfidence and the way 21st-century PR management (via Twitter) has contaminated trustworthy information.
Carell, forever beloved for his Emmy-nominated work as papersupply regional office manager Michael Scott on ‘The Office,’ stars here as decorated Air Force Gen. Mark Naird.
Expecting to be promoted to head the Air Force, Naird is devastated to learn that he has instead been chosen as the first to command the new United States Space Force, headquartered at a remote facility in Colorado.
Naird’s peers in the other military branches openly mock his appointment (they are played by Noah Emmerich, Jane Lynch and Patrick Warburton – ‘Space Force’ is strewn with impressive but largely superficial cameos).
Leaping forward a year, the Space Force is pretty much the expensive boondoggle everyone assumed it would be.
Carell brings recognisable traces of Michael Scott to the role, including a vulnerability that makes up for the incompetence. To this he has added a more gruff and occasionally bullheaded personality, and it can be quite funny in fleeting doses, such as when he’s barking orders at a disobedient space monkey. Yet something about Carell’s character never quite clicks.
It’s Malkovich – as both the voice of reason and the character most galled by the absurdities of the Space Force mission – who truly rises above the show’s difficulties with pace and tone, and thereby generates the most laughs. This is something of a revelation to those of us who run rather hot or cold on Malkovich. Here, he’s the real hero.
While there’s no limit to ‘Space Force’s’ premise and the talent available to execute it, the show seems to work against itself, trying too hard for something that seems like it should have been easy, while juggling far too many characters and side-plots.
You watch the episodes with a forced smile, wishing it would just get better.
And to some extent it does, more than midway through this batch of episodes, as Mark is faced with a series of professional and personal choices that require him to act against his sense of duty and instead follow his conscience.
This development is hardly a spoiler, as most of ‘Space Force’s’ efforts can be seen coming from light-years away - ending on a ho-hum cliffhanger that suggests there’s more to come.
That’s probably an acceptable decision, especially when one considers those first, shakier seasons of such like-minded comedies as ‘30 Rock’ and ‘Parks and Recreation,’ which got better as they learned to float free. Even ‘The Office’ had to flex a bit before it found its comfort zone.
‘Space Force’s’ failures may appear to be critical, but let’s not cancel the whole programme just yet. There are parts worth saving.
‘Space Force’ (10 episodes) available for streaming Friday on Netflix. — The Washington Post