science friction

HOW NEW SITCOM SPACE FORCE IS SHOOTING FOR THE MOON…

- Matthew Leyland

Space Force is not about Space Force. That is to say, Netflix’s new 10-episode sitcom, co-created by The Office US dream team Greg Daniels and Steve Carell, is not an insider’s view or exposé of the real-life space-warfare branch of the US Armed Forces. “We’re doing a fictional work of the imagination here,” says exec producer Daniels. “I don’t know how accurate it is.” However… “Sometimes there’s a bit of humorous overlap,” he admits. For example? “Well, one of our early ideas was that our Space Force would have camouflage fatigues with the pattern of the Moon’s surface on them as seen from a telescope, which we thought was funny – you’re never going to be outside of a space suit on the Moon, so why would you need camouflage?! But then the actual Space Force released their fatigues, which have a jungle print! [laughs] Different, but equally absurd...”

Both Space Forces evolved concurrently. In 2018, after news broke of plans to establish the United States Space Force (USSF) as an independent military service (a deal officially sealed last December), Netflix exec Blair Fetter sounded out Steve Carell, who sounded out Daniels, who immediately pictured Carell as the general in charge of the new branch. Decent but somewhat delusional, former pilot Mark R. Naird shares similarities with Carell’s Office manager Michael Scott - but Space Force is a different type of workplace comedy. For one thing, it offers a departure from the mock-doc style of Daniels’ best-known work. “I love mockumentaries,” he says. “But after nine years of The Office and seven of Parks And Recreation