Ty Watches "Space Force" Season One

The other night my wife and I finished season one of "Space Force".

When I first heard about this show I was excited. It was Steve Carrell and Greg Daniels pairing up to make fun of the current "government", and their "plan" to get the US back in space. It sounded like an absolute home run to me. I was stoked. Then it came out, and it seemed to be getting poor reviews. I saw online publications saying it wasn't that funny, Steve Carrell was not very good, it seemed disjointed, all kinds of problems seemed to be had. Then my wife talked to some people she works with, people who have similar taste in TV shows, and they echoed what the critics were saying. They seemed to simply say that it wasn't funny, and that was the biggest problem. So going against my better judgement, I decided to listen to the critics. I decided I wasn't going to watch it. Then one night my wife suggested we give it a try. We are home, we have caught up on other shows, we have watched far worse things, so why not?

One night we watched the first episode and we both liked it. The next night we watched a few more, and found ourselves liking it more. We would find ourselves watching two episodes every other night until we finished it late last week. When we were all done I stated, " this is why I don't listen to critics!". I mean, the show isn't great, it is definitely no "Office", but it is not as bad as most were saying. I found Carrell funny. Sure, his voice was weird, but other than that, he was good. He played his role as the guy lumped into a job he didn't even want, or is qualified for, very well. Carrell has become one of the more reliable actors in Hollywood. And working with Daniels, they remind me of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, they put out solid stuff. John Malkovich played a scientist, a super genius, and he was the best one on the show by a million miles. He was arrogant and smug and mean, but he was also damn funny. He also showed a very soft side at times that I found incredibly sweet. Whenever Malkovich was on screen I did not take my eyes off him. I knew his performance was going to be great. I'd nominate him for an Emmy. Seriously. I thought Lisa Kudrow was great. She is Carrell's wife, and even though she has a very small role, it is damn memorable. When they move to Colorado, and she is in jail, I was shocked, in a good way. She has some great moments in season one. Diana Silvers plays their daughter, and she is good as the oft forgotten wild child in the family. She has good intentions, but she lets her emotions get the best of her too often. Jimmy O Yang is so god damn great as Malkovich's right hand man. He is funny, smart, obsessed, and involved in a very sweet love story. His love interest, Tawny Newsome, was simply perfect. She is a pilot who winds up going to space out of nowhere, but she just rolls with the punches. When she says her statement when she first walks on the moon, it was so great, so perfect and so well written and performed. Ben Schwartz is the media guy for Space Force, and while he could have pigeonholed himself as a Jean Ralphio esque character, he doesn't. He is kind of dumb, but also cocky, and when an actor like Schwartz, who is really willing to go for it, gets a role like this, it hits. And everyone else involved, they did a very solid job.

That is the best way I can describe this show. It is solid. It is not the best thing you will ever watch, but it is not the worst. It's not quotable, but you don't forget about it either. I highly recommend bypassing the critics and checking out this show if you are on the fence. I know I was, and I am glad that I was pushed into watching it. I recommend "Space Force". It is well done TV. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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