Space Force, the new Netflix comedy from Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation), debuted last Friday and it’s already the most popular piece of content on the streaming platform. Of course, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering the track record of Daniels as well as the popularity of star Steve Carell. But despite all of the talent involved, the show has yet to be picked up for a second season.
Some series are given two seasons right away while others get that second year shortly after the first premieres. But nothing yet on Space Force. Why this is, we can’t yet say, but there certainly seems to be a divide among fans and critics. The show has a mediocre 41 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 77 percent with audiences.
Still, while speaking with Collider, Daniels mentioned that they’re already planning for a second season based on how the first one ended and he appears to be optimistic about the show’s future.
“We’re certainly hoping for a few more seasons, and we have started to assemble the senior writers to discuss what would happen next year,” Daniels explained. “We don’t have the pickup yet, but yeah. There’s a lot to follow up on based on where we ended.”
Netflix famously doesn’t reveal the ratings for their original content unless it’s great news, like the performance of the Chris Hemsworth action movie Extraction. Their new Top 10 lists are apparently a way for the outside public to get a better idea of how well something’s doing though and based on that, Space Force is racking up viewers.
In any case, it’s a far more ambitious series than The Office, which folks can’t help but compare it to due to Daniels and Carell being involved. According to Daniels, there are certainly obvious similarities, but it’s a much bigger canvas when working on a show about space travel as opposed to an office setting.
“Yeah, I think it’s more cinematic than The Office and Parks and Rec, as the subject matter is the whole branch of the armed forces and this mission,” Daniels said. “It depends. I mean, I think you’ll find a little bit similar, but it’s also just on a bigger scale. That’s a good question.”
Daniels added, “I mean, there are some similarities and there are some differences. It looks more like a movie than a documentary. But on the other hand, it’s also a character comedy, which is similar.”
That may be one reason why the series has yet to be picked up for another run: cost. Despite Netflix seemingly having unlimited money to throw at talent (see Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman), it looks like they’re going to wait a little longer before pulling the trigger on a second season of Space Force.
Published: Jun 4, 2020 12:43 pm