It seems like it happened about 17 years ago, but it was only last March when Donald Trump pitched his idea for a Space Force, a branch of the military centered on fighting aliens, or whatever. The plan started as a joke, with the president admitting that he “was not really serious,” but, well, the joke’s on us. There have been precious few updates since, but that hasn’t stopped Netflix from handing out a straight-to-series order for Space Force, a new comedy that reunites Steve Carell with the creator of The Office, Greg Daniels.
The Hollywood Reporter describes Space Force as a “workplace comedy,” while the teaser above notes, “The goal of the new branch is to ‘defend satellites from attack’ and ‘perform other space-related tasks’… or something. This is the story of the men and women who have to figure it out.” Carell, who also co-created the series, will earn a record-setting salary in his first recurring role in a scripted comedy since Michael Scott. (He’ll also star in the Apple drama Top of the Morning with Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.)
Sources say Carell’s salary for Space Force — including co-creator and exec producer fees — sets a new overall record for talent, likely topping the $1 million per episode paydays that the cast of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory previously netted. With The Office ranking as one of Netflix’s most-watched acquired series — sources note that it often collects more viewers than some of its originals — the streamer stepped up after hearing Carell was ready to return to series-regular television and aggressively pursued the series. The show was not shopped elsewhere. (Via)
Space Force does not have a premiere date yet, but it probably looks like this.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
