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Steve Carell to star in Netflix comedy based on Trump's space force

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The actor will take the lead in a series he has co-created, following those tasked by the president to develop the space-based initiative



Out-of-this-world news for fans of "The Office," outer space and subtle jabs at President Donald Trump: Steve Carell is set to star in a TV series called "Space Force" for Netflix.

The show will be a workplace comedy "centered around the people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services," according to the streaming service.

Carell co-created the series and will executive produce, in addition to starring.

The project will reunite Carell with Greg Daniels, who adapted "The Office" for American television and served as executive producer.

Source + more info (cnn)
Guardian

Sounds interesting, will definitely check this out.
 

Dontero

Banned
I don't understand how anyone can laugh about space force thing.
Did anyone laugh when they announced air force ?

Fact is that space force was already a thing under Air force and will now separate from it, will be given its own budget and guild-lines.

I think Tyson summed this the best of all people.

GPS system alone is worth more than most of top500 us companies put together. Without it modern world wouldn't be able to operate.

Space force also would be working on developing strategies to push asteroids away, you know those that could end our civilization in 1 hit. Last time it happened it was 12k years ago.
 
nothing out of the "left" in anyway criticizing trump has been or will be funny. they are trying. hard. all the late night talk show hosts are trying with every ounce of their being and everyone is sick of it but they are fucking forcing it until they get results. steve carell is a dildo and a massive handjob and will carry on the torch
 
I will wait to see before judging. The premise of a new American office with those two involved has potential for comedy that we can all enjoy.

If you'd like to argue the merits of the actual space force then please feel free to create a thread.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
I don't understand how anyone can laugh about space force thing.
Did anyone laugh when they announced air force ?

Fact is that space force was already a thing under Air force and will now separate from it, will be given its own budget and guild-lines.

I think Tyson summed this the best of all people.

GPS system alone is worth more than most of top500 us companies put together. Without it modern world wouldn't be able to operate.

Space force also would be working on developing strategies to push asteroids away, you know those that could end our civilization in 1 hit. Last time it happened it was 12k years ago.

Lighten up! We've long had TV shows taking the piss out of every branch of government, consider Veep in the US or The Thick Of It in the UK, regardless of the administration in power at the time. Personally I see the value of a Space Force but that doesn't mean we can't take the piss out of it.

In terms of the show, not much to go on yet but I loved the US Office, much much better than the original UK version tbh (hi I'm a Brit) and I don't think anyone could accuse The Office of being overly politically correct, so I'd wait til it's out before getting panties twisted.
 
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This is way, way too on the nose. Like, satire isn't supposed to literally be the thing that is being parodied. Animal Farm was set on a farm for a reason.

This should have been about a random branch of the government that decided to create a military division or something... Like if the US Geological Survey created the Rock Force or whatever.

That said the Office and Parks and Rec were both good early on so it has potential, but at the same time do we really need The Office 3?
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
This is way, way too on the nose. Like, satire isn't supposed to literally be the thing that is being parodied. Animal Farm was set on a farm for a reason.

This should have been about a random branch of the government that decided to create a military division or something... Like if the US Geological Survey created the Rock Force or whatever.

That said the Office and Parks and Rec were both good early on so it has potential, but at the same time do we really need The Office 3?

Not a bad point actually - it might have been a better take, although I would imagine the space angle opens up all sorts of plot possibilities and maybe they thought it was a good opportunity on that basis. Certainly satire can exist that mirrors the thing it satirises (see Veep, The Thick Of It, Spitting Image) and can be absolutely fucking brilliant.

 
A Space Force actually makes a lot of sense. We can only visibly see 3% of the sky, which means the earth is constantly threatened by meteors. We actually do need a space force, and ships equipped with large guns and missiles in space that will be able to make meteor hits diverge their trajectory. It's either that or we send the best oil drillers on a mission.
 
Not a bad point actually - it might have been a better take, although I would imagine the space angle opens up all sorts of plot possibilities and maybe they thought it was a good opportunity on that basis. Certainly satire can exist that mirrors the thing it satirises (see Veep, The Thick Of It, Spitting Image) and can be absolutely fucking brilliant.
Yeah I thought about that a bit, but the "government" or "white house" are very general things that are more of a category than anything. Space Force is extremely specific where the show can only go one way. It would be like making a show 8 years ago called ACORN. But just my 2c (2p), like I said it could still be very good.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah I thought about that a bit, but the "government" or "white house" are very general things that are more of a category than anything. Space Force is extremely specific where the show can only go one way. It would be like making a show 8 years ago called ACORN. But just my 2c (2p), like I said it could still be very good.

I think a lot depends on how they handle the issue of who's giving the orders. For instance if I recall Veep largely had the President as a faceless person mentioned only by title rather than name, of unclear political persuasion if I recall, meaning they could go after both sides fairly easily. Take that approach and it'll be fine.
 

Cybrwzrd

Banned
I think a lot depends on how they handle the issue of who's giving the orders. For instance if I recall Veep largely had the President as a faceless person mentioned only by title rather than name, of unclear political persuasion if I recall, meaning they could go after both sides fairly easily. Take that approach and it'll be fine.

You know they won't go after both sides though. This is Netflix we are talking about here. This is one of the issues that I agree with Trump on, and hell even Neil deGrasse Tyson agrees with the concept. It isn't a stupid idea.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
You know they won't go after both sides though. This is Netflix we are talking about here. This is one of the issues that I agree with Trump on, and hell even Neil deGrasse Tyson agrees with the concept. It isn't a stupid idea.

It's a good idea, but there should be no sacred cows in comedy. I believe in taking the piss out of everything. There's plenty of room for poking fun at pork barrel politics within this for instance.
 

Cybrwzrd

Banned
It's a good idea, but there should be no sacred cows in comedy. I believe in taking the piss out of everything. There's plenty of room for poking fun at pork barrel politics within this for instance.

While I agree with that concept, I have a feeling that this will be more of an orange man bad type of comedy show instead of cutting satire.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
While I agree with that concept, I have a feeling that this will be more of an orange man bad type of comedy show instead of cutting satire.

I'll keep my fingers crossed. Tbh I never got the impression from The Office that the writers were SJW or anything so there's a decent chance it'll be good. I certainly agree that Orange Man Bad is a crap route in comedy (I'm not a fan of Trump, being a leftie libtard or whatever, but there are policies I agree with including taking on China over trade, proper border control, both of which help the workers by making the basic rights they have mean something instead of outsourcing slavery to other countries or bringing in extra competition for their jobs), but hopefully it could be done with some nuance.
 
D

Deleted member 77995

Unconfirmed Member
Pretty excited, the potential is there!
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
lol from Michael Scott himself

newsflash: Michael Scott was Trump Lite, and all of America loved him for about 10 years. The Office got tons of lefty awards for it's depiction of a funny boss saying racist, sexist, and inappropriate things on the reg. also his funny sidekick with questionable Nazi family connections, people thought that was hilarious and 100% fine for mainstream TV. towards the end of the show they had to lean into the sentimentality, make sure the audience really cares about this asshole, on his way out.

it is funny to see Carell continue to make a living parodying the same old archetype. the guy is a hack.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
lol from Michael Scott himself

newsflash: Michael Scott was Trump Lite, and all of America loved him for about 10 years. The Office got tons of lefty awards for it's depiction of a funny boss saying racist, sexist, and inappropriate things on the reg. also his funny sidekick with questionable Nazi family connections, people thought that was hilarious and 100% fine for mainstream TV. towards the end of the show they had to lean into the sentimentality, make sure the audience really cares about this asshole, on his way out.

it is funny to see Carell continue to make a living parodying the same old archetype. the guy is a hack.

I was with you up til that final sentence, hence the like. He may do one thing, but in my opinion he does that one thing well.
 
I haven't seen a lot of funny anti-Trump comedy. I'm happy to be surprised by this show but I guess it'll be predictable and will age poorly.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
I haven't seen a lot of funny anti-Trump comedy. I'm happy to be surprised by this show but I guess it'll be predictable and will age poorly.

I think part of the problem is that people have got so worked up about it that they can't work past the rage to find the funny. I mean back in the day Maggie Thatcher was pretty much reviled by those of us on the left but we still managed to get comedy out of the situation with shows like Spitting Image, and more indirectly take the piss out of the government of the day with Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister which tbh haven't dated badly because they took the piss out of government in general.
 
I think part of the problem is that people have got so worked up about it that they can't work past the rage to find the funny. I mean back in the day Maggie Thatcher was pretty much reviled by those of us on the left but we still managed to get comedy out of the situation with shows like Spitting Image, and more indirectly take the piss out of the government of the day with Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister which tbh haven't dated badly because they took the piss out of government in general.
A Trump joke is low-hanging fruit. Finding new, creative ways to mock him isn't clever. Finding new, creative ways to be hilariously offended by his choices isn't clever. And mocking his voters is pretty tasteless, too.

What would be really funny? If these hilarious comedians looked in a mirror and maybe poked some fun at their own self-righteous fanaticism. Poking fun at Christianity has always been "funny". Why not make some self-deprecating humor about Progressives?
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
A Trump joke is low-hanging fruit. Finding new, creative ways to mock him isn't clever. Finding new, creative ways to be hilariously offended by his choices isn't clever. And mocking his voters is pretty tasteless, too.

What would be really funny? If these hilarious comedians looked in a mirror and maybe poked some fun at their own self-righteous fanaticism. Poking fun at Christianity has always been "funny". Why not make some self-deprecating humor about Progressives?

I'd say there's good material to be had, but people just haven't found it yet. I think it's hard to write good comedy in the fragile state people have worked themselves up into. I know for a while I was a bit that way "oh fucking hell the world has ended an actual nazi has got in" and my wife, bless her slightly SJW cotton socks, still thinks that way, and it really does eat away at her, I can only imagine how it is for the guys in the bubble. I calmed down, reflected, and realised that some of his policies are things the left should be doing to protect workers and kinda got over it, but these guys with no connections to the workers don't so much. That leaves only rage, and rage hinders creativity.

I would agree there's value to be had looking at the media in general in its fanaticism, and this is ground covered well by The Day Today and Brasseye back in the day.




The 2nd video btw.. you will actually shit yourself from laughing too much.

On religion, I reckon Life Of Brian set the bar, matching or beating that is a pretty thankless task!
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
Usually Carell's humor is good-natured and more character driven than anything. I would expect the premise of the show to be just that, a mere premise to set up the comedy of trying to create a Space Force. It's doubtful that it will be a politically charged series.
 
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Hanon

Banned
How can anyone expect this to be funny because of jabbing at trump? The people who hate him can't even be subtle or clever when trying to mock him in the lines of an actual funny joke.
 
How can anyone expect this to be funny because of jabbing at trump? The people who hate him can't even be subtle or clever when trying to mock him in the lines of an actual funny joke.

Too early to tell, but as previously mentioned I do think he will be a figure they mention every once in a while, as there will be many people to make fun off. Military, politicians, contractors and the many other government bureaucrats.

He can't be at the launch of any craft as you can only have so many bright orange things in the vicinity. Mcdonalds will supply the food, etc... (hopefully much funnier than that).
 

Fbh

Member
Lol half the people in here need to come back the next time they complain about liberals being snowflakes that get triggered by everything and can't take a joke. Not that I disagree with that statement... but jeez, seems like both sides have their fair share of snowflakes.
 

Grinchy

Banned
As little as I care to have yet another source of orange man bad jokes, I think Steve Carell and a major contributor to The Office have at the very least earned the benefit of the doubt here. I'd prefer to watch a handful of episodes with an open mind and discover if it really is just low-hanging fruit Trump jokes. There could be something great here. We don't really know yet.
 

Nikana

Go Go Neo Rangers!
I don't want to detail the thread but I swear I saw a thread about show recommendations, but can't find it!
 
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