A Steve Carell Series With A Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score Is A Hit On Netflix

Steve Carell may have left The Office, but one of his series has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is trending on Netflix.

By James Brizuela | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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Steve Carell may have left The Office, but he brought his on-brand humor into the Space Force series, which sees the same level of shenanigans as the show details the creation of the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces. The initial season came out to mixed reviews and currently sits at 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the second season of the workplace comedy dropped and has changed things substantially. Space Force Season 2 currently has a 100% critic rating, which is certainly a lot better than its previous set of episodes. The show has just dropped, but as it stands right now, it’s being much more well-received.

The newest season of the Steve Carell show is currently in the top ten categories for all of Netflix, and it appears as if renewing the show for another season was the right move, despite critics mostly agreeing that Space Force was not all that great. According to the critic consensus, Space Force was an “uneven blend of earnestness and satire from spinning quickly out of comedic orbit.” Despite the critics not caring much for the show, the audience score of the first season paints a much different picture. A much higher 75% audience rating could have been the swaying factor for Netflix to renew the show for a second season.

Space Force stars Steve Carell, John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Diana Silvers, Tawny Newsome, Jimmy O. Yang, and Lisa Kudrow. The show follows General Mark Naird (Carell) as he is tasked with getting “boots on the moon” by the president, which essentially has a lot to do with colonizing the moon. The entirety of the series seems to be poking fun at the actual creation of the Space Force by former President of the United States, Donald Trump. What’s even funnier about the situation is the Netflix show secured trademark rights globally over the actual Trump-led branch of the armed forces. How they were able to achieve such a feat over the US government is still perplexing.

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Steve Carell had seen plenty of success as Michael Scott in The Office, which led to the initial backing of Space Force, considering the show is heavily inspired by Carell’s former endeavor. Greg Daniels partnered with Carell to create Space Force, as they had both previously worked together on The Office. Daniels also had time producing King of the Hill and Parks & Recreation, which is also a show that is heavily inspired by The Office. It’s good to see the show getting a second chance, as sometimes people are too quick to give up on things.

Although Steve Carell is most known for his role in The Office, he began garnering attention after his time as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1999 to 2005. He began to achieve more recognition after a co-starring role in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, with even more coming after he starred in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Evan Almighty, Get Smart, and Date Night. The funnyman became a mainstay in Judd Apatow’s comedies. His portrayal of Gru in the Despicable Me series is also beloved by kids and adults alike.

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Space Force is jam-packed with the kind of talent that one would expect to work really well, and it could be they finally were able to maximize the ensemble output that was needed to make critics give this show a second chance. It is Steve Carell, after all, and most of what he touches always turns out great. Even The Office struggled in the beginning before becoming one of the most talked-about and influential shows to ever been created. Space Force might have just needed that first season to iron out the details about what its identity truly was.

The Steve Carell-led Space Force show is currently streaming on Netflix. The first season was 10 episodes long and was reportedly costing the studio a million dollars per episode. The newest season has been shortened to seven episodes and is reportedly filmed in Vancouver to help save on budget demands. The shortening of the second season could also be due to the initial season being seen as “too expensive.” The second season only containing seven episodes might also be a measuring stick to see if Netflix will even want to continue the series further. This is all speculative, but according to the critic response, Space Force Season 2 is living up to the hype of the show’s creation.