‘Space Force’ Season 2: Netflix Reportedly Renews Steve Carell Comedy

Netflix has reportedly renewed Space Force for a second season after the show’s successful premiere back in May. A source close to the production told the website What’s Next on Netflix that the Steve Carell comedy has officially been greenlighted for Season 2. This indicates that a big audience tuned in for the controversial premise.

Space Force debuted on Netflix on May 29, 2020. The series centers around the controversial new branch of the U.S. Military launched by President Donald Trump, meant to give the U.S. a foothold for any combat based in outer space. It stars Carell as General Mark R. Naird, a career military man who finds himself surprised to be put in charge of this new project. Reception to the show as mixed, but apparently Netflix intends to give the experiment another shot.

With its premise firmly in place, Space Force essentially functions as a workplace comedy — familiar territory for Carell, coming from The Office. This comparison could contribute to the show’s renewal. Other main cast members include John Malkovich as Dr. Adrian Mallory, Ben Schwartz as F. Tony Scarapiducci, Diana Silvers as Erin Naird and Tawny Newsome as Captain Angela Ali. Lisa Kudrow plays Mark’s wife, Maggie Naird, and Fred Willard played his father, Fred Naird. In a second season, the show will likely have to deal with Willard’s passing in real life.

Recurring cast members were pulled from some of the most beloved roles in recent TV memory, including Jane Lynch as Chief of Naval Operations, Jimmy O. Yang as Dr. Chan Kaifang Gris Gethard as Eddie Broser and Aparna Nancherla.

Outside the all-star cast, Space Force did not get the reception that Netflix likely hoped for. At the time of this writing, the first season has a 39 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes — and an even lower 26 percent when factoring in only the site’s “top critics.” Still, audiences were much more forgiving, giving the show a 76 percent rating overall.

As is often the case, however, many disgruntled fans of other Netflix original series equated the renewal of Space Force with the cancellation of their own favorite show. Many took to Twitter to grumble that the series was renewed because of the big names on its cast list, while shows that they saw as more deserving were swept away.

The same source told What’s Next on Netflix about three other renewals: Warrior Nun, Ozark and Fate: A Winx Saga. So far, only Ozark has been confirmed by Netflix. There is no word on when any of these series may premiere, or even when they may be allowed to resume filming.