Netflix cancels Steve Carrell comedy Space Force

Netflix has cancelled its comedy Space Force after two seasons

It’s kind of hard to imagine, but Netflix used to have a reputation as a studio that would greenlight shows and movies that traditional networks weren’t daring enough to take on. Nowadays, that reputation is turning into a much lamer one: they’re the studio that will unceremoniously cancel any of their series at the drop of a hat if they don’t meet predetermined viewership numbers.

Per The A.V. Club, the latest Netflix show to go the way of the dodo is Space Force, which dropped its second season in February. If you didn’t even know Space Force was still around, you could probably be forgiven for that; it’s been almost two years since the show’s first season aired, and it received practically nothing in the way of marketing before season 2 arrived.

Space Force will not get a season 3 at Netflix

Space Force first hit Netflix back in 2020. The comedy took a real-life situation — former president Donald Trump ordering the creation of a Space Force to defend the nation’s interests in the cosmos — and spun it into an office comedy with a veritable who’s who of comedic talent attached. The show had The Office screenwriter Greg Daniels behind it. It starred Steve Carell as General Mark Naird, the stoic, often ineffective leader of Space Force. John Malkovich played his lead scientist/best friend/occasional foil Dr. Adrian Mallory. It also featured  Ben Schwartz, Tawny Newsome, Lisa Kudrow, and Jimmy O. Yang, with cameos from other seasoned comedy vets like Patton Oswalt.

Despite all that, Space Force never quite managed to take off. It was a decidedly meh show, though not without funny moments. This cancellation isn’t quite as brutally quick as the axing of Cowboy Bebop last December, which was flushed a mere month after its release; or as baffling as The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance getting cancelled literal hours after it won an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programing, but it’s still discouraging. Season 2 of Space Force ended with the cliffhanger that the team had just discovered an asteroid hurtling toward Earth after being granted a higher budget and better resources. Now we’ll never see what was planned for season 3.

It also begs the question: if Netflix is willing to so easily cancel shows, is it even worth it to get invested in any but the streamer’s biggest series?

The first two seasons of Space Force are still available to stream on Netflix. Just don’t get too attached.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t Deadline