In 2018, Donald Trump announced his plans for the “Space Force,” a planned sixth branch of the armed services. The Space Force memes soon commenced, but Steve Carrell and The Office creator Greg Daniels really ran with the concept. Now, comedy series Space Force is headed to Netflix, with Carrell portraying a former military officer reluctantly put in charge of the brand-new organisation. Now, Lisa Kudrow has also joined Space Force, proving that two NBC sitcom icons are even better than one.
On Space Force, Kudrow will portray Maggie Naird, wife to Carrell’s character Mark, according to a press release from Netflix. In order to support Mark’s new job, she and the rest of the family move to a base in Colorado, where Mark and his new co-workers strive to “[get] American boots on the moon (again.)”
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Per the release, Maggie is a Washington Air Force wife who has “sublimated parts of herself to her husband’s career for two decades,” but is now “growing in a different direction.”
Kudrow, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, has appeared on several other comedy series over the years. She starred as an analyst Fiona Wallace in the acclaimed Web Therapy, and played a flailing actress in The Comeback on HBO. The cult favourite series was given a second life in 2014 after its initial 2005 run. Recently, Kudrow worked with Netflix on their semi-autobiographical comedy series from Mae Martin, Feel Good.
Other cast members joining Space Force include Ma and Booksmart actress Diana Silvers, who plays Kudrow and Carrell’s teenage daughter Erin; John Malkovich, who portrays the “arrogant” head science advisor Dr. Adrian Mallory; and Parks and Recreation’s Ben Schwartz as F. Tony Scarapiducci, a self-centred media consultant.
In addition to her work on Space Force, Kudrow is teaming up with streamer HBO Max for a future Friends reunion special. Filming was recently rescheduled due to concern over the coronavirus.
Space Force premieres on Friday, May 29, 2020 on Netflix.