Other Space Season One Review

We are currently living in a new Golden Age of television, and the Gold is digital. Cable and broadcast TV is slowly going the way of the buffalo, and more and more people are using Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime instead, for all their TV needs. As those streaming services were primarily known for rebroadcasting old programs and movies, they are now developing original content, with shows like House of Cards, Transparent, and some Indian-hating Adam Sandler film that Netflix is producing.

Now the search engine Yahoo is getting into the digital streaming picture with Yahoo! Screen. So far, Yahoo! Screen only has three shows: Sin City Saints, the return of Community(saved from cancellation on NBC) and Other Space, the SciFi/comedy from Bridesmaids director Paul Feig.

I wasn't even going to bother with Other Space, as the ad campaign makes the show look awful(see the above picture). It looks like the cast is pogo-ing at a Ska show(i know they're floating in anti-gravity shut up).  It was Yahoo's aggressive YouTube-based advertising that got Other Space my attention.

The best description of Other Space is "Parks & Rec meets Red Dwarf, with a splash of Mystery Science Theater 3000." The ragtag crew, going on their first mission for the UMP, accidently fly through a rip in space that strands them far, far away from home. Now this crew, that barely knows what they're doing, have to survive in an unknown galaxy with nothing but strategy, bravery and boxes and boxes of fudge.

The basic "fish out of water with people who barely like one another" plot may be paint-by-numbers, tv wise, but I think that's the point here, as Other Space is anything but basic. The show never got boring, even after two back to back viewings, and the characters get richer and more detailed as the story progresses, which really kept me engaged.

Sadly, their are only 8 episodes in the first season, and there's no word yet if Yahoo! Screen will do a 2nd one. I'm not worried, as word of mouth spreads about how good Other Space is, I'm sure it'll get picked up a few years, at least.

Google and Yahoo have really stepped up their game, starting as simple search engines, now looking for world domination. We're all properly fucked when Alta Vista and Lycos get their shit together. I'm talking Skynet fucked. *starts humming the love theme from Terminator 2*