Netflix pitched the idea for Space Force to Steve Carell, who pitched it to Greg Daniels

Deadline

Carell says his upcoming space comedy came about in an "atypical way." “Netflix had this premise that they thought might make a funny show — the idea made everybody laugh in a meeting, an idea of a show about the origins of a fictitious Space Force," he tells Deadline. "I heard about the idea through my agent, and Netflix pitched the show to me, and then I pitched the show to Greg, and we all had the same reaction to it. There was no show, there was no idea aside from the title. Netflix asked, ‘Do you want to do a show called Space Force?’ And I pretty much immediately said, ‘Well yeah, sure. That sounds great.’ And then I called Greg, and I said, 'Hey, you want to do a show called Space Force?' And he said, 'Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do it.' And it was really based on nothing, except this name that made everybody laugh. So we were off and running."