A24 Bringing 'Moonbase 8' Comedy Series Starring Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker And John C. Reilly To Showtime

Space Force arrived on Netflix earlier this year and faded away just as quickly. The reunion of NBC's The Office creator Greg Daniels and star Steve Carell just didn't have the magic to deliver a memorable series. But we'll get another chance at some outer space hilarity later this year thanks to Showtime's recent acquisition of A24's comedy series Moonbase 8 starring Fred Armisen (Portlandia), Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!) and John C. Reilly (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story).

Showtime announced the pick-up of Moonbase 8 in a press release today. The series consists of six episodes following three not-so-great astronauts who are living in NASA's Moon Base Simulator, all hoping to be the next candidate chosen to travel to the moon. Here's the official synopsis that gets a little more specific:

Set in the isolated desert of Winslow, Arizona at NASA's Moon Base Simulator, MOONBASE 8 follows eager astronauts Skip (Fred Armisen), Rook (Tim Heidecker) and their leader Cap (John C. Reilly) as they attempt to qualify for their first lunar mission. While working vigorously to complete their training, a series of unexpected circumstances forces the astronauts to question their own mental sanity, trust in each other and whether or not they're cut out for space travel.

Armisen, Heidecker, and Reilly all have their comedic strengths that have been celebrated and praised across the board for a long time now. The latter two even worked together on the creation of the character Dr. Steve Brule on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, which resulted in the spin-off Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule. Having all three of these comedians together on a series with such a fun premise should make for some great comedy, and hopefully it will wash the bad taste of Space Force out of my mouth.

Jana Winograde, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. offered up this in a statement:

"In a year when we have all been forced to come to terms with life in close quarters, we are happy to have landed this offbeat take on life in captivity with dreams of escaping to something grander. While the show was produced before the pandemic, its subject matter is timely – and thanks to Fred, Tim, John and Jonathan, its humor is timeless."

Moonbase 8 is created and executive produced by the comedy trio along with Emmy nominee Jonathan Krisel (Baskets), who is also directing the entire series. A24 and Abso Lutely Productions are producing, and Dave Kneebone and Eric Wareheim are service as executive producers alongside Ravi Nandan and Inman Young at A24.