Space Force (TV pilot)

Space Force is a science fiction television pilot starring Fred Willard for the NBC television network. It aired as a one-off on April 28, 1978, but the series was not picked up. The pilot set up a scenario not unlike The Phil Silvers Show in which opportunistic Captain Thomas Woods leads his starcraft crew in schemes under the nose of the overbearing Captain Leon Stoner and dotty station Commander Irving Hinkley. Actor Phipps stated the show was originally titled Fort Leo, and claimed it was passed over because of the short-lived series Buck Henry produced, Quark, which was cancelled even before Space Force was aired.

Plot synopsis

Aboard space station Fort Leo Captain Thomas Woods arranges a carnival to raise money for a children's hospital on planet Triton by selling unauthorized military equipment to civilians and joyrides on their starcraft. Meanwhile, Captain Leon Stoner presses station Commander Irving Hinkley to go to war with the planet Algon over the capture of a spy.

Cast

William Phipps as Commander Irving Hinkley
Fred Willard as Captain Thomas Woods
Larry Block as Private Arnold Fleck
Jim Boyd as Captain Leon Stoner
Hilly Hicks as Captain Robert Milford
Maureen Mooney as Sergeant Eve Bailey
Joseph G. Medalis as Lieutenant Kabar
Richard Paul as D.O.R.C.
Billy Braver as Berkovitz
Deborah Harmon as Ship's Crier
Zitto Kazann as War Minister Dalan
Patricia Noble as Merivac

Legacy

Fred Willard reprised his role from the pilot in a comedy sketch for Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2018 and 2019. First, as interviewed by Kimmel after the announcement of the formation of the United States Space Force, and again in response to a media soundbite from Senator Ted Cruz about a need for the U.S. Space Force to battle "space pirates" in which Willard appears in a trailer for "Space Force 2 - Attack of the Space Pirates," a sequel to the failed 1978 series. Willard portrayed an unrelated character for the 2020 Netflix series Space Force.