AN ARGUING WITH MYSELF REVIEW: OTHER SPACE
It’s the year 2105… a young, inexperienced and highly flawed crew embarks on a routine exploratory space mission. Suddenly, their ship, the UMP Cruiser, is drawn through a portal into a different, mysterious universe. With no maps, no contact, and no way back home, Captain Stewart Lipinski (Karan Soni), First Officer/Stewart’s-Older-Sister Karen Lipinski (Bess Rous) and their crew have to learn to work together, all while dealing with mysterious space clouds, food and fuel shortages, robot rebellions, folds in time, and the occasional alien attack.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Other Space is the MOST sincere when it comes to their influences. It’s clear in some small way, shows like Red Dwarf, Quark, Hyperdrive, Space 1999 and even MST3K (it doesn’t hurt to have Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu’s involvement), Other Space’s heart is firmly placed on its sleeve like a uniform patch.
The series was created by Paul Feig, who is known for Freaks and Geeks, Bridesmaids and A Simple Favor. Around this time, his Ghostbusters film was released and had appearances by most of the cast of Other Space. They may not have been big names in 2015 but soon after they would be launched (yes, I said it) into notable areas of entertainment, making names for themselves in their own rights. Milana Vayntrub was one of the few “names” I had recognized without looking her up. Hey, we all have to start somewhere, right?
In the tradition of low-budget rubber suited space adventures, Other Space feels like a long lost discovery from the 90’s. Although, having slightly better FX elevates its look. Much like those “so bad they’re good” entries that have come before, you don’t need a huge budget, gimmicks or big names attached (in 2015 the “biggest” names associated were Feig and Hodgson), you just need an engrossing story. Other Space is a 4 hour movie broken up into 8 episodes, running on average 25 minutes per.
Back in 2015, Yahoo! Screen was going to expand their original programming. Other Space was overshadowed by Yahoo!’s acquiring of Community’s sixth season, after their falling out with NBC. The latter was going to be the darling of Yahoo! but ultimately with no clear vision, poor performances of its original series, Yahoo! Screen as a portal was discontinued. Fear not, with Yahoo’s loss, a new contender has entered the arena.
You can binge-watch Other Space August 1st when it lands exclusively on the DUST app. The DUST app, which is available for free on the Roku app store and at watchdust.com, will be the home of Other Space as well as a wide variety of sci-fi content. Ranging from independent to the grandiose. All of them giving glimpses into our future. Look to Other Space’s future when it appears on the streamer. Perhaps it’ll get a second life and we’ll get the continued adventures of the UMP crew? Only you can make it happen.
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