''Final Space'' is an

adult animated An adult is a human or other animal that has reached Developmental biology, full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and Law, legal concepts. In contrast to a "Minor (law), minor", a legal adult is a p ...

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soc ...

comedy drama television series created by Olan Rogers and developed by Rogers and David Sacks. The series involves an

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

named Gary Goodspeed and his immensely powerful alien friend Mooncake, and focuses on their intergalactic adventures as they try to save the universe from certain doom. The series aired on TBS on February 26, 2018. It then moved to Cartoon Network's late-night

programming block Block programming is the arrangement of programs on radio or television so that those of a particular genre, theme, or target audience are united. Overview Block programming involves scheduling a series of related shows which are likely to attra ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

, started with the second season on June 24, 2019, followed by the third and final season on March 20, 2021. On September 10, 2021, Rogers announced that Adult Swim cancelled the series after three seasons due to the proposed merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery announced that year. In September 2022, Rogers claimed on Twitter that the series would be written off as a loss for tax purposes by Warner Bros. Discovery once it completes its international run on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Plot

Gary Goodspeed is an energetic yet dim-witted astronaut who, in the midst of working off the last few days of his five-year sentence aboard the prison spacecraft ''Galaxy One'', encounters a mysterious planet-destroying alien. He befriends the alien, naming him Mooncake, and then discovers that they are being pursued by the sinister, telekinetic Lord Commander. Together, Gary and Mooncake embark on a quest to save the universe, with help from the artificial intelligence HUE and a growing crew of shipmates, each with their own personal troublesall while trying to uncover the secrets surrounding Final Space, a bizarre realm where the universe ends.

Cast

* Olan Rogers as Gary Goodspeed, Mooncake, Tribore Menendez, Biskit, David Dewinter, Jeff, Fraskenhaur, Digital Gary, Additional voices *

Fred Armisen Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. ...

as KVN, Eduardo, Overlord, Groom, Evil KVNs, Mega KVN, Queen of Galang-22, Key Guardian, Kevin Van Newton, Additional voices *

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

as HUE, SAMES (Carl, Hank, Orson, Noodles, Rob, Boobs), Dewinter Son, Helper Stevil, Septim, Molelito, Thud, Time Swap Sammy, Phil, Ziznack, Kevin Van Newton, Additional voices *

David Tennant David John Tennant ('' né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the ...

as The Lord Commander/Jack *

Tika Sumpter Euphemia LatiQue Sumpter, better known as Tika Sumpter, is an American actress, singer, producer, television host, and model. Sumpter began her career as the host of ''Best Friend's Date''. From 2005 to 2010, she appeared in the daytime soap oper ...

as Quinn Ergon, Nightfall, Fake Nightfall, Cookie Wife, Harp Graven, Melanie Dewinter, Additional voices *

Steven Yeun Yeun Sang-yeop ( ko, 연상엽; born December 21, 1983), known professionally as Steven Yeun (), is a South Korean-born American actor. Yeun initially rose to prominence for his roles as Glenn Rhee in the television series '' The Walking Dead ...

as Little Cato, Meat Street Vendor, Infinity Guard Captain, Helper Assistant, Death Cookies, Mr. Graven, The Blade, Officer, Grateful Alien, Additional voices * Coty Galloway as Avocato, Viro, Lord Commander's Officer, Additional voices * Caleb McLaughlin as Young Gary *

Ron Perlman Ronald Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in '' Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–19 ...

as John Goodspeed, Burner Tribe Leader *

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on '' Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible' ...

as Terk, Dr. Bluestein, Superior Stone, Lord Commander's Soldier, Mooncake's Voice Box, Arachnitects, Sal the Bartender, Super Molelito, Additional voices *

Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in t ...

as Helper Hula (season 1), Infinity Guard AI, Infinity Guard Announcer, Additional voices * Shannon Purser as Shannon Thunder *

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

as Bolo *

Andy Richter Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of O'Brien's talk shows: '' Late Night'' and ''The Tonight Show'' on NBC ...

as Gatekeeper *

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' ( ...

as Clarence Polkawitz, Chuck * Ashly Burch as Ash Graven *

Ron Funches Ronald Kyle Funches (born March 12, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born in California, Funches spent his early life in Chicago before relocating to Salem, Oregon, as a teenager. He began his comedy career in Portland, Oregon, a ...

as Fox *

Jane Lynch Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series ''Glee'' (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recogn ...

as AVA, Dartricio, Mrs. Graven, Bride *

Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ;; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' with Sandra Bullock (2000), '' A Knight's Tale'' with Heath Ledger (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' with Vince Vaughn (2 ...

as Hushfluffles/Todd H. Watson, Frostbears, Additional voices *

Claudia Black Claudia Lee Black (born 11 October 1972) is an Australian actress, best known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in ''Farscape'', Vala Mal Doran in ''Stargate SG-1'' and Sharon "Shazza" Montgomery in the film ''Pitch Black''. She has had promin ...

as Sheryl Goodspeed *

Christopher Judge Douglas Christopher Judge (born October 13, 1964) is an American actor best known for playing Teal'c in the Canadian- American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1,'' and Kratos in the 2018 video game ''God of War'' and it ...

as Oreskis *

Vanessa Marshall Vanessa Marshall (born October 19, 1969 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is an American voice and television actress who is most active in films, cartoons and video games. She is the daughter of actress Joan Van Ark and reporter John Marshall. ...

as Invictus, Helper Hula (season 2) * Tobias Conan Trost as Nightfall's Ship AI, Werthrent, Richard, Catoloupe, Henry, Additional voices * Oscar Montoya as Quatronostro *

Phil LaMarr Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include ...

as Arachnitects, Additional voices * Brett Driver as King of Ventrexia * Mike Falzone as Shopkeeper * Krystal Joy Brown as Avery Ergon *

Debra Wilson Debra Wilson, also known as Debra Wilson Skelton or Debra Skelton, is an American actress and comedian. She is known for being the longest-serving original cast member on the sketch comedy series '' Mad TV'', having appeared on the show's fir ...

as Commander Ergon * Jasmin Savoy Brown as Evra

Episodes

Production

Development

The idea for the show originated in mid-2010. Olan Rogers uploaded the first episode of a planned ten-part animated web-series titled ''Gary Space'' to his personal

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

channel. The project went on hiatus three episodes in, and Rogers eventually explained on Facebook that both he and the series' artist, Dan Brown, were tending to separate projects at the time, but were in talks of continuing. On April 30, 2013, Rogers confirmed that he was rebooting and producing a season of ''Gary Space'' episodes to release at once. Over two years later, Rogers revealed that a new short for the reboot for ''Gary Space'' was planned to be pitched to Cartoon Network, in addition to premiering the episode at

Buffer Festival Buffer Festival is an international digital video festival, held annually in Toronto, Ontario. The festival, founded in 2013 by Corey Vidal, Corrado Coia, and Samantha Fall of the ApprenticeA YouTube channel, showcases the talent of online vide ...

if nothing came from the pitch. In early 2016, Rogers announced that his project had been retitled ''Final Space''to avoid similarities with ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe ( Zach Callison), who lives with the Crystal Gems—magical, miner ...

''and revealed screenshots of the short via a vlog on his YouTube channel. The pilot for ''Final Space'' was posted on Rogers' YouTube channel with voices by himself and a friend of his, Coty Galloway; Galloway had collaborated with Rogers in a ''Star Wars'' fan film called ''The Scarlet Lance''. The video caught the attention of

, who invited him to Los Angeles to pitch ''Final Space'' to TBS as a full series and also joined production as an executive producer alongside Rogers and ''

3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials who are on an e ...

'' writer and producer David Sacks. Other members of O'Brien's company,

Conaco Conaco, LLC is the television production firm owned by entertainer Conan O'Brien. The name is a portmanteau of the words ''"Conan"'' and ''"Co"'', an abbreviation of company. It has produced programs primarily for NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia, ...

(David Kissinger, Larry Sullivan and Jeff Ross), and members of New Form who executive produced the pilot short (Kathleen Grace, Melissa Schneider and Matt Hoklotubbe) joined as executive producers as well. To balance out Rogers' inexperience in the industry, Conaco brought in Sacks to also serve as the showrunner for the series. After two weeks of working with Sacks and Jake Sidwell ( of the series alongside Shelby Merry) on the pitch, Rogers and Sacks pitched the show to TBS; as well as

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy program ...

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

, FX, YouTube, and Fullscreen; all six companies wanted the series and resulted in a bidding war between the studios over the series, with TBS acquiring the series. On December 2, 2016, it was announced that the channel had given a series order.

Casting

Rogers announced in December 2016 that he voices the main characters, Gary and Mooncake. In July 2017, an additional cast list of

, Conan O'Brien,

, Coty Galloway (reprising from the pilot),

, Caleb McLaughlin,

, Shannon Purser,

, and

was revealed.

Animation

Animation for the series is handled by ShadowMachine in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and outsourced to

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

studio Jam Filled using the

Toon Boom Harmony Toon Boom Animation Inc. is a Canadian software company that specializes in animation production and storyboarding software. Founded in 1994 and based in Montreal, Quebec, Toon Boom develops animation and storyboarding software for film, tele ...

software. The show uses

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

space imagery for the space backgrounds.

Future

When asked on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

about the series' longevity, Olan Rogers had stated that he had at least six seasons worth of material thought up for the show including an ending for ''Final Space'' in case the series gets cancelled in the future. On September 10, 2021, Rogers posted a video to his YouTube account stating that season 3 would be the show's last season. On April 10, 2022, Rogers revealed on his Twitter that there is a chance that the show could be brought back in the future for an hour-long special to wrap up the story. On May 11, Rogers stated that he was still trying to put an end to the series. On June 15, after being unable to reach a deal to conclude the series in any medium, Rogers launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...

for a short film titled ''Godspeed'', spawned from unused ideas related to the series. At the end of the campaign, the crowdfund raised $464,438 in total.

Promotion and release

When responding to a question on Twitter, Olan Rogers revealed that ''Final Space'' would be showcased by TBS at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

and

VidCon VidCon is an annual convention for fans, creators, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. In October 2020, VidCon Now relaunched as an ongoing, free digital offering. Vetera ...

in 2017. Unlike other creators, Rogers runs the

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

accounts for the show, including the official Twitter account, calling it a "good opportunity" to connect with fans. ''Final Space'' premiered on

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news news aggregator, aggregation, Review site#Rating site, content rating, and Internet forum, discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") subm ...

on February 15, 2018, followed by an

AMA Ama or AMA may refer to: Ama Languages * Ama language (New Guinea) * Ama language (Sudan) People * Ama (Ama Kōhei), former ring name for sumo wrestler Harumafuji Kōhei * Mary Ama, a New Zealand artist * Shola Ama, a British singer * Ām ...

with Rogers. This would mark a first for a TV network to premiere a series on the site. Later that day, the first two episodes became available on TBS's website and app. TBS's sister network TNT aired a sneak peek premiere of the show on February 17, 2018, right after the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend. After its official premiere on TBS on February 26, 2018, the pilot aired two hours later on sibling network

; the rest of the season also aired on the network in a similar fashion. On February 20, 2018, the first two episodes were released on iTunes.

handles the international distribution to the show and debuted the series on July 20. On April 7, 2019, Rogers revealed that the show would move first-run airings to Adult Swim and be simulcast on TBS; a reversal of the airing pattern from the first season. The news would be confirmed in June of that year, with the second season premiering on June 24. TBS would air an encore the following week. The show was renewed for a third season a week after the second finished airing. The first 2 seasons became available to stream on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netwo ...

on March 1, 2021, ahead of Season 3's premiere. Season 3 was released on HBO Max on November 13, 2021. On July 1, 2022, the series was removed from HBO Max, as well as all content related to the series from Adult Swim's official website and YouTube channel. Some episodes remain available for purchase on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service p ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

in the United States and the series is still available on Netflix in international regions until December 16, 2023. A

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

and a soundtrack were released on August 11, 2020. The Blu-ray was released by

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

, while the soundtrack was released by WaterTower Music.

Reception

The first season of ''Final Space'' received positive reviews, with critics praising the show's cast (especially

's voice performance as the Lord Commander). On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the first season has an approval rating of 70% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "''Final Space'' doesn't always hit its mark, but for those looking for a bite-sized intergalactic comedy it may prove an amusing diversion." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

season 1 has a score of 60 of 100 based on reviews from 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Impressions about the first episodes were also mixed, with criticism focused on Gary's humor.

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

's Dave Trumbore gave the series four out of five stars, praising the cast, the series' uniqueness and its originality. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' said "the new animated series from TBS misses the mark, and will likely float off into space". ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...

'' gave the series a C+ grade. Reviewing the first two episodes, ''

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...

'' gave them a score of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

gave a B+ grade. ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' received the series favorably, comparing its potential with ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn ( Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' and ''

BoJack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animated black comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron Paul. Set primarily in ...

''. Robert Lloyd of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' praised the show for the space backgrounds and Gary's relationship with Mooncake, but criticized for being "not as clever as '' Futurama'' or ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...

'' or ''

Galaxy Quest ''Galaxy Quest'' is a 1999 American science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. A parody of and homage to science-fiction films and series, especially ''Star Trek'' and its fandom, th ...

'', series with which it shares certain features" and for the comedy which "leans toward things adolescent boys find funny." ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

'' wrote favorably of the series, praising TBS' decision to release the first two episodes 11 days before the series premiere, and describing it as a "very silly comedy," comparing protagonist Gary to

Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' short ...

and Philip J. Fry.

References

External links

* {{Adult Swim original programming 2010s American adult animated television series 2020s American adult animated television series 2018 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings 2010s Canadian adult animated television series 2020s Canadian adult animated television series 2018 Canadian television series debuts 2021 Canadian television series endings American adult animated action television series American adult animated adventure television series American adult animated comedy television series American adult animated drama television series American adult animated science fiction television series Canadian adult animated action television series Canadian adult animated adventure television series Canadian adult animated comedy television series Canadian adult animated drama television series Canadian adult animated science fiction television series English-language television shows TBS (American TV channel) original programming Adult Swim original programming Television series based on Internet-based works Television series by Conaco Television series by ShadowMachine Television series by Studio T Television series set on fictional planets Animated television series about extraterrestrial life Television series by Jam Filled Entertainment