The Best Indie SFF Short Films & Web Series

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Other Space - The Sci-Fi Comedy By Freaks And Geeks Creator Paul Feig

Other Space the web series was originally commissioned by Yahoo as part of its planned slate of original series available exclusively for the web.

Created by veteran producer Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks, Bridesmaids, The Heat), this sci-fi comedy set in the year 2105 tells the saga of the UMP (Universal Mapping Project) Cruiser and its crew of young misfits. 

On its maiden voyage, the starship - commanded by newly promoted Captain Stewart Lipinski - flies through a spatial anomaly that hurls it light years from any previously explored sector of space.

The inexperienced crew have many misadventures as they forge ahead with their mission to explore  the unknown, while also seeking a way home.

Although this comparison is worn out, it's still apropos to think of Other Space as the sci-fi equivalent of The Office.

The web series is shot in single-camera style similar to The Office and Community.

Unlike similar satirical sci-fi web series like Voyage Trekkers, Other Space mines its comedy mainly from the interpersonal relationships between its offbeat characters, rather than sending up specific genre tropes - although there is some of that too.

For example, the central relationship of the show is between Captain Stewart Lipinski (Karan Soni) and his second-in-command Karen (Bess Rous), who also happens to be his sister.

While Stewart is affable and optimistic, he is also inept in his role as ship's captain. However, during times of crisis, he often has flashes of insight that prove crucial to the crew's survival.  

Karen is Stewart's polar opposite. While brilliant, she is detached and reserved.

She is also very resentful of being passed over for the captaincy in favor of her brother. As the series progresses, she discovers there is more to effective leadership than by-the-book decorum.

It is the epic personality clashes between brother and sister that generate the bulk of the show's humor, as the duo attempt to co-exist while corralling their crew of eccentrics in order to survive. 

Click the image below to watch the original OTHER SPACE trailer on Vimeo:

Watch the series on YouTube: Other Space On DUST

If you like humor that stems from the relationships between kooky, oddball characters, you will find much to enjoy in this underappreciated sci-fi gem.


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