''Final Space'' is an American

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

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

comedy drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

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 List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

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 Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

's late-night

programming block Block programming (also known as a strand in British broadcasting) 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 ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

, starting 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 Warner Media, LLC (Trade name, doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational corporation, multinational mass media and show business, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 ...

and Discovery Inc. announced that year. In September 2022, Rogers stated on Twitter that the series would be written off for taxes. The series was internationally removed from

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on December 16, 2023, though the series remained available in Spain, France, Germany and Belgium until March 18, 2024. An upcoming

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

titled ''Final Space: The Final Chapter'' is set to be released in early 2025, as a continuation and end of the television series. Animated television series set in New York City

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 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 has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

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 (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

as The Lord Commander/Jack * Tika Sumpter as Quinn Ergon, Nightfall, Fake Nightfall, Cookie Wife, Harp Graven, Melanie Dewinter, Additional voices *

Steven Yeun Sang-yeop Yeun (; born December 21, 1983), known professionally as Steven Yeun ( ), is an American actor. His accolades include two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Br ...

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 Caleb Reginald McLaughlin (born October 13, 2001) is an American actor. He gained international recognition playing Lucas Sinclair in the Netflix series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present). He began his career playing young Simba in the Broadw ...

as Young Gary *

Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...

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. Her starring roles include Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in the legal dr ...

as Helper Hula (season 1), Infinity Guard AI, Infinity Guard Announcer, Additional voices * Shannon Purser as Shannon Thunder * Keith David as Bolo * Andy Richter as Gatekeeper *

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

as Clarence Polkawitz, Chuck *

Ashly Burch Ashly Burch (born June 19, 1990) is an American actress, writer, director, and singer. She is known for her roles as Aloy in the ''Horizon (video game series), Horizon'' series, Chloe Price in the ''Life Is Strange (video game), Life Is Strange ...

as Ash Graven *

Ron Funches Ronald Kyle Funches (born March 12, 1983) is an American comedian and actor. 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, at age 23. ...

as Fox *

Jane Lynch Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Known for playing starring and recurring roles in comedic television, her accolades include one Golden Globe, five Primetime Emmys and two Screen Actors Gui ...

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'' (2000), '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' (2004), voice and motion capture for Sonny in '' I, Robot'' (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 promi ...

as Sheryl Goodspeed *

Christopher Judge Christopher Judge is an American actor. He is best known for playing Teal'c in the Canadian- American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997-2007). He is also the second actor to portray Kratos in the ''God of War'' ...

as Oreskis * Vanessa 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 Phil LaMarr is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV'', where he stayed for five seasons. His voice acting roles in animated series include the Sam B of ' ...

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

Debra Wilson Debra Wilson is an American actress and comedian. She is the longest-serving original cast member on the sketch comedy series ''Mad TV'', having appeared on the show's first eight seasons from 1995 to 2003. As a voice actress, she has voiced va ...

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 a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

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

, in addition to premiering the episode at Buffer Festival 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 (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who lives with the Crys ...

''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 an American television production company founded in 2001 and owned by entertainer Conan O'Brien. The name is a portmanteau of the words ''"Conan"'' and ''"Co"'', an abbreviation of company. The name is also a parody of the petro ...

(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 Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

, Fox, 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 Fred Armisen, Conan O'Brien, Keith David, Coty Galloway (reprising from the pilot),

, Shannon Purser, Andy Richter,

, and

was revealed.

Animation

Animation for the series is handled by

ShadowMachine ShadowMachine is an American animation studio and production company specialized in film, television, commercials and music videos. Since its early days producing the stop-motion animation show '' Robot Chicken'', the company has been producing ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and outsourced to

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

studio Jam Filled using the Toon Boom Harmony software. The show uses

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

space imagery for the space backgrounds.

Future

When asked on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

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, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

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. On April 24, 2023, Rogers announced that Warner Bros. Discovery gave him a license to write a graphic novel to end the series. The novel, titled ''Final Space: The Final Chapter'', is set to be released in early 2025.

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 is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

and

VidCon VidCon is an annual convention for influencers, fans, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. It was founded by veteran YouTube creators John and Hank Green ( Vlogbrothers), a ...

in 2017. Unlike other creators, Rogers runs the

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

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

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

on February 15, 2018, followed by an AMA 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 Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

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 iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

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 Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

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 on June 21. Some episodes remain available for purchase on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in the United States and the series was available on Netflix in international regions until its removal on December 16, 2023, though the series remained available in Spain, France, Germany and Belgium until March 18, 2024.

Home media

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and a soundtrack were released on August 11, 2020. The Blu-ray, containing seasons 1 and 2, was released by Warner Archive Collection, 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 aggregator, 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 ...

, 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 an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

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 that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...

'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 Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' 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 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 created in ...

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

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual 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 gave a B+ grade. ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

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

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' and ''

BoJack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated tragicomedy 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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

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

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' or ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

'' or ''

Galaxy Quest ''Galaxy Quest'' is a 1999 American satirical science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. It stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mit ...

'', 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 comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...

'' 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 and Philip J. Fry. In March 2023, '' IndieWire'' named ''Final Space'' one of the best animated series of all time, praising that the show has "that balance between the personal and the universal that make all large-scale space stories worth the journey".

References

External links

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