The Right Stuff (TV series) explained

Genre:Historical drama
Developer:Mark Lafferty
Composer:Adam Taylor
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:8
Runtime:46–54 minutes
Network:Disney+

The Right Stuff is an American historical drama limited television series, loosely based on the 1979 book of the same name by Tom Wolfe and its 1983 film adaptation, that premiered on October 9, 2020, on Disney+. It is the third installment in the titular franchise. It explores the origins and growth of the United States' space program. On April 3, 2021, Disney+ canceled the series due to a redesign in the NatGeo channel's focus.[1] Show financier Warner Bros. Television is looking to shop the series to other networks.[2]

The series was removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, amidst the Disney+ and Hulu purge.[3]

Premise

The Right Stuff takes a "gritty, anti-nostalgic look at what would become America's first reality show as the obsessive original Mercury Seven astronauts and their families become instant celebrities in a competition that will either kill them or make them immortal. The eight-part, one-hour-per-episode drama will follow the protagonists from the Mojave Desert to the edges of space, with future seasons carrying through to humankind’s greatest achievement: the moon landing."[4]

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Production

On July 25, 2017, it was announced that National Geographic was partnering with Appian Way Productions and Warner Horizon Television to option the screen rights to Tom Wolfe's 1979 novel The Right Stuff. The series was set to be written by Will Staples who was also expected to executive produce alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson.[6]

On February 10, 2019, it was announced during the Television Critics Association's annual winter press tour that National Geographic had given the production a series order. David Nutter was expected to direct the premiere episode. Additional executive producers were set to include Mark Lafferty and Lizzie Mickery with Lafferty also serving as showrunner.[4]

The series premiered on October 9, 2020.[7] On November 20, 2020, the series was granted a tax credit to film a second season in San Diego. The show had yet to be officially renewed at the time.[8] However, on April 3, 2021, it was announced that Disney+ had canceled the series due to a change in NatGeo's programming focus.[1] Show financier Warner Bros. Television is looking to shop the series to other networks such as TNT and HBO Max.[9]

Casting

On May 31, 2019, Patrick J. Adams had been cast in the series lead role of John Glenn.[10] On June 14, 2019, Jake McDorman[11] and Colin O'Donoghue[12] were cast as Alan Shepard and Gordon Cooper, respectively. On June 21, 2019, Eric Ladin, Patrick Fischler, Nora Zehetner, Eloise Mumford, Shannon Lucio, and Josh Cooke joined the cast.[13] On August 19, 2019, Danny Strong was cast as NASA Spokesman John A. "Shorty" Powers.[14] On November 29, 2019, Mamie Gummer was cast as "Mercury 13" astronaut hopeful, Jerrie Cobb.[15]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 55% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 7.21/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "The Right Stuff contains some grace notes in its depiction of America's first slate of astronauts, but this tired retread of Tom Wolfe's famed book mostly makes the wrong moves in revitalizing space race history for the modern era."[16] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17]

Richard Roeper of The Chicago Sun-Times praised the show as "a visually striking, well-acted period piece that plays like 'Mad Men: The Flyboys Edition."[18] Writing for Rolling Stone, Alan Sepinwall called the show "a dutiful, mostly competent, infrequently lively historical workplace drama" and "almost defiantly generic in every way."[19] Wall Street Journal reviewer John Anderson described the show as "a perfectly serviceable drama about a rococo period of American history."[20] Lucy Mangan of The Guardian rated the show 4 out of 5 stars and claimed that "The Right Stuff doesn’t reach for the stars, but looks back to the Earth from which the phenomenon of astronauts and space travel, the glamour and the myths grew, along with the appetites they fed, and is all the more interesting for that."[21] Matt Cabral of Common Sense Media rated the series 3 out of 5 stars and called it a "space drama" that is "serviceable but doesn't reach the stars."[22]

In Caroline Framke's review for Variety, she criticized the show as "familiar" and said it "never met a space story cliché it didn't embrace with open arms."[23] In a review for The Dispatch, Alec Dent criticized the show's choice to leave out Chuck Yeager, saying his absence "embodies the central problem of the show: those behind it don't seem to understand what the right stuff is, at least not well enough to portray it on TV."[24]

Accolades

!Year!Award!Category!Recipient(s)!Result!Ref.
2021Motion Picture Sound EditorsOutstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Episodic Short Form - Dialogue and ADRWalter Newman, Brian Armstrong, Darleen Stoker[25]
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Episodic Short Form - Effects and FoleyWalter Newman, Kenneth Young, Rickley W. Dumm, Peter Reynolds. Sanaa Kelley, Adam DeCoster

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Low. Elaine. Disney Plus' 'The Right Stuff' Canceled After One Season But Warner Bros. TV Shopping Series Around. Variety. May 28, 2021. April 2, 2021.
  2. Web site: Leishman. Rachel. 'The Right Stuff' Is Officially the First Scripted Series Not Renewed by Disney+. Collider. April 3, 2021.
  3. Web site: Disney Removes Dozens Of Series From Disney+ & Hulu, Including 'Big Shot', 'Willow', 'Y' & 'Dollface' . Deadline Hollywood . Nellie. Andreeva . May 18, 2023 . May 23, 2023.
  4. Web site: White. Peter. Nat Geo Hands Series Order To Adaptation Of Tom Wolfe's 'The Right Stuff' From Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way – TCA. Deadline Hollywood. February 10, 2019. February 10, 2019. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205232/https://deadline.com/2019/02/nat-geo-the-right-stuff-1202554009/. live.
  5. Web site: 'The Right Stuff' recap: Who is going to be first? ('Kona Kai Séance') . Collect Space . November 18, 2020.
  6. Web site: Andreeva. Nellie. Nat Geo Teams With Leonardo DiCaprio To Adapt 'The Right Stuff' As Scripted Series. Deadline Hollywood. February 11, 2019. July 25, 2017. February 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190212130751/https://deadline.com/2017/07/nat-geo-leonardo-dicaprio-to-adapt-the-right-stuff-scripted-series-1202135804/. live.
  7. Web site: Andreeva. Nellie. August 20, 2020. 'The Right Stuff': Nat Geo's Mercury 7 Drama Series Gets Fall Premiere Date On Disney+ – Update. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205205/https://deadline.com/2020/08/the-right-stuff-nat-geo-mercury-7-drama-series-moves-disney-plus-fall-premiere-national-geographic-patrick-j-adams-and-jake-mcdorman-1202923041/. November 15, 2020. August 20, 2020. Deadline. en.
  8. Web site: Disney 's 'The Right Stuff' to Film in San Diego For Season 2. November 21, 2020. NBC 7 San Diego. November 20, 2020 . en-US.
  9. Web site: Andreeva . Nellie . 'The Right Stuff' Canceled By Disney+ After One Season, Shopped By Warner Bros. TV . . April 3, 2021 . April 3, 2021.
  10. Web site: Patrick J. Adams To Star As John Glenn In Nat Geo Astronaut Drama Series 'The Right Stuff'. Andreeva. Nellie. May 31, 2019. Deadline. en. May 31, 2019. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205240/https://deadline.com/2019/05/patrick-j-adams-star-john-glenn-the-right-stuff-nat-geo-astronaut-drama-series-tom-wolfe-book-national-geographic-leonardo-dicaprio-apian-way-1202624981/. live.
  11. Web site: The Right Stuff: Jake McDorman, GoT Alum Board Nat Geo's NASA Series. June 14, 2019. June 15, 2019. lannucci. Rebecca. TVLine. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205206/https://tvline.com/2019/06/14/the-right-stuff-jake-mcdorman-joe-dempsie-nat-geo-series-cast/. live.
  12. Web site: 'The Right Stuff': Colin O'Donoghue To Star In Nat Geo Series In Recasting. Petski. Denise. July 12, 2019. Deadline. en. July 12, 2019. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205203/https://deadline.com/2019/07/the-right-stuff-colin-odonoghue-star-nat-geo-series-recasting-1202645692/. live.
  13. Web site: 'The Right Stuff': Eric Ladin, Patrick Fischler, Nora Zehetner, Eloise Mumford, Shannon Lucio & Josh Cooke Cast In Nat Geo Series. Andreeva. Nellie. June 21, 2019. Deadline. en. June 21, 2019. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205201/https://deadline.com/2019/06/the-right-stuff-eric-ladin-patrick-fischler-nora-zehetner-cast-nat-geo-series-1202636332/. live.
  14. Web site: Danny Strong Joins Nat Geo's 'Right Stuff' Series (Exclusive). Porter. Rick. August 19, 2019. The Hollywood Reporter. en. August 19, 2019. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205230/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/danny-strong-joins-nat-geos-right-stuff-series-1232948. live.
  15. Web site: Maas. Jennifer. Mamie Gummer Joins Leonardo DiCaprio's Nat Geo Series 'The Right Stuff' (Exclusive). The Wrap. November 29, 2019. November 29, 2019. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205205/https://www.thewrap.com/the-right-stuff-mamie-gummer-leonardo-dicaprio-nat-geo-series/. live.
  16. Web site: The Right Stuff: Season 1 (2020). live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205209/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_right_stuff/s01. November 15, 2020. June 12, 2021. Rotten Tomatoes.
  17. Web site: The Right Stuff: Season 1. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205209/https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-right-stuff-2020/season-1. November 15, 2020. November 20, 2020. Metacritic.
  18. Web site: Roeper . Richard . October 9, 2020 . 'The Right Stuff': New series parties with the dashing men of Mercury Seven . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205215/https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2020/10/7/21505189/the-right-stuff-review-disneytv-nasa-mercury-seven-space-john-glenn . November 15, 2020 . October 10, 2020 . The Chicago Sun Times.
  19. Sepinwall . Alan . October 8, 2020 . 'The Right Stuff': An Iconic Space Story That Never Takes Flight . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205210/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-reviews/right-stuff-national-geographic-disney-review-1072174/ . November 15, 2020 . October 10, 2020 . Rolling Stone.
  20. Web site: Anderson . John . October 8, 2020 . 'The Right Stuff' Review: A Space Race Re-Entry . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205248/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-right-stuff-review-a-space-race-re-entry-11602189591 . November 15, 2020 . October 10, 2020 . The Wall Street Journal.
  21. Web site: 2020-10-09 . The Right Stuff review – Disney dazzles with Mad Men ... in space . 2022-05-25 . The Guardian . en.
  22. Web site: The Right Stuff TV Review Common Sense Media . 2022-05-25 . www.commonsensemedia.org . en.
  23. Web site: Framke. Caroline. October 9, 2020. 'The Right Stuff' Is a Solid, Unremarkable Version of Space Stories Past: TV Review. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205246/https://variety.com/2020/tv/reviews/the-right-stuff-review-disney-plus-nat-geo-1234796514/. November 15, 2020. October 10, 2020. Variety.
  24. Web site: Dent. Alec. October 10, 2020. 'The Right Stuff' Fails to Live Up to the Legacy of the Works That Came Before. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115205213/https://thedispatch.com/p/the-right-stuff-fails-to-live-up. November 15, 2020. October 10, 2020. The Dispatch.
  25. Web site: 2021-03-01 . 'News of the World,' 'Sound of Metal' Lead Motion Picture Sound Editors Nominations . 2022-05-25 . en-US.

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