The Right Stuff

[Nick]

There's been talk of this show in the D+ thread, figured i'd make a thread for the show itself since a trailer and release date have been announced:


Also, just a fun little anecdote about this still from the trailer. This is literally just Sound Stage 19 at USF in a fairly barren state. They painted the walls and floor and put some set dressing up, but to save money, they actually used the look of the sound stage as the look of a NASA facility. The shot used here in the trailer seems fairly sloppy as this vantage point only helps to outline how low-budget this series was.

 

[GAcoaster]

Looking forward to this one, if for no other reason than to see local places used in the shoot.

 

[Nick]

Looking forward to this one, if for no other reason than to see local places used in the shoot.

To my knowledge (basically the stuff I was contacted for for extra/Stand-in work), the Space Coast, Downtown Winter Garden, Downtown Orlando (I believe they filmed at a bar and did exterior here), Ocala International Airport and Lakeland (Fantasy of Flight), and Schwab’s Pharmacy @ USF were all locations they filmed at and im sure there was more. The PAs I would talk to said they had been all over Central Florida.

The interiors for the most part were filmed at USF on SS 19, 20, 21 and they did some work with the DAVE school in 25. Because Universal didn’t have any other open soundstages at the time last year due to HHN and Grinchmas, they also filmed at one of Full Sail‘s Stage.

Was definitely a fun time doing both this and HHN at the same time last year. I only worked on the back half of the production though so like I said, there’s probably a ton of other locations.

 

[Nick]

Here’s a good article on the show’s filming on Florida with one of the executive producers, where she also talks about a Season 2 being in the works:

“The Right Stuff” astronauts to launch on Disney+ - Naples Florida Weekly

Florida was smack dab in the middle of a competition to be the world’s leader in space exploration. The year was 1959 and the best astronauts our nation had to offer launched to our state to be considered for the first man-in-space United States Mercury program. Those who had the right stuff...

naples.floridaweekly.com

The first two episodes come out on Friday.

 

[Nick]

The Right Stuff had it's "Red Carpet" premiere tonight as a part of an event Disney+ is holding at a Drive-in in California over the next week.

 

[Nick]

Reviews starting to come in and unfortunately, they aren't all that good. Consensus is more or less that it's not necessarily bad, but it doesn't use the 8 hour run-time to it's advantage and only explores the surface level of the characters more or less. The writing seems to be a weak spot as pointed out by many reviews.

 

[belloq87]

I plan to check this out once a few episodes are available.

It is disappointing to hear that they've apparently abandoned the Chuck Yeager material, which is kind of important stuff in the Wolfe book.

 

[Nick]

I plan to check this out once a few episodes are available.

Two episodes were released today, so if you wait a few weeks, you’ll have a half the season or so to watch already.

I watched the first two episodes tonight and I enjoyed it. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it truly just feels fresh for Disney+. It’s very unlike any other show on the service, simply by being a serious drama.

It tries to stick fairly close to true events and delving into the lives of the Mercury 7, mostly focusing on John Glenn, Alan Shepard, and Gordo Cooper. A big problem I had though was that our 7 main players all look, dress and talk the same. You can look at the time period and say there just wasn’t a ton of diversity then, but that’s not the issue. The issue is in the writing and also in the costume design, partly. Sure, they wore suits, but they don’t need to all look so vanilla.

Overall though, it’s an easy watch, not kiddy, and not boring, and I’m looking forward to where the show goes next week.

It is disappointing to hear that they've apparently abandoned the Chuck Yeager material.

Yeager doesn’t really enter in until 1962. This season ends in 1961. Based on what I’ve heard, he’s a central figure in their Season 2 plans, should the show be renewed.

 

[Nick]

A documentary showing footage of what actually happened is dropping on Disney+ on November 20th. This is much more in NatGeo’s wheelhouse than a drama series.

 

[Nick]

The Right Stuff got picked up for a second season, and unfortunately for Florida film, it will be moving to California for production.

 

[Nick]

I finally finished out this season and i'll say this show would've been better as a binge rather than week to week. It didn't have my interest *enough* to make me watch each episode each week and after awhile, I just decided to wait until all episodes were released so I could binge. I feel like I enjoyed it much more watching it that way. This is a show based on a book that already has a movie based on the same book. It's not like the show benefits from the weekly release format as it's fairly straight forward, dramatized retelling of historical events. It was a good, if slightly bland show. We'll see what a second season brings. Looks like The astronaut wives story is being woven in though.

So that's something I kind of wish the second season would change. Or maybe at least release in batches of 4 over a period of 2 weeks? Disney+ is going to have to change it's release strategy eventually once more content is rolling in. Oh yeah, and like, why the hell does Disney+ drop new episodes at 3am Eastern? There's tons of people that stay up late just to watch The Mandalorian and will do the same for WandaVision. Make it easier and release episodes during prime time on Thursdays. Maybe 10pm EST/7pm PST?

 

[belloq87]

Make it easier and release episodes during prime time on Thursdays. Maybe 10pm EST/7pm PST?

That's absolutely what they should do. Gives them the chance to let talk about the episode dominate online conversation for Friday and then into the weekend.

Planning on binging THE RIGHT STUFF after the holiday season.

 

[Nick]

After a Season 2 seemed to be in the works for this show, Disney+ made the decision to cancel the show last night. This is a Warner owned show, so WarnerHorizon TV is shopping it around to either a network or possibly HBO Max to continue on with the second season.

I was actually surprised that they were seemingly going forward with a new season since it never seemed the show had much viewership. I think the show releasing when it did hurt it. It was before Mando 2, WV and FatWS. Disney+ was just coming out of their drought of content with this show, but it was more like an FX show, meaning it had a more limited appeal and probably would've done better on Hulu, imo. If they had released this season now on Disney+ with over 100M subs and people actually looking for that new content, I think it would've done well.

‘The Right Stuff’ Canceled By Disney+ After One Season, Shopped By Warner Bros. TV

EXCLUSIVE: Disney+ has opted not to order a second season of space race series The Right Stuff. The Mercury 7 period drama, starring Patrick J. Adams and Jake McDorman, originated at National Geogr…

deadline.com