Ah, the 60s: when men were men, women were kind of around somewhere, and rockets were firing at the stars. Sharp suit and aerospace fans can get a jolt in the history of space racing and mid-century Americana in The Right Stuff, a new television drama on Disney Plus that tells the story of the first American astronauts.
The new series was produced by National Geographic and is based on the 1979 bestselling nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe, which revealed the life and love of the Mercury 7, the all-American test pilots who sped the Russians into space. Right Stuff's release date is Friday October 9th on Disney Plus, starting with the first two episodes, followed by a new episode every week.
The show begins in the early morning hours of May 5, 1961. Unable to sleep, two square-jawed flyboys pound the track in the pre-dawn darkness - until one zooms past the other. These guys are in a nutshell: No matter what they do, they want to go faster. Or more precisely, they want to be as fast as possible.
Tensions between the two are revealed during their steak breakfast, tensions that they must put aside when the historic day begins: a gleaming white rocket crashes into a cloudless Florida sky ready to launch the first American into space. But even if the mission is a success, they still stand behind the Russians ...
These are the stipulated stakes. We then limited ourselves to 1959 when we introduced America's elite military test pilots, a cocky cadre of flyboys and playboys dedicated to "drinking, flying, and screwing." If there's one thing they like more than flying too fast and cheating on their wives, it's the best of the best, so they all take the chance to try something called NASA.
Wolfe's book on the Mercury Astronauts Project was previously filmed as an epic 1983 film directed by Philip Kaufman, a must-have watch for anyone interested in extraordinary true stories. But that's not the only reason Nat Geo's new TV version feels familiar, though the credits explicitly state that it is based on both the 1983 film's script and the book. It sounds familiar to me because this is a period in history that has been dismantled many times.
You know the drill: slim ties and vintage music on the jukebox. Short sleeves and cigarettes in Mission Control. Immaculately coiffed women who open the doors of their suburban houses to lightbulbs bursting on their immaculately coiffed lawns. These are scenes that you have previously seen in films and TV shows from Apollo 13 through First man to Hidden figures to the Astronaut Wives Club - it's such a worn area that we even developed alternate versions of the story on the Apple TV Plus show For all of humanity. So the biggest question with this new version of The Right Stuff is whether it presents enough New Stuff.
2018's First Man was one fresh perspective on the well-known story of the first moon landing by locking us up in Neil Armstrong's cockpit and giving us an often terrifying first-person look at the bone-shaking, nerve-wracking experience of escaping Earth. The Right Stuff is less interested in the mechanics of space travel (at least in the first few episodes) and instead focuses on the astronauts themselves. Given the length of a TV show season, we spend more time with the group of pilots who become one Develop rat pack in the space age. Her legendary test pilot boast was tested by newfound fame and unexpected political pressure. It's more like Mad Men than First Man in that these seasoned but deeply flawed characters, these outdated men, are transported into a changing age.
Because even if it isn't new to anyone who knows its story, The Right Stuff is still an inherently dramatic story. You're the first astronaut, for Pete's sake.
Within the group, the main source of tension is the clash between John Glenn and the cheerful Philanderer Alan Shepard. Glenn is portrayed as sincere yet ruthlessly ambitious, not afraid of being in the spotlight and happy to do so because his life and family are so healthy. Shepard, meanwhile, grumbles against fame because his chaotic private life is just the opposite. In between stands Gordon Cooper, who is shaken by the death of a colleague and forced to keep the collapse of his marriage a secret from the world. These men form a microcosm of American society, family and masculinity under strain, with the added stake that any of them could become legends or be torn to pieces at any time.
Suit star Patrick J. Adams has plenty of screen time as Glenn, even though Jake McDorman - star of the Limitless TV show - steals the show as the brutal Shepard. It's difficult to largely evaluate the other protoastronauts as they all look exactly the same, even though Michael Trotter gets a ton of miles out of the tight-mouthed Gus Grissom. In the 1983 film, these lead roles were played by Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid and Fred Ward - big shoes to fill.
Among the seven, you can spot Mad Men star Aaron Staton as Wally Schirra. Borrowing something from Mad Men's luster is a dangerous game, however, as pretty much every other TV show suffers in comparison. The Right Stuff just isn't as subtle or refined or as devastatingly analytical as Mad Men. And despite its title, Mad Men triumphed when it wasn't about men because the female characters were just as interesting and flawed as their male counterparts. The Right Stuff spends little time with the women in its history - and while the boys all look the same, the girls look the same too.
On the other hand, it's perfect for anyone who enjoyed the look but thought Mad Men was too slow. The Right Stuff shoots for the stars with the cars, clothes and music - just the thing from the 60s for those who love a touch of space age glamor on their TV.
