The Right Stuff (TV series)

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. Show financier Warner Bros. Television is looking to shop the series to other networks.

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

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."

Main

 * Jake McDorman as Alan Shepard
 * Patrick J. Adams as John Glenn
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Gordon Cooper
 * James Lafferty as Scott Carpenter
 * Aaron Staton as Wally Schirra
 * Michael Trotter as Gus Grissom
 * Micah Stock as Deke Slayton
 * Eric Ladin as Chris Kraft
 * Patrick Fischler as Bob Gilruth
 * Nora Zehetner as Annie Glenn
 * Eloise Mumford as Trudy Cooper
 * Jackson Pace as Glynn Lunney
 * Shannon Lucio as Louise Shepard

Recurring

 * Sacha Seberg as Wernher Von Braun
 * Jordan Woods-Robinson as Mike Turley
 * Rachel Burttram as Betty Grissom
 * Jade Albany Pietrantonio as Rene Carpenter
 * Laura Ault as Jo Schirra
 * Chandler Head as Cam Cooper
 * Lucy Capri as Janita Cooper
 * Taegan Burns as Laura Shepard
 * Avery Burns as Julie Shepard
 * Kyra Johnson as Lyn Glenn
 * David Bolinger as David Glenn
 * Victoria White as Marge Slayton
 * Christopher Cassarino as Henri Landwirth
 * Mamie Gummer as Jerrie Cobb
 * Kaley Ronayne as Dee O'Hara
 * Josh Cooke as Loudon Wainwright Jr.
 * Danny Strong as John A. Powers
 * Jordan Blair Mangold Brown as Eunice
 * Elizabeth D'Onofrio as Doris

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.

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.

The series premiered on October 9, 2020. 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. However, on April 3, 2021, it was announced that Disney+ had canceled the series due to a change in NatGeo's programming focus. Show financier Warner Bros. Television is looking to shop the series to other networks such as TNT and HBO Max.

Casting
On May 31, 2019, Patrick J. Adams had been cast in the series lead role of John Glenn. On June 14, 2019, Jake McDorman and Colin O'Donoghue 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. On August 19, 2019, Danny Strong was cast as NASA Spokesman John A. "Shorty" Powers. On November 29, 2019, Mamie Gummer was cast as "Mercury 13" astronaut hopeful, Jerrie Cobb.

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." On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

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." 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." Wall Street Journal reviewer John Anderson described the show as "a perfectly serviceable drama about a rococo period of American history." 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." 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."

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." 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."