I absolutely despise Family Guy and its subsidiaries. But I decided to give The Orville a fair shot. It seemed tonally confused at first, but I’m starting to get into it. The humor is welcome at this point because, let’s face it, those 90s Trek shows were awfully self-important.
As a Trek show, I’d say it’s better than “Dowager” or “Emptyprize.” As a comedic science fiction show, it’s not fit to kiss the heels of “Red Dwarf.”
It’s crazy how many RLM clones there are these days. And so many dorky white dudes explaining film to us a la “every frame a painting”, only less convincingly.
McFarlane puzzles me. Really talented, seems really educated. His Twitter feeds suggests someone into social justice. I liked his Cosmos reboot. But man, the characters on his cartoons are repugnant, and the scripts seems to go out of their way to bring out the worst in them.
The Orville? Go figure, I am really enjoying it. Get past the dick jokes, and there’s a decency and humanity there, and some genuinely good Sci-Fi plots.
Orville: It is TNG with dick jokes. But it is FIRST SEASON TNG with dick jokes. A lot of the Orville episodes that try and be extra-serious are exceptionally highly telegraphed dreck. But it does seem to be finding its footing.
STD: WHY DOES NOBODY EVER TALK ABOUT THIS MAGIC TELEPORT THOUSANDS OF LIGHT YEARS TECHNOLOGY EVER AGAIN.
TNG wasn’t afraid to go for laughs from time to time.
Also, everybody who has ever watched an episode of star trek ever should read this.
Years later, that still cracks me up…
I watched Star Trek Voyager the other day to see how it compared to Discovery. It was awful!
So wooden and clunky. Cant believe I used to watch it.
Id better go see this new comedy one now to compare.
All of it? In one day? Or just a few episodes? Cause it’s like seven seasons or something…
Having just wrapped it up, I think it had some strong stories, but some real clunkers too.
But also, Seven of Nine was kind of great…
BB should be embarrassed by the clickbaity title, almost as embarrassed as I am for clicking on said bait.
ST:D is not only good, it is clearly better than The TOSier Orville – and ST:D is smart enough to keep Brannon Braga far away from it, unlike Orville. And both are miles better than ENT was. It started out shaky, but given the turmoil over delays and Fuller leaving it could have been a jumbled mess. Still, the Klingons could speak a little faster instead of drunkenly meandering through every sentence like they were pulled over on New Year’s Eve.
Look, the Orville, and it’s…serviceable. I’m okay with some jokiness in my sci-fi (hello “The Trouble With Tribbles”), but the Orville has a tonal problem. And not just the comedy elements – the theocratic space dinghy episode was nearly crushed beneath MacFarlane’s heavy hand. TOS got away with it (mostly) because of the Shakespearean acting tone. The sitcom acting of The Orville gives its serious elements A Very Special Episode feel.
However, I think most of these problems with it could be resolved by a deeper writer’s room.
i’m pretty sure he hasn’t been involved with Family guy for years, basically only popping in to do the voices.
Pre-Cancelation Family Guy is pretty good though and American Dad is great.
I couldn’t bother to finish STD. Did they ever find the light switch for their ship? Because it’s winter over here and the last thing I need is watching a show in the dark.
They just had to work out the kinks as the show went in to production, like I doubt anyone thought Bortus would be so funny on paper.
I really don’t get it. Huge Trek fan, and I’m going through my second viewing of all the series in chronological order (around S5 DS9, and S3 VOY). A few people recommended Orville to me, so I saw the first 5ish episodes. I thought it was awful. I’m not saying it didn’t have any redeeming qualities, as there were many bits of humor or character that I really appreciated. But overall, it was extremely unfunny in a way that relied on outdated jokes and punching down, “bro” humor, or literally explaining gags to the audience.
Example: First episode has a scene where they’re using the bridge comm to talk to a scientist about a problem. As soon as the screen comes up, 2/3 of the display is taken up by a dog fervently licking its genitals which goes on for the whole call. It’s SUPER obvious, everyone on the bridge is reacting to it with various emotions, and we the audience can’t possibly miss it. Call ends, and we full cut to the navigators, one turns to the other and says something like “Did you see that dog going to town?” and the other kind of laughs “hah yeah.” FULL CUT/WIPE to the next scene. I was dumbfounded at that point.
Or when captain Macfarlane is checking out his new crew, meets a member of a “male only” race, which gears me up for some interesting sci-fi. Cool! We’re going to get into some gender stuff. “Guess you don’t have to worry about leaving the seat up” says punchable fuckwit Captain Seth. HAHAHAHAHA BECAUSE WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT AND PEE SITTING DOWN BECAUSE VAGINAS HAHAHA
I kept at it for episodes, drudging through this kind of insulting garbage for each of the little bits of glimmering, silly and surreal humor that do scatter the scripts. The heart of each episode’s story is classic Trek, which I really appreciate, but it’s bogged down in jokes that rely on sexism, racism, and other gross elements to get a yuk. And having to watch the two main human characters interact, who are exes that are arguing all the time (while still harboring feelings for each other, beyond any shred of reason), is a complete chore. No thanks. I can get why people enjoy it, and as I said there a number of positives to the show. And as mentioned by others above, like @Bemopolis, I’m sure some refocusing and serious writer’s room or network notes upgrades could really turn it into a better situation. As of now though, there’s not enough good to outweigh the “ew”.
Discovery has many flaws, but it doesn’t revel in those flaws. I didn’t like Discovery at first, but I’m 100% on board as of the end of this mid-season.
I love the idea of comedic Star Trek – I loved Galaxy Quest. But McFarlane’s idea of humor and mine seem to be quite different.
agreed
I too wish the uniforms on STD were better
I’ve only watched a couple of episodes of The Orville… I like the plots and some of the characters, but the humour I do not get. It takes me out of the suspension of disbelief. ITA about Burnham and Saru, I hope it gets as good as DS9. (Bashir and Garak: OTP 
)
Orville has Adrianne Palicki. She’s hot, has done light comedy, action and SF. (My libido makes for interesting TV watching choices. “Victoria” with Jenna Coleman being the most out there) The production design, costumes and makeup are a little cheesy but not annoying.
I hate the production design of ST: Discovery intensely. Klingons look like they came out of the scribblings of a 12 year old in 1994 and talk like they are swimming in molasses. But it does have Rainn Wilson as a humorous recurring villain.
I enjoy Orville more, but still watch ST: Discovery because there are good elements there, but they are buried deep by constraints of being a Star Trek property.
Its like the differences between The Walking Dead and Z-Nation. One I watch out of obligation and desperately look for something to enjoy about, the other I watch as just stupid fun brain candy.
A. the correct abbreviation is DSC or DIS. Calling the show STD shows a complete lack of respect for Trek
B. We don’t know yet why the Spore Drive is not used later. Clearly that is going to be part of the story.
I really like the Orville and do not care for Discovery.
I do not think they are the same thing whatsoever though, beyond both being Sci-Fi.
