8 ms·

“The Orville” is on a smoother trajectory, with just a bit of turbulence

90 points by curtis 9y ago

jrnichols 9y ago
Good write up. Some of the jokes are a little silly, but so far this has been my favorite new show of the year.
- curtis 9y ago
  They spend some part of every episode hamming it up, so you have to allow for that. On the other hand, this show is very much (Star Trek the Next Generation) the Next Generation.
okonomiyaki3000 9y ago
Gave up halfway through the second episode. Has so much changed since then? Did they fire the entire writing staff? Was MacFarlane visited by magical elves who bestowed upon him the ability to act just a little bit? Is there a new joke other than "get this! the first officer is his ex-wife!" which they apparently came up with while high and thought it was funny enough to carry an entire series?
- rdruxn 9y ago
  It has gotten significantly better and a number of episodes have honest, Trekkian approaches to moral dilemmas.
  - Waterluvian 9y ago
    It feels like they realised that their original plan for a show wasn't working and very intentionally began to pivot.
    - foobarbecue 9y ago
      i.e. it's not a comedy any more?
      - Jtsummers 9y ago
        The early episodes seemed equal parts comedy and science fiction. The later episodes have turned into science fiction with some comedy. The antagonism between the captain and commander about the relationship was mostly toned down until an episode where it was actually appropriate.
      - JBlue42 9y ago
        It was sold as a comedy but never seemed to attempt it. It's a pretty direct Trek rip-off but HAS gotten significantly better since the first few episodes. Not part of the great television trend, just moved from 2/5 to 3/5 in approach and quality.
    - TheCoelacanth 9y ago
      Or they started off with something that was easier to sell to TV execs and then pivoted to what they actually wanted to make after a few episodes.
- foobarbecue 9y ago
  Me too. Well, I finished the second episode and vowed not to give it a third chance unless someone I trusted put a lot of effort into convincing me. It seemed like they set out to parody Star Trek but instead they just made an inferior copy of it. In those two episodes I remember about five "ughs" and one laugh.
  - curtis 9y ago
    Despite the silly (terrible?) humor, it is clearly not intended to be a parody. "Inferior copy" is more accurate, but having seen 11 episodes now, I'd say that it's only a little bit inferior, not a lot. It seems that the people involved really loved Star Trek: The Next Generation. (Keep in mind that Star Trek TNG was pretty spotty the first season, itself.) If the humor is just not your thing, then you made the right call to abandon it in the second episode. On the other hand, the third episode seems to be the first one that people really liked. That one really felt like a TNG episode and the plot had a couple of surprises in it that I think made the story better. It was also kind of heavy-handed, but then none of the Star Trek series were known for subtlety.
  - Veratyr 9y ago
    As someone who was in a similar situation: - I'd skip episode 3. Maybe come back to it later. It's the episode that nearly put me off the series. I think 4 is a fairer episode to judge it by. - It's not a parody of Star Trek and it's not meant to be one. It's more like Seth MacFarlane really wanted to run a Star Trek show and couldn't, so made something about as close as he could while still appeasing the networks with some crude humour thrown in. It's not as good as TNG but it's definitely an okay Star Trek at this point. They've toned down the stupid humour and premises from where it started.
- FLUX-YOU 9y ago
  It's becoming a pretty boring source of conflict between the two characters. They should really move away from the dialog potshots/jokes they take at each other, as well as the reconciliation scenes. Seth apparently had to work really hard to get his own The Next Generation show. They wouldn't give him Star Trek, so he had to go write his own. So it's likely to have been played safely. I do hope they get a bit more serious in the second season. Army pranks in space won't last that long either, I don't think.
- ademup 9y ago
  That's very unfortunate. I consider E3 'About a Girl' to be absolutely top notch. At least as good as any TNG episode.
  - Veratyr 9y ago
    Odd, that was the episode that just about made me drop the series. The crew of the Orville was driven by emotion, barely took any time to consider the aliens' point of view, didn't seek any evidence for either side's position and argued their point primarily with logical fallacies ("look, these problems don't exist in other species, so clearly they can't exist in yours"). I don't think this episode could have worked in TNG because the episode would boil down to: "Picard: What evidence do you have to support your beliefs?" "Aliens: Uhh, why do we need evidence, clearly it is this way?" "Picard: Let's find some evidence" It had its upsides for sure but it's definitely not comparable to TNG.
    - ademup 9y ago
      (spoiler alert!) The premise IS an emotional one. The entire construct of the episode is to find a place where logic doesn't rule the day(gender issues are, today, far from solved). Indeed, The Orville crew LOST the fight in the end, so... Your point is solidly made, and the episode agreed with you. In what way is that not freek'n awesome?
      - Veratyr 9y ago
        My main problem is that, driven by emotion, the crew attempted to make a _logical_ argument, substantially based on fallacy ("these other species don't have this attribute you claim you have, so you mustn't either"). Their ultimate argument was, in the end, a pretty solid one, based on real evidence, however they didn't seem to bother looking for evidence until the very end, when all other avenues were exhausted. It wasn't a rational way to behave and I don't think this would have ever happened in TNG (did it? An episode doesn't come to mind). In TNG, Data would also have found the whole thing very confusing and grounded the crew somewhat. Isaac was notably absent in this episode. The ending was interesting and I think this episode could have been _much_ better if the rest of it was handled better but the irrational behaviour of the crew was so bad it broke the suspension of disbelief for me. I may be naïve to think I can do better but I'd do it something like this: - Crew asks, in a great deal of detail, what exactly the aliens believe the problem is and why they believe it's there - Aliens respond with their concerns and that they are primarily based on custom/legend and there is no modern evidence - Crew asks if it would be possible to gather evidence - Aliens say no - Crew tries to justify their search for evidence with the arguments presented in the episode as it was originally written - Aliens rightly point out that those arguments are invalid, continue to say no - Crew gathers evidence on their own, sneaking around and maybe getting in a bit of diplomatic trouble - Crew finds evidence, makes argument - Argument is overruled, episode keeps its nice ending
simcop2387 9y ago
This article I doesn't take into the most recent episode which makes a good attempt at addressing the concerns that the author has about lemarr and yaphit. I'd be interesting in an update about how the author thinks it affects the series. Imo it was possible that best episode of the series.
- pspeter3 9y ago
  Yeah, I really appreciated it as well.
jv22222 9y ago
I really like this show. I think with TNG you also had to put up with a few episodes that were not to your personal taste. This feels like a revitalised version of TNG, with some humorus quirks, to me.
djroomba 9y ago
Shockingly, It's a better Star Trek than STD. Im really enjoying it.
- dvtv75 9y ago
  This is something I'm quite pleased about - I'm really enjoying Discovery, because it's not the same as Enterprise and Voyager were. (Can't stand Voyager, I stopped watching when I saw the pattern in how it was going to play out in every episode.) To me, The Orville is more like the better "light" TNG episodes, and happily it doesn't put much work into looking at the ethics of a situation unlike some TNG episodes. My prime example is the doctor's actions against her captor in episode 8 - I thought they were going to court martial her and remove what I feel to be the most 2D character from the show.
- insickness 9y ago
  Agreed. Interesting how on Metacritic the critics panned The Orville and Loved Star Trek Discovery while the users loved the Orville and panned Star Trek Discovery.
  - dirtbox 9y ago
    To be fair, the first season of TNG fared worse. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_the_next_generation/s01/ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_the_next_generat... https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery/s01 https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery/s01
    - coderdude 9y ago
      The first season of any show is usually pretty bad compared to later episodes. Season one of South Park is unwatchable. Season one of TNG was so corny. Episodes like The Naked Now are hard to watch.
- untog 9y ago
  Eh. It's better at aping Star Trek than Discovery, but it's not Star Trek (and aping isn't what Discovery set out to do). Personally I'm glad both exist. The Orville feels like a retro trip to an older time, and Discovery feels like a new take. Both worthwhile. (though my personal theory is that Seth McFarlane wouldn't have made it a comedy if he has a choice, but it's the only way Fox would let him do the show)
pupppet 9y ago
I’m enjoying The Orville but a series without an overarching storyline feels pretty dated.
- ademup 9y ago
  I love the 'new trend' of 10 episode story archs... And I find The Orville's return to single-episode stories to be extremely refreshing.
- ravenstine 9y ago
  The modern cliche of long story arcs and backstories is much worse than the "dated" approach of episodic storytelling. I'd rather put up with some "meh" episodes and see some really fantastic ones than binge watch some long-winded drama that has little payoff.
  - megy 9y ago
    I disagree, but different people like different things.
    - ravenstine 9y ago
      I can't argue with that. I did used to prefer longer story arcs, at least in concept, but over time I've realized it's become a facilitator of lazy story writing. It takes a lot of tact to wrap on up an idea into an episode or two, and I think that's a good constraint for writers to have, whereas a story arc spanning multiple seasons can quickly turn into a bait and switch. I've seen too many arcs start with interesting concepts that get dragged out to a point where they completely trail off, leaving me wondering why I'm still watching. Modern TV can be a lot like the ol' boiling a frog in a pot of water. Only it's not so much people are getting hurt as their time is getting wasted. It's not that I don't appreciate arcs, and I know why people want continuity, but too much continuity over concrete ideas has lead me to leaving my TV mostly off this last year.
- pronoiac 9y ago
  Tastes vary. With Ghosted, the lack of a mythology or arc was refreshing.
bsparker 9y ago
Its a really good show.
ocdtrekkie 9y ago
The Orville and Star Trek Discovery are... both excellent, and both very different types of television. The author is on point with most of his criticisms here, the anachronistic jokes ruin the mood of the show. Really weird seeing an opinion blog on a scifi show frontpaging on HN though. Definitely the sort of thing you only really see here on a weekend.
ladberg 9y ago
Am I the only one who likes Malloy? The Avis/Hertz thing was incredibly anachronistic and hard to believe for someone who can't remember what the US capital was, but I didn't mind because it was hilarious. However, the LeMarr humping scene was too far and I wish they could have come up with some other reason for him the get arrested.
- dbg31415 9y ago
  I liked the practical joke bit.
- theluketaylor 9y ago
  I was annoyed by all of Malloy's current references until I saw a fan theory he is a time traveller from the 21st century. Now I'm desperate for it to be true.
- Mountain_Skies 9y ago
  LeMarr's sometimes oafish behavior has been a bit one dimensional but was well explained in this week's episode. Even though each episode stands on its own, they're doing a nice job on character development.
asdjasldkjkljd 9y ago
I am so bummed about ST:D, it's a good space drama but it's just not Star Trek to me — feels more like The Expanse. I avoided The Orville for a while as it was panned pretty hard initially, but it's definitely more in line with the Star Trek I know and love.
exodust 9y ago
I love the balance of humour and story, and don't agree the jokes are terrible. To say that is to not get it. The momentary comedy is subtle and light without breaking the flow of drama. It's only 400 years in the future, there's no "beam me up" tech yet, and people are still flawed and "Earthy". I like this aspect, which is reflected in the jokes... "Our last captain let us have soda on the bridge, and I just wanted to check that was still okay"... "Sure, if you don't spill any on the equipment". The jokes come and go in the blink of an eye. They are not meant to be killer jokes, it's just a nice unpretentious segway from the main action. This for me, is a "maturity" in Macfarlane's style - not leaning too heavily on brute force humour or scene-stealing punch lines. There's an efficiency in the writing I appreciate. Each character has individual expression, and each episode is quite unique - different directors are behind each episode. Overall there's quite exciting action and suspense at times, it's highly enjoyable and looks sharp.
- megy 9y ago
  > "Our last captain let us have soda on the bridge, and I just wanted to check that was still okay"... "Sure, if you don't spill any on the equipment". I wouldn't even count that as a joke.
  - exodust 9y ago
    In the context of formally meeting his senior officers for the first time, and this being the only question raised by the officer, it is amusing. If you're after "ba-dum-tssh" one-liners maybe it's not for you.
andrew_wc_brown 9y ago
I think the show has excellent character building which makes you invested in the show. Giving them backstories, intertwining their relationships. There's no waste is this this show. Dann who appears as a background character and brought in for one off jokes, I'm expecting them to elevate round out his character. The reviewer validates same thoughts I have. Seth McFarlene weakens his own show being captain. The bet jokes are the ones not thrown in your face. Sometimes the setup of the show feels forced, and they are playing star trek. I'll take what I can get.
daemonhunter 9y ago
This seems to be one of the more negative opinions. Its in the top 4 or 5 Star Trek series IMO. Individually, in my book, some of the episodes rank with the best Science Fiction. Everyone will have their own opinion but here is what I think the best episodes have been so far. ep 4 - "If the Stars Should Appear" ep 5 - "Pria" ep 10 - "Firestorm" ep 11 - "New Dimensions"
abritinthebay 9y ago
So I take it that this show gets better? I watched the first episode and it came across as trying WAY too hard. Very patchy and uneven tone, and the best jokes weren’t the direct lines but the asides or concept jokes (like the super nice Orc, vs the Dog Humping) Worth me watching a few more?
- outworlder 9y ago
  Yes. It is very rare that initial episodes of any new series are good. TNG was atrocious. In the case of The Orville, there was way too much humor, specially in the first episode. Now it's trending more to a sporadic, comedic relief at times, instead of a full blown comedy. IMHO, they seem to be much closer to finding the sweet spot now. The latest one was a great sci fi episode (even if the premise was nothing new), but still managed to deliver a few good jokes. Well, that assumes you are ok with shows that don't take themselves seriously all the friggin time. The Orville is supposed to be crewed by a B team, they are not the flagship.
  - abritinthebay 9y ago
    Right, series take time to find their feet, I get that. My concern was more than the fundamental direction was flawed. Sounds like they worked out a balance (or it at least got better). Will attempt some more episodes.
- megy 9y ago
  No. To present a dissenting view, I think there are better episodes, but all your points still seem to hit every episode.
  - abritinthebay 9y ago
    If they get better it may be ok, but it was just too much. As I said - trying too hard
megy 9y ago
Eh, I do not like this show. It is very similar to TNG, which might have worked in the 90s, but I expect better story telling these days. And the Captain isn't very likeable IMHO.
sairamkunala 9y ago
The 'Majority Rule' episode reminded me of Brexit vote.
orionblastar 9y ago
While it is a comedy, if you don't get the jokes, it ends up more like a Star Trek show. I think it is the best Star Trek-like show since Stargate Unvierse. I am watching Star Trek Discovery, and I am confused by the higher tech of the Discovery over the tech used in the Star Trek movies that happen 10 years later. Good fight scenes and battles, but Klingons keep being rebooted in every Star Trek franchise? I am guessing there are like 4 or 5 different types of Klingon races like TOS Klingon-Human fusions, Star Trek TMG/TNG Klingons with bigger forehead ridges, Star Trek Nemesis Romulan-Klingon hybrids created with cloning, Star Trek Reboot 2009 Klingons, and now Star Trek Discovery Klingons with more ridges (Ruffles joke?) and in black or white skin colors? I wonder what the Commander Worf reboot will look like?
gaspoweredcat 9y ago
"trajectory" "turbulance" please tell me someone has already made an "i wish i could fly" joke, if not im sure Keith Harris is turning in his grave

90 points by curtis 9y ago

jrnichols 9y ago

Good write up. Some of the jokes are a little silly, but so far this has been my favorite new show of the year.

curtis 9y ago
They spend some part of every episode hamming it up, so you have to allow for that. On the other hand, this show is very much (Star Trek the Next Generation) the Next Generation.

okonomiyaki3000 9y ago

Gave up halfway through the second episode. Has so much changed since then? Did they fire the entire writing staff? Was MacFarlane visited by magical elves who bestowed upon him the ability to act just a little bit? Is there a new joke other than "get this! the first officer is his ex-wife!" which they apparently came up with while high and thought it was funny enough to carry an entire series?

rdruxn 9y ago
It has gotten significantly better and a number of episodes have honest, Trekkian approaches to moral dilemmas.
- Waterluvian 9y ago
  It feels like they realised that their original plan for a show wasn't working and very intentionally began to pivot.
  - foobarbecue 9y ago
    i.e. it's not a comedy any more?
    - Jtsummers 9y ago
      The early episodes seemed equal parts comedy and science fiction. The later episodes have turned into science fiction with some comedy. The antagonism between the captain and commander about the relationship was mostly toned down until an episode where it was actually appropriate.
    - JBlue42 9y ago
      It was sold as a comedy but never seemed to attempt it. It's a pretty direct Trek rip-off but HAS gotten significantly better since the first few episodes. Not part of the great television trend, just moved from 2/5 to 3/5 in approach and quality.
  - TheCoelacanth 9y ago
    Or they started off with something that was easier to sell to TV execs and then pivoted to what they actually wanted to make after a few episodes.
foobarbecue 9y ago
Me too. Well, I finished the second episode and vowed not to give it a third chance unless someone I trusted put a lot of effort into convincing me. It seemed like they set out to parody Star Trek but instead they just made an inferior copy of it. In those two episodes I remember about five "ughs" and one laugh.
- curtis 9y ago
  Despite the silly (terrible?) humor, it is clearly not intended to be a parody. "Inferior copy" is more accurate, but having seen 11 episodes now, I'd say that it's only a little bit inferior, not a lot. It seems that the people involved really loved Star Trek: The Next Generation. (Keep in mind that Star Trek TNG was pretty spotty the first season, itself.) If the humor is just not your thing, then you made the right call to abandon it in the second episode. On the other hand, the third episode seems to be the first one that people really liked. That one really felt like a TNG episode and the plot had a couple of surprises in it that I think made the story better. It was also kind of heavy-handed, but then none of the Star Trek series were known for subtlety.
- Veratyr 9y ago
  As someone who was in a similar situation: - I'd skip episode 3. Maybe come back to it later. It's the episode that nearly put me off the series. I think 4 is a fairer episode to judge it by. - It's not a parody of Star Trek and it's not meant to be one. It's more like Seth MacFarlane really wanted to run a Star Trek show and couldn't, so made something about as close as he could while still appeasing the networks with some crude humour thrown in. It's not as good as TNG but it's definitely an okay Star Trek at this point. They've toned down the stupid humour and premises from where it started.
FLUX-YOU 9y ago
It's becoming a pretty boring source of conflict between the two characters. They should really move away from the dialog potshots/jokes they take at each other, as well as the reconciliation scenes. Seth apparently had to work really hard to get his own The Next Generation show. They wouldn't give him Star Trek, so he had to go write his own. So it's likely to have been played safely. I do hope they get a bit more serious in the second season. Army pranks in space won't last that long either, I don't think.
ademup 9y ago
That's very unfortunate. I consider E3 'About a Girl' to be absolutely top notch. At least as good as any TNG episode.
- Veratyr 9y ago
  Odd, that was the episode that just about made me drop the series. The crew of the Orville was driven by emotion, barely took any time to consider the aliens' point of view, didn't seek any evidence for either side's position and argued their point primarily with logical fallacies ("look, these problems don't exist in other species, so clearly they can't exist in yours"). I don't think this episode could have worked in TNG because the episode would boil down to: "Picard: What evidence do you have to support your beliefs?" "Aliens: Uhh, why do we need evidence, clearly it is this way?" "Picard: Let's find some evidence" It had its upsides for sure but it's definitely not comparable to TNG.
  - ademup 9y ago
    (spoiler alert!) The premise IS an emotional one. The entire construct of the episode is to find a place where logic doesn't rule the day(gender issues are, today, far from solved). Indeed, The Orville crew LOST the fight in the end, so... Your point is solidly made, and the episode agreed with you. In what way is that not freek'n awesome?
    - Veratyr 9y ago
      My main problem is that, driven by emotion, the crew attempted to make a _logical_ argument, substantially based on fallacy ("these other species don't have this attribute you claim you have, so you mustn't either"). Their ultimate argument was, in the end, a pretty solid one, based on real evidence, however they didn't seem to bother looking for evidence until the very end, when all other avenues were exhausted. It wasn't a rational way to behave and I don't think this would have ever happened in TNG (did it? An episode doesn't come to mind). In TNG, Data would also have found the whole thing very confusing and grounded the crew somewhat. Isaac was notably absent in this episode. The ending was interesting and I think this episode could have been _much_ better if the rest of it was handled better but the irrational behaviour of the crew was so bad it broke the suspension of disbelief for me. I may be naïve to think I can do better but I'd do it something like this: - Crew asks, in a great deal of detail, what exactly the aliens believe the problem is and why they believe it's there - Aliens respond with their concerns and that they are primarily based on custom/legend and there is no modern evidence - Crew asks if it would be possible to gather evidence - Aliens say no - Crew tries to justify their search for evidence with the arguments presented in the episode as it was originally written - Aliens rightly point out that those arguments are invalid, continue to say no - Crew gathers evidence on their own, sneaking around and maybe getting in a bit of diplomatic trouble - Crew finds evidence, makes argument - Argument is overruled, episode keeps its nice ending

simcop2387 9y ago

This article I doesn't take into the most recent episode which makes a good attempt at addressing the concerns that the author has about lemarr and yaphit. I'd be interesting in an update about how the author thinks it affects the series. Imo it was possible that best episode of the series.

pspeter3 9y ago
Yeah, I really appreciated it as well.

jv22222 9y ago

I really like this show. I think with TNG you also had to put up with a few episodes that were not to your personal taste. This feels like a revitalised version of TNG, with some humorus quirks, to me.

djroomba 9y ago

Shockingly, It's a better Star Trek than STD. Im really enjoying it.

dvtv75 9y ago
This is something I'm quite pleased about - I'm really enjoying Discovery, because it's not the same as Enterprise and Voyager were. (Can't stand Voyager, I stopped watching when I saw the pattern in how it was going to play out in every episode.) To me, The Orville is more like the better "light" TNG episodes, and happily it doesn't put much work into looking at the ethics of a situation unlike some TNG episodes. My prime example is the doctor's actions against her captor in episode 8 - I thought they were going to court martial her and remove what I feel to be the most 2D character from the show.
insickness 9y ago
Agreed. Interesting how on Metacritic the critics panned The Orville and Loved Star Trek Discovery while the users loved the Orville and panned Star Trek Discovery.
- dirtbox 9y ago
  To be fair, the first season of TNG fared worse. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_the_next_generation/s01/ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_the_next_generat... https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery/s01 https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_discovery/s01
  - coderdude 9y ago
    The first season of any show is usually pretty bad compared to later episodes. Season one of South Park is unwatchable. Season one of TNG was so corny. Episodes like The Naked Now are hard to watch.
untog 9y ago
Eh. It's better at aping Star Trek than Discovery, but it's not Star Trek (and aping isn't what Discovery set out to do). Personally I'm glad both exist. The Orville feels like a retro trip to an older time, and Discovery feels like a new take. Both worthwhile. (though my personal theory is that Seth McFarlane wouldn't have made it a comedy if he has a choice, but it's the only way Fox would let him do the show)

pupppet 9y ago

I’m enjoying The Orville but a series without an overarching storyline feels pretty dated.

ademup 9y ago
I love the 'new trend' of 10 episode story archs... And I find The Orville's return to single-episode stories to be extremely refreshing.
ravenstine 9y ago
The modern cliche of long story arcs and backstories is much worse than the "dated" approach of episodic storytelling. I'd rather put up with some "meh" episodes and see some really fantastic ones than binge watch some long-winded drama that has little payoff.
- megy 9y ago
  I disagree, but different people like different things.
  - ravenstine 9y ago
    I can't argue with that. I did used to prefer longer story arcs, at least in concept, but over time I've realized it's become a facilitator of lazy story writing. It takes a lot of tact to wrap on up an idea into an episode or two, and I think that's a good constraint for writers to have, whereas a story arc spanning multiple seasons can quickly turn into a bait and switch. I've seen too many arcs start with interesting concepts that get dragged out to a point where they completely trail off, leaving me wondering why I'm still watching. Modern TV can be a lot like the ol' boiling a frog in a pot of water. Only it's not so much people are getting hurt as their time is getting wasted. It's not that I don't appreciate arcs, and I know why people want continuity, but too much continuity over concrete ideas has lead me to leaving my TV mostly off this last year.
pronoiac 9y ago
Tastes vary. With Ghosted, the lack of a mythology or arc was refreshing.

bsparker 9y ago

Its a really good show.

ocdtrekkie 9y ago

The Orville and Star Trek Discovery are... both excellent, and both very different types of television. The author is on point with most of his criticisms here, the anachronistic jokes ruin the mood of the show. Really weird seeing an opinion blog on a scifi show frontpaging on HN though. Definitely the sort of thing you only really see here on a weekend.

ladberg 9y ago

Am I the only one who likes Malloy? The Avis/Hertz thing was incredibly anachronistic and hard to believe for someone who can't remember what the US capital was, but I didn't mind because it was hilarious. However, the LeMarr humping scene was too far and I wish they could have come up with some other reason for him the get arrested.

dbg31415 9y ago
I liked the practical joke bit.
theluketaylor 9y ago
I was annoyed by all of Malloy's current references until I saw a fan theory he is a time traveller from the 21st century. Now I'm desperate for it to be true.
Mountain_Skies 9y ago
LeMarr's sometimes oafish behavior has been a bit one dimensional but was well explained in this week's episode. Even though each episode stands on its own, they're doing a nice job on character development.

asdjasldkjkljd 9y ago

I am so bummed about ST:D, it's a good space drama but it's just not Star Trek to me — feels more like The Expanse. I avoided The Orville for a while as it was panned pretty hard initially, but it's definitely more in line with the Star Trek I know and love.

exodust 9y ago

I love the balance of humour and story, and don't agree the jokes are terrible. To say that is to not get it. The momentary comedy is subtle and light without breaking the flow of drama. It's only 400 years in the future, there's no "beam me up" tech yet, and people are still flawed and "Earthy". I like this aspect, which is reflected in the jokes... "Our last captain let us have soda on the bridge, and I just wanted to check that was still okay"... "Sure, if you don't spill any on the equipment". The jokes come and go in the blink of an eye. They are not meant to be killer jokes, it's just a nice unpretentious segway from the main action. This for me, is a "maturity" in Macfarlane's style - not leaning too heavily on brute force humour or scene-stealing punch lines. There's an efficiency in the writing I appreciate. Each character has individual expression, and each episode is quite unique - different directors are behind each episode. Overall there's quite exciting action and suspense at times, it's highly enjoyable and looks sharp.

megy 9y ago
> "Our last captain let us have soda on the bridge, and I just wanted to check that was still okay"... "Sure, if you don't spill any on the equipment". I wouldn't even count that as a joke.
- exodust 9y ago
  In the context of formally meeting his senior officers for the first time, and this being the only question raised by the officer, it is amusing. If you're after "ba-dum-tssh" one-liners maybe it's not for you.

andrew_wc_brown 9y ago

I think the show has excellent character building which makes you invested in the show. Giving them backstories, intertwining their relationships. There's no waste is this this show. Dann who appears as a background character and brought in for one off jokes, I'm expecting them to elevate round out his character. The reviewer validates same thoughts I have. Seth McFarlene weakens his own show being captain. The bet jokes are the ones not thrown in your face. Sometimes the setup of the show feels forced, and they are playing star trek. I'll take what I can get.

daemonhunter 9y ago

This seems to be one of the more negative opinions. Its in the top 4 or 5 Star Trek series IMO. Individually, in my book, some of the episodes rank with the best Science Fiction. Everyone will have their own opinion but here is what I think the best episodes have been so far. ep 4 - "If the Stars Should Appear" ep 5 - "Pria" ep 10 - "Firestorm" ep 11 - "New Dimensions"

abritinthebay 9y ago

So I take it that this show gets better? I watched the first episode and it came across as trying WAY too hard. Very patchy and uneven tone, and the best jokes weren’t the direct lines but the asides or concept jokes (like the super nice Orc, vs the Dog Humping) Worth me watching a few more?

outworlder 9y ago
Yes. It is very rare that initial episodes of any new series are good. TNG was atrocious. In the case of The Orville, there was way too much humor, specially in the first episode. Now it's trending more to a sporadic, comedic relief at times, instead of a full blown comedy. IMHO, they seem to be much closer to finding the sweet spot now. The latest one was a great sci fi episode (even if the premise was nothing new), but still managed to deliver a few good jokes. Well, that assumes you are ok with shows that don't take themselves seriously all the friggin time. The Orville is supposed to be crewed by a B team, they are not the flagship.
- abritinthebay 9y ago
  Right, series take time to find their feet, I get that. My concern was more than the fundamental direction was flawed. Sounds like they worked out a balance (or it at least got better). Will attempt some more episodes.
megy 9y ago
No. To present a dissenting view, I think there are better episodes, but all your points still seem to hit every episode.
- abritinthebay 9y ago
  If they get better it may be ok, but it was just too much. As I said - trying too hard

megy 9y ago

Eh, I do not like this show. It is very similar to TNG, which might have worked in the 90s, but I expect better story telling these days. And the Captain isn't very likeable IMHO.

sairamkunala 9y ago

The 'Majority Rule' episode reminded me of Brexit vote.

orionblastar 9y ago

While it is a comedy, if you don't get the jokes, it ends up more like a Star Trek show. I think it is the best Star Trek-like show since Stargate Unvierse. I am watching Star Trek Discovery, and I am confused by the higher tech of the Discovery over the tech used in the Star Trek movies that happen 10 years later. Good fight scenes and battles, but Klingons keep being rebooted in every Star Trek franchise? I am guessing there are like 4 or 5 different types of Klingon races like TOS Klingon-Human fusions, Star Trek TMG/TNG Klingons with bigger forehead ridges, Star Trek Nemesis Romulan-Klingon hybrids created with cloning, Star Trek Reboot 2009 Klingons, and now Star Trek Discovery Klingons with more ridges (Ruffles joke?) and in black or white skin colors? I wonder what the Commander Worf reboot will look like?

gaspoweredcat 9y ago

"trajectory" "turbulance" please tell me someone has already made an "i wish i could fly" joke, if not im sure Keith Harris is turning in his grave