[Official] The Orville

[FloatingFatMan]

So, has anyone caught this yet? What do you think?

 

I saw the first episode yesterday, unsure what to expect, but I have to say, I absolutely loved it!  Once again, MacFarlane shows he's a comedy master with his writing, and now he shows us he's a pretty good actor too!  I love all the tongue in cheek nods to Star Trek, all done respectfully but humourously, and I love even more the dynamic between the crew!  

 

I love the interesting mix of today's style of speech & pop culture mixed in with 25th century humanity, showing that really, we haven't actually changed all that much!  Far more believable than the "Humanity has evolved" stiff upper lip view or humans that we see in Trek itself.

 

Gonna grab episode 2 tonight, but so far, this show is a keeper!   If you love Trek, or even if you don't, I definitely recommend checking this show out.

 

[Dick Montage]

It's basically a TV series based around the "Galaxy Quest" ideas?  People in a spaceship who shouldn't be in those positions?

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

I'm a huge Trek fan but I thought this was cringeworthy, like a poor man's Galaxy Quest.

[HawkMan]

I'll probably watch it when I'm alone and the wife is out doing other stuff. But it certainly wasn't great. the jokes where flat or dumb and the acting was cringey bad. certainly not usual mcfarlane quality.  I miss Eureka they did this kind of humor like masters. 

 

 

[FloatingFatMan]

9 minutes ago, Nefarious Trigger said:

It's basically a TV series based around the "Galaxy Quest" ideas?  People in a spaceship who shouldn't be in those positions?

Yes and no.. It's a very loose parody in the same quality as Galaxy Quest, but they're an official crew of a star ship.  Officially, it's a comedy/drama but with lots of nods to Trek.

 

[FloatingFatMan]

1 hour ago, PsYcHoKiLLa said:

I'm a huge Trek fan but I thought this was cringeworthy, like a poor man's Galaxy Quest.

 

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

I'll probably watch it when I'm alone and the wife is out doing other stuff. But it certainly wasn't great. the jokes where flat or dumb and the acting was cringey bad. certainly not usual mcfarlane quality.  I miss Eureka they did this kind of humor like masters. 

 

 

I'm pretty sure it's kinda meant to be cringey. Also, gotta give a new show a chance to get going. .Look at TNG... The first few seasons were beyond cringey...

[shockz]

It's annoying that Trekkies are trying to equate this show with some sort off off the wall TNG, hoping this will get their fix since they don't want to pay for STD. It's an entirely different show then Trek.

 

I enjoy the Orville, but aside from a few set props and the warp field, it's nothing like Trek, and it shouldn't be. It's a goofy and comedic take on Scifi and that's fine, but setting it up with Trek expectations is probably going to result in disappointment.

 

[FloatingFatMan]

Exactly!  I'm approaching it with eyes wide open, knowing full well what it is.  There are some Trek parody elements there, but it's its own show and will develop further as it progresses!

 

So far, I'm halfway through episode 2 right now, and still loving it!

[techbeck]

Episode 2, was not as good as the first.  Acting just seems off and bad at times.  Shows start off like this sometimes so hopefully it will get better over the next few episodes.  Also, special effects of the shuttle flying around and some space scenes, you can tell it is fake.  Yes yes, it is fake to begin with but shows like Dark Matter and Killjoys pull of space scenes much better.   Heck, even ST:TNG does a better job.

 

Spoiler

The scene with Captain Mercer's parents was pretty funny tho.

 

[techbeck]

2 hours ago, PsYcHoKiLLa said:

I'm a huge Trek fan but I thought this was cringeworthy, like a poor man's Galaxy Quest.

If you compare it with ST, then you will never like it.  Supposed to be a comedic take on the whole space travel genre.

[margrave]

Episode 2 was much better than 1 in my opinion.

[+BudMan MVC]

I like it.. And for sure will give it more than a couple of episodes to get rolling..  I am curious if they will do any long arch stories or will all just be stand alone episodes, etc.

[ThisSiteHasLostItsCharm]

i thought the first ep was really funny and entertaining.

[FloatingFatMan]

Second ep definitely a winner for me. I -loved- the ending... Cracked me up!

 

Also, did anyone else notice the nod to a certain TOS episode?

 

[George P Global Moderator]

I keep thinking about watching this but I have to ask, yeah I expect the comedy side of it, but does it also get serious when it has to?  I like witty comedy from characters who also have skills and not just "dumb" comedy from characters who are missing half a brain and can't do anything, if you guys know what I mean?

[Steven P. Administrators]

Love it, expected it to be stupid but it's actually rather good and funny. Lots of nods to Trek in all the right places  (imo)

[FloatingFatMan]

1 hour ago, George P said:

I keep thinking about watching this but I have to ask, yeah I expect the comedy side of it, but does it also get serious when it has to?  I like witty comedy from characters who also have skills and not just "dumb" comedy from characters who are missing half a brain and can't do anything, if you guys know what I mean?

Yes, the characters do seem quite capable at their jobs, though some are quite green still. Episode 2 is a great example of that, though no spoilers!

 

Watch it. You'll either like it, or not. Nothing will be lost.

 

 

[dragontology]

I like it. It's about as good as Voyager, which I think is a safe comparison as a lot of Trekkers hated Voyager. The acting does leave a little to be desired, but it's a good show.

 

I didn't think I'd get to watch it (I'm an OG cord cutter, haha... moved out of my parents' place and just never got cable/satellite) but it showed up on Hulu. Episodes appear about a day or two after airing. So I'm not paying any extra for it.

 

Can't compare it to STD as that hasn't started yet. STD will be on Netflix outside the US, but in the US, viewers will have to pay an additional fee to watch the show on a proprietary service by CBS. I'm thinking Netflix will get it later, so I'll just wait. Not gonna knock STD until it's been given a fair chance, but I'm loving The Orville.

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

On 18/09/2017 at 6:21 PM, shockz said:

It's annoying that Trekkies are trying to equate this show with some sort off off the wall TNG, hoping this will get their fix since they don't want to pay for STD. It's an entirely different show then Trek.

 

I enjoy the Orville, but aside from a few set props and the warp field, it's nothing like Trek, and it shouldn't be. It's a goofy and comedic take on Scifi and that's fine, but setting it up with Trek expectations is probably going to result in disappointment.

 

Are you serious? The music cues, the designs of the ships, the stations, ALL of it just smacks of Trek. Besides which McFarlane is a huge Trekkie and always wanted to be on one of the shows, this is his way I guess.

 

Just don't like this at all, it's like some horrible cringey US comedy show (i.e. The Big Bang) but set in space, I'm just waiting for them to add the canned laughter.

 

I've seen both episodes too, admittedly the second one was better but....what's with the harping on about their previous failed relationship, how long can that actually be funny?

[Steven P. Administrators]

6 minutes ago, PsYcHoKiLLa said:

Are you serious? The music cues, the designs of the ships, the stations, ALL of it just smacks of Trek. Besides which McFarlane is a huge Trekkie and always wanted to be on one of the shows, this is his way I guess.

 

Just don't like this at all, it's like some horrible cringey US comedy show (i.e. The Big Bang) but set in space, I'm just waiting for them to add the canned laughter.

 

I've seen both episodes too, admittedly the second one was better but....what's with the harping on about their previous failed relationship, how long can that actually be funny?

Chill dude. Not everyone will like it, but some will, just like how some people liked Friends and some hate it.

[Son_Of_Dad]

4 hours ago, dragontology said:

Can't compare it to STD as that hasn't started yet.

I think Orville will be closer to the Trek we know and STD will be the parody!

[George P Global Moderator]

It seems to me, over the years, that trek fans are some of the most annoying high and mighty know it alls out there.   Maybe I'm just old enough to remember, and due to there being no internet at the time, Trek fans were hating on TNG before the show even aired.  They're doing it yet again with STD based off of trailers, because trailers are a perfect indication of how a show/movie is going to turn out, really guys?

 

Cry, moan and overall complain as much as you guys want, the fact is, you so called "die hards" aren't enough to keep a damn trek TV show on the air anymore.  Where were all the fans when Enterprise needed it?  Instead it got canned.   Voyager had to resort to the old trek crutch known as the Borg to keep it going, even introducing Borg v2 and upping the action, the only "exploration" was the fact they were stuck in the delta quadrant just because the writers knew that way when they were starting to run out of ideas, and oh boy did they, they could always just drop the Borg in, boy did that make you guys happy, right?  

 

And for all the praise DS9 gets, what did it end up doing?  We went down the path of war with the dominion, nice action and battles, exploration and peace?  ha!   Something that Paramount and CBS has known for quite some time, and a fact some of you can't seem to come to terms with, the fanbase is small, the core trek fanbase that's been around since close to the start, it's small.  There isn't enough fans out there to support it the way it was back in TNG, scifi costs too much period.  And as far as this show goes, it's another sci-fi show on fox, FOX, of all channels, where scifi goes to die after one season.   Enjoy it while it lasts guys, because with fox's track record on scifi shows, this one, even if it's good, probably won't last long.

[shockz]

11 hours ago, PsYcHoKiLLa said:

Are you serious? The music cues, the designs of the ships, the stations, ALL of it just smacks of Trek. Besides which McFarlane is a huge Trekkie and always wanted to be on one of the shows, this is his way I guess.

 

Just don't like this at all, it's like some horrible cringey US comedy show (i.e. The Big Bang) but set in space, I'm just waiting for them to add the canned laughter.

 

I've seen both episodes too, admittedly the second one was better but....what's with the harping on about their previous failed relationship, how long can that actually be funny?

Yes I'm serious...  what's the phrase.. lipstick on a pig? The look might be trek, and that's debatable, but there is no storyline commonality between this and trek. People upset over Discovery and trying to equate this as the next next generation are clueless and in denial that they have to pay to watch new trek.

 

Also if it's not Brooklyn 999 or on Sunday, it's doomed to only a year, maybe two before it's canned. 

[HawkMan]

1 minute ago, shockz said:

Yes I'm serious... there is no storyline commonality between this and trek. People upset over Discovery and trying to equate this as the next next generation are clueless and in denial that they have to pay to watch new trek.

ummm... did you watch the show ? the sets are trek, the uniforms are trek, the language is trek, the storylines and events/scenes are trek.

it's trek plastered with cheesy comedy about an old relationship...

 

This could be a great show, but they need to hire some of the Eureka writers if they want to pull this of as a credible seriouscomedyspacedrama. Those guys knew how to mix serious with good humor. 

[shockz]

11 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

ummm... did you watch the show ? the sets are trek, the uniforms are trek, the language is trek, the storylines and events/scenes are trek.

it's trek plastered with cheesy comedy about an old relationship...

 

This could be a great show, but they need to hire some of the Eureka writers if they want to pull this of as a credible seriouscomedyspacedrama. Those guys knew how to mix serious with good humor. 

ummmmm.... yes? The first episode was dreadful. When was the last time someone came blue goo on Trek? Or had a captain with a dysfunctional relationshp with an ex that ends up as a first officer???  The closest was Troi and Riker... and even then it was tactful. The alien of the week had possibly the worst acting and was nothing but shoot em up baddies. No substance.  And while pseudoscience has always been a thing on trek, I can't remember the last time a tree grew in space and somehow took out a ship. It's just comedy with quite frankly cheesy sequences. The language is not trek at all, unless it's being a satire.. And if you bothered reading my first post in the thread you'd see I said it had some similarities, but barely. This is seth's take on injecting comedy into Scifi (which always fails) and him playing out some of his trekkie fantasys, but it is hardly trek. It's a fun hour though, but this is nothing like trek outside a few set props and uniforms.

 

Edited September 20, 2017 by shockz