I have spent some (too much) time reading through reactions to the Discovery trailer, and I have noticed more than a few reactions that are, in essence "I am really looking forward to The Orville, I'm not all that excited about ST: Discovery."
As these thoughts are coming from people who are ostensibly Star Trek fans, I have found their reaction worth speculating about, and here's the heart of what I think is motivating them: The Orville looks and feels like TNG.
Although many of those who complain about the look and feel of the Kelvin - era films express a desire to see a return to the aesthetics of The Original Series, most of them grew up watching the Berman era Trek series - TNG, DS9, VOY. Those series had a very distinctive and repetitive look and lighting. TNG in particular had flat, almost even lighting in virtually every interior shot, a sort of bland uniform with little variation, and a particular design aesthetic (curves, soft angles, sweeping angles, pastels/creams) that wasn't varied much. DS9 made some changes (varied lighting levels, more angular designs) but most of the onboard ship shots were very close to either the "somber/serious" lighting levels or the "regular" lighting levels pioneered by TNG. Voyager maintained a similar lighting structure as DS9 and TNG, and didn't vary much on the design cues set by both series.
That look and design aesthetic is VERY familiar to a certain age bracket of Trek fans, and without fully realizing it, that the is the "real Trek" they want and when they don't get it, it bugs them.
The Orville looks like it took almost every single TNG cue and expanded on it - the lighting, the costumes, the alien makeup, everything is a homage to TNG.
ST: Discovery, on the other hand, really seems to take most of it's cues from ENT and the Kelvin era films.
So at the heart of this whole issue is that Seth has made a show that triggers the happy nostalgia button in most folks close to my age (mid -30's) and that warm fuzzy feeling is what is making them choose a spoof comedy over actual Star Trek.
As these thoughts are coming from people who are ostensibly Star Trek fans, I have found their reaction worth speculating about, and here's the heart of what I think is motivating them: The Orville looks and feels like TNG.
Although many of those who complain about the look and feel of the Kelvin - era films express a desire to see a return to the aesthetics of The Original Series, most of them grew up watching the Berman era Trek series - TNG, DS9, VOY. Those series had a very distinctive and repetitive look and lighting. TNG in particular had flat, almost even lighting in virtually every interior shot, a sort of bland uniform with little variation, and a particular design aesthetic (curves, soft angles, sweeping angles, pastels/creams) that wasn't varied much. DS9 made some changes (varied lighting levels, more angular designs) but most of the onboard ship shots were very close to either the "somber/serious" lighting levels or the "regular" lighting levels pioneered by TNG. Voyager maintained a similar lighting structure as DS9 and TNG, and didn't vary much on the design cues set by both series.
That look and design aesthetic is VERY familiar to a certain age bracket of Trek fans, and without fully realizing it, that the is the "real Trek" they want and when they don't get it, it bugs them.
The Orville looks like it took almost every single TNG cue and expanded on it - the lighting, the costumes, the alien makeup, everything is a homage to TNG.
ST: Discovery, on the other hand, really seems to take most of it's cues from ENT and the Kelvin era films.
So at the heart of this whole issue is that Seth has made a show that triggers the happy nostalgia button in most folks close to my age (mid -30's) and that warm fuzzy feeling is what is making them choose a spoof comedy over actual Star Trek.
