• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

News Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville

The days of the UK only having four channels are long gone. Nowadays we get 40+ on Freeview and hundreds on Sky and cable services. As of yet, nobody has made any announcements about The Orville.

Well, at least here in Canada, I won't have to worry, because The Orville is on CityTV the same night and time as Fox. Looks like City TV will be the 'Federation Station' as it used to be from 1987-2005, only with a different kind of sci-fi show.

https://www.citytv.com/video/iframemod/2226196965001/B1eOOY5fGl/5567721346001
 
Doesn't matter how much MacFarlane steals or spends — this show still feels cheap.

Same reason TNG feels cheap starting in season three, the lighting. But then, MacFarlane likely isn't getting $8.5 million an episode to work with.
 
Braga was a good producer and writer on Trek. I certainly remember more interesting scripts from him than from Bryan Fuller - Fuller's done remarkable work on a variety of shows since leaving Trek, but his work for Voyager was nothing special.
 
Braga was a good producer and writer on Trek. I certainly remember more interesting scripts from him than from Bryan Fuller - Fuller's done remarkable work on a variety of shows since leaving Trek, but his work for Voyager was nothing special.
I disagree, his episodes “Mortal Coil” and “Living Witness” are two of my favorite episodes from that series. The latter is often cited as one of the best episodes of the whole series.
 
Braga was a good producer and writer on Trek. I certainly remember more interesting scripts from him than from Bryan Fuller - Fuller's done remarkable work on a variety of shows since leaving Trek, but his work for Voyager was nothing special.
For me - Braga's Star Trek scripts were often nonsensical anomaly/'weird science' scripts (like "Threshold"). I always felt he's be more at home doing Doctor Who' scripts (where that type of thing goes over well - but overall his Star Trek stuff wasn't my type of thing.

Did you seriously not know Braga was involved with this show before now? IIRC, his involvement has been public knowledge for a while now.

Nope - didn't know until I happened on the article I linked. Again, I'm not a big fan of the TNG era - so even a semi-comedic show based on it never held enough interest for me to follow the genesis of it closely.
 
Vox's review is the first one that leaves me genuinely concerned, partially because most of the other reviews are from sources I'm unfamiliar with, and because I've read and respected Caroline Framke's opinion for many years.

The whole review is disappointing to read, but these two particular paragraphs is a really bad sign:

"As has now been reported, an upcoming episode of The Orville takes on a “very special episode” structure to debate the merits or lack thereof regarding — stay with me now — an alien baby getting sexual reassignment surgery.

Without getting into the specifics of the story, I can at least tell you that the way this episode plays out makes it one of the most transparent and least necessary takes on the vast complexities of gender. The episode, written by MacFarlane, clearly thinks it’s shedding light and nuance on a fraught topic; it’s unclear if MacFarlane, a straight cis white guy, consulted anyone other than himself on said topic. But I would be shocked to discover that was the case, since the episode just ends up reciting bullet points too simplistic even for the transgender Wikipedia entry, and letting characters exchange the same basic arguments in scene after excruciating scene."​

I still plan to watch the show and hope it'll be Eureka-esque (light-hearted fun sci-fi show), but I'm going in with low expectations. Unless it's especially bad, I'll keep watching beyond the three episodes reviewers were allowed to watch to see if the show improves.
 
Last edited:
I'm still looking forward to it, but I will admit my enthusiasm is starting to drop a little. I'm not to bothered by them not doing anything real deep with these issues, as long what they say isn't actually offensive. So far it sounds it doesn't sound like any of actually crosses that line.
 
I disagree, his episodes “Mortal Coil” and “Living Witness” are two of my favorite episodes from that series. The latter is often cited as one of the best episodes of the whole series.

Okay, but no.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top