My Grandma mistook "The Orville" for a new "Star Trek" show

I can distinguish crappy sitcoms because I see the ads for them all the time during better shows, and I can distinguish boy bands because I keep seeing Justin Timberlake on SNL and know he was in N Sync, but I can see somebody with no exposure to the marketing material could confuse scifi franchises.

 

Old people are stupid.

 

Well, if Seth MacFarlane can't tell the difference what chance has the casual viewer got?

 

Really? Red & blue uniforms with chest insignia, light speed space ships blasting off, circular bridge configurations with forward view screens, shuttle bays, pocket communicators, medical scanners, bumpy-headed aliens, doctors, officers, etc...

The whole idea of the show IS to look like Star Trek. I honestly can't even think of any ways that they could make it look MORE like Star Trek, without outright copyright infringement, like having saucer ships with aft nacells. If I, a life long Star Trek fan, had been in a coma for the past year or two, you could probably convince ME that this is a new Star Trek show, if you cherry picked & edited the excerpts just right (Except I'd know who Seth McFarlane is, but that would probably be the only giveaway)

 

Dammit Grandma, can't you see one has transporter technology and the other doesn't? They're NOTHING alike

 

And the current crop of 20-30's are entitled, wingy "Special snowflakes".

I dont fall in either camp, but I'd rather be stupid!

 

Is the TV series of those Star Trek movies with Sylar as the young Spock?

 

and this is why I have doubts about Discovery. The average person has no idea what CBSAA is and will not subscribe. They might catch the first episode and then when they can't find it on TV promptly forget about it. Or think Orville is the new Star Trek. All the Discovery promo's are like free advertising for the Orville because most people are dumb. Look at our current political situation for proof.

Several people who know I am into Trek have told me about Disocvery. When I tell them it is on CBSAA and explain it to them you can see the excitement die down in their eyes. I don't think CBSAA will fail, I don't think Discovery will suck 9actually it will probably be bad ass)but I think it will get 1/10 of the viewing it should get by being on CBSAA - and TV execs are idiots on a good day and cancel perfectly enjoyable shows all the time. Adding in this new dynamic, and who knows what boneheaded thing they will do.

Edit: The dumbest of the dumb in our society are the ones who go onto become television producers. So who knows what they will do if Discovery doesn't get the numbers they want.

 

I also think people are going to be confused by the two shows and where "Discovery" is airing. I can just think about some of the things my family has thought about tv or movies over the years:

1 My grandma thought DS9 was set on another part of the ENterprise D.

2 My mom thought Stargate was about time travel until she watched it.

3 I myself though "Mr Robot" was going to be about a actual robot until I watched the pilot episode and even then I got to admit I was expecting a robot to show up the entire episode.

Jason

 

Are those the movies where the green girl from the talking racoon movie isn't green?

This is why I hold tentative hope for it, at best. It was supreme dimwittedness to put it on their streaming service to begin with. It's an obvious attemp to artificially prop up said service with seemingly reliable subscriptions, as if Star Trek hasn't already had enough trouble staying in production over its history, you're going to use it as a crutch too? Good luck with that

People won't refuse to subscribe just because they're cheap. They'll not do it because they're lazy & stupid too... And something fun that looks just like Star Trek is on TV anyhow. As a fan, I think McFarlane might be heartbroken if his show plays a role in the downfall of an actual Trek show

 

Is it true that "Discovery" will air on Wednesday? If "Orville" runs on Thursdays do you think casual fans will be up for 2 spaceship shows, 2 nights in a role? Makes you wonder about just how much of a impact all those delays might end up happening back when the show was going to air at a much sooner time. If anything "Discovery" could have been the first to launch so now it runs the risk of being seen as the "other" spaceship show instead of as "The" spaceship show.

Jason

 

Now that's not ageist at all.

 

Every crop of 20-30 year olds are seen as "snowflakes" by people 30+. I'm willing to bet even the "greatest generation" had people from the previous generation whining at them and calling them entitled.

 

My 7 year old son made an astute observation when I was watching the pilot on the weekend; "It looks just like Star Trek!"

 

No way! They knew they were whippersnappers and welcomed the critique.

Jason

 

& every group of 20-30 somethings think old people are stupid & ruined everything, despite all of what they know, & have, having come from them. In fact, the only generalized thing you can ever say about a group of people is that they are different. Just because a group of people are too young to have had their stupidity thrown in their face yet or made horrible decisions, doesn't mean they will fair any better. By my observation, this generation is brewing up some real big mistakes to atone for too

& young people haven't been around long enough yet for everyone to have noticed that they are too. lol

 

Thankfully my generation never had any of these problems. I'm Generation X and we thought we were right and we ended up being right about everything!

Jason

 

What age should I stereotype as self righteously making broad sweeping judgments of entire generations?

As you age you have more difficulty absorbing new information and learning new skills but that's not the same as stupidity.

Seth MacFarlane though can't tell the difference between a situation that calls for humor and a situation that calls for gravity. Or the difference between an homage and an imitation.

 

Nah, most of them are smart, capable human beings who were lied to by society, and now they're working to make the best of it. It isn't whining to see and take note of blame laid against an entire generation, it's demanding equity. In a society that creates its own balance, that's not an unreasonable position to hold.