Discovery and "The Orville" Comparisons

[Fateor]

That didn't even register with me, I thought he meant Michelle Yeoh.

Because I did? She's the character that died and that we were supposed to feel for. Yet, her death had absolutely zero emotional impact.

That's why producers are saying the third episode could be considered a 'second pilot' as it was originally slated to be the opening episode before the production staff had the idea to show this element of Burnham's backstory first hand on the show.

The problem is, you can't do shit like that when you only airing one episode and expecting that to draw people in to watch more.

Because that one episode is all you have to draw people in and convince them to buy your service.

 

[Amaris]

Because I did? She's the character that died and that we were supposed to feel for. Yet, her death had absolutely zero emotional impact.



The problem is, you can't do shit like that when you only airing one episode and expecting that to draw people in to watch more.

Because that one episode is all you have to draw people in and convince them to buy your service.

That was my biggest frustration. I would have been fine with the prologue if everyone would have been able to watch it on broadcast TV. Instead, they got half the prologue, and the other half put behind a paywall.

 

[BillJ]

That was my biggest frustration. I would have been fine with the prologue if everyone would have been able to watch it on broadcast TV. Instead, they got half the prologue, and the other half put behind a paywall.

Well, a paywall with a seven day free trial. People just had to put a little effort into it.

 

[Amaris]

Well, a paywall with a seven day free trial. People just had to put a little effort into it.

And their credit card numbers, and have the technology to watch it, and have the CBS All Access app work properly. Considering what a shit app it is, that right there is more than just a little work. My ass was all over my network trying to get that garbage app running on my Roku, on my iPad, on my Android phone, on my desktop, nothing was working, and it ended up being a problem on their end. Still, even after they got it fixed, it would only work in one browser, and the stream was in 480p on a 1080p monitor on top of it. So yeah, CBS managed to ruin the first taste of new Trek on TV in 12 years.

 

[BillJ]

So yeah, CBS managed to ruin the first taste of new Trek on TV in 12 years

I had the app stutter twice (for about a half-second each) on the Xbox One S.

 

[Amaris]

I had the app stutter twice (for about a half-second each) on the Xbox One S.

I'm glad you didn't have any difficulty. I did, and I know I wasn't the only one. CBS dropped the ball on the rollout.

 

[Dr. Bashirs protege]

I'm glad you didn't have any difficulty. I did, and I know I wasn't the only one. CBS dropped the ball on the rollout.

I have that problem with amazon prime....as a built in app on a hugh end sony 4ķ.....hardwired for 150 mbps. But since its streamed i can just pause and go back, its no biggie.

 

[jaime]

Star Trek: Discovery is good. The Orville is good. The Expanse is good.

We literally have three good space shows on TV right now. Like my man John Crichton always said, "wait for the wheel." It was coming eventually.

We had Dark Matter too...Which needs some support to get it back from dead....and Killjoys isn’t bad...the pair of them are beautifully nineties.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

Amalak,

If you look at the IMDB page it shows Michelle in the same 15 episodes as everyone else.

I dunno if I could really compare Orville vs Discovery,

IMO Orville so far does comedy well. It does have a very clumsy way of handling ethical and social issues. They try to do it ala Trek, but seems to only be "reminiscent" of trek at best.

So far all I've seen Discovery handle is pewpewpewpew and insubordination, and ill advised space walks.

 

[Kevin Wolff]

We had Dark Matter too...Which needs some support to get it back from dead....and Killjoys isn’t bad...the pair of them are beautifully nineties.

Agreed. I really liked Dark Matter and thought it had long term space opera potential. Killjoys would be better if they put the story up front instead of having the characters constantly vogue and act overtly cool all the time and engage in excessive bigotry of nerds. Don't they know their audience? Then again, DM got shafted and Killjoys got 2 more seasons.
The Expanse is the new gold standard by light years.

 

[Kevin Wolff]

They wasted, yo. Oops, I mean they wasted Yoeh. Killing any character of focus before developing them and making us care is pointless in any storytelling medium.

 

[Kevin Wolff]

Orville to me is simply TNG era nostalgia and I can't really compare it to any show that attempts to be legitimate, even one as bad as DSC. Having said that, I currently look forward to it more than DSC despite the fact that it fails to tell a good story or even be remotely funny. The nostalgia aspect is strong though for someone who thought TNG was the alpha and the omega back in the early 90's.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

They wasted, yo. Oops, I mean they wasted Yoeh. Killing any character of focus before developing them and making us care is pointless in any storytelling medium.

She is still slated to be in all fifteen episodes, flashbacks?

Michael effed up big time, I imagine there will be lots of "reflecting"

 

[Kevin Wolff]

She is still slated to be in all fifteen episodes, flashbacks?

Michael effed up big time, I imagine there will be lots of "reflecting"

Probably. Why else would they drill into us that they've been together for 7 years. By wasting her I mean they wasted the impact of her death. Better to have her alive for an arc or a season so we felt her death, and then have her pop up in relevant flashbacks.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

Shoot you got that right.
HUGE waste of a character being killed. Seems like an obvious, albeit lazy setup for Michael's motivation through both inspiration and guilt.

This was the kinda thing I was afraid of with trek having a "main" character.

First thing I thought of when I heard that "this is the first time a main character was...." I thought "wait, which one had a main character in the first place"?

 

[Kevin Wolff]

The other thing they could have done is have Burnham driven/haunted by the betrayal and the death of her friend and captain whom we never meet until the flashbacks, and develop her there exclusively. Now even if they do develop her retroactively, it will never erase her cheap death. This is a problem with a lot of writing these days. They are too quick to shock with a payoff that they didn't earn. The story and the viewers suffer for it

 

[GeekUSACarl]

"too quick"

Yeah that perfectly describes a lot of writing on network TV,

and most of my dates in high school.

 

[Fateor]

She is still slated to be in all fifteen episodes, flashbacks?

The whole first two episodes would have worked better as the endpoint of a flashback instead of being the first two episodes.

That way we would have at least cared about the character dying.

 

[donners22]

If you look at the IMDB page it shows Michelle in the same 15 episodes as everyone else.

IMDb listings before something has aired mean nothing.

A few days ago it had Rainn Wilson in all 15 episodes, now it has dropped to 7 which seems just as arbitrary.

She may reappear, but she won't be in all 15 episodes.

 

[Vger23]

IMDb listings before something has aired mean nothing.

A few days ago it had Rainn Wilson in all 15 episodes, now it has dropped to 7 which seems just as arbitrary.

She may reappear, but she won't be in all 15 episodes.

I'd be thrilled to see her again. Loved the character.