I think you and Rahul nailed it -- it's all about tone and heart, mixed with a little old-fashioned wonder. Helps that LiS has a great cast, too.
Poll Disco v Lost in Space v Orville FIGHT
- Thread starter F. King Daniel
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I think you and Rahul nailed it -- it's all about tone and heart, mixed with a little old-fashioned wonder. Helps that LiS has a great cast, too.
I finally finished LiS last night. I enjoyed it, albeit not tremendously. It attempted to thread a difficult needle - making a sci-fi show which was both contemporary and family friendly. At times I wondered who exactly it was being written for (I have to think kids found the Robinson's marriage issues to be boring AF) but for the most part it did succeed. The biggest drawback of the series by far was the "Netflix bloat" which was very clear in the beginning of the show - although by the end I didn't notice it any longer. And I enjoyed that while the science was a bit off at times, they attempted to use real-world engineering and physics in their "technobabble." I don't think I've ever seen Trek actually discuss orbital trajectories for example.
One thing that struck me about the series was that it kept me entertained without really having any "twists" (other than one big one which is unveiled in the 9th episode, which likely will be an important plot point next season). The (almost) happy ending was played so straight I wondered for a few minutes if Will Robinson was just hallucinating it all while he was floating in space.
All of the characters were pretty good as well. They managed to find a way to make all of the protagonists distinct and (moderately) flawed while still making them likable. Except Smith. I like Parker Posey, but if she plays a big role next season it will star to feel tiring.
One thing that struck me about the series was that it kept me entertained without really having any "twists" (other than one big one which is unveiled in the 9th episode, which likely will be an important plot point next season). The (almost) happy ending was played so straight I wondered for a few minutes if Will Robinson was just hallucinating it all while he was floating in space.
All of the characters were pretty good as well. They managed to find a way to make all of the protagonists distinct and (moderately) flawed while still making them likable. Except Smith. I like Parker Posey, but if she plays a big role next season it will star to feel tiring.
I voted for all, as they are three very different sci-fi shows, all with high production quality. I just stayed up until 2am Saturday night to see how LiS ended after watching the first 5 episodes through the week. I have watched every episode of Discovery on its initial airing (with pomp and circumstance more befitting a superbowl). I have watched every episode of orville on demand.
Orville is the most episodic but the most raunchy (stories are wholesome, jokes are not). Trek tried to toe the line between episodic and serialized, sometimes better than others. While not raunchy (jokes are wholesome, some of the stories are not), it is adult oriented. LiS most embraces serialization with the goal of telling the details of a small story (1 week), compared to Discovery's glancing over 1.5 years of events.
Orville is the most episodic but the most raunchy (stories are wholesome, jokes are not). Trek tried to toe the line between episodic and serialized, sometimes better than others. While not raunchy (jokes are wholesome, some of the stories are not), it is adult oriented. LiS most embraces serialization with the goal of telling the details of a small story (1 week), compared to Discovery's glancing over 1.5 years of events.
You know, I didn't think about it at the time, but the "small story" part of it is one of the reasons I liked LiS.
I have long said Discovery could have been a more compelling story if they kept the stakes lower, and LiS did a good job here. The Earth is kinda crapsack, but it doesn't seem like everyone there is going to die. The colony on Alpha Centauri is fine. The Resolute, it turns out, is fine, as are most of the people who were supposed to go out on the mission. The stakes are really just the 70-something people stranded on the planet. And the Robinsons, while unusually smart and capable, aren't near superheroes. The only whiff of this is that Maureen was relatively close to the group that "developed" the engine for the Resolute.
I hate all three of these shows equally!
Agree. I voted The Orville and Lost in Space too. I love Lost In Space 2018 and enjoy Orville, but Discovery is still not something that I need.
Eh. The Hell with it. I'll watch the first episode of Lost In Space.
Be sure to come back and make lots of insufferable posts about how much better it is than whichever sci-fi show you hate.
Be sure to come back and make lots of insufferable posts about how much better it is than whichever sci-fi show you hate.
What the Heck sci-fi show do I hate? As in outright hate and not just dislike or "not my cup of tea". Or maybe at least I just can't stand it or have a hard time sitting through it? I have to rack my brain... shit. This is hard. No, I've got it... No I don't... Wait, wait, hold on... Think deep Garth... Come on, you can do it... I almost have this... I almost have this...
Okay. It's a toss-up between Galactica 1980 and Andromeda.
Flipping a coin. And the "winner" is... Andromeda!!! There's gotta be worse, but I have to go with what I've seen.
And there's the Gene Roddenberry / Majel Barrett connection, not to mention the Star Trek alum (Robert Hewitt Wolfe), so that makes it an even "better" choice!
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Don't know if it's still the case (I did it months and months ago), but if you go on the US Amazon.com site, the first episode can be "purchased" for $0.00 and viewed no matter where you are.
Not seen Lost in Space yet but I’m tempted to check it out based on what I’ve heard.
I have to say I love The Orville. Yes, it starts out as a “comedy”, but it improves vastly as the series goes on. The gender issue episode is great, as is the one where the doc and isaac are on that planet. Penny Johnson Jerald surpasses her performance in DS9 in Orville. I watch Orville and geek out (“ooh that’s like in TOS when they did such and such” or “they did that in tng” etc.). The weird thing is if DSC was like the Orville I’d be complaining that it was too much like TOS or TNG or whatever. I find it acceptable when the Orville does it because it’s *not* Star Trek. DSC should do its own thing - if it could do a different thing I’d be happier, mind you.
I didn’t vote for DSC here - not because I don’t like it, but i suppose I don’t like it enough as it is. I think it has potential and I’m glad Trek is back on TV - I just hope DSC evolves quickly in s2. There have been several comparisons to other Trek first seasons saying they took a while to get going. I think that was ok in syndication. On Netflix etc. I don’t think that approach applies. It’s got to be good from the get-go else things tend to get cancelled (Ascension, for instance - which I thought was amazing and had a great concept but was promptly cancelled. Thanks Netflix.).
The main thing for me is that The Orville has heart. DSC, at present, doesn’t.
I have to say I love The Orville. Yes, it starts out as a “comedy”, but it improves vastly as the series goes on. The gender issue episode is great, as is the one where the doc and isaac are on that planet. Penny Johnson Jerald surpasses her performance in DS9 in Orville. I watch Orville and geek out (“ooh that’s like in TOS when they did such and such” or “they did that in tng” etc.). The weird thing is if DSC was like the Orville I’d be complaining that it was too much like TOS or TNG or whatever. I find it acceptable when the Orville does it because it’s *not* Star Trek. DSC should do its own thing - if it could do a different thing I’d be happier, mind you.
I didn’t vote for DSC here - not because I don’t like it, but i suppose I don’t like it enough as it is. I think it has potential and I’m glad Trek is back on TV - I just hope DSC evolves quickly in s2. There have been several comparisons to other Trek first seasons saying they took a while to get going. I think that was ok in syndication. On Netflix etc. I don’t think that approach applies. It’s got to be good from the get-go else things tend to get cancelled (Ascension, for instance - which I thought was amazing and had a great concept but was promptly cancelled. Thanks Netflix.).
The main thing for me is that The Orville has heart. DSC, at present, doesn’t.
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