That's basically it. I find the whole conflict to be kind of amusing. People sometimes take this stuff to seriously.
The Orville season 3 - first look
- Thread starter Mudd
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That's basically it. I find the whole conflict to be kind of amusing. People sometimes take this stuff to seriously.
Thank you for bringing the topic back to the forefront. I like the new design--I'm hoping the new season can still balance topical allegory, humor, and engaging stories.
The uniforms get a minor refresh too. Looks to be a more detailed material, though it still looks stiff and boxy as hell, and the use of blacks suggest another attempt at slimming the shapes. I get that they're doing their best to cover up the silhouettes of the actors who have relatively civilian physiques compared to the Hollywood average. It just looks too uncomfortable to be practical, though kudos for actually having a main cast who aren't ALL the slim and buff types we were used to on 90s Trek.
Mark
Mark
Ted Danson is everywhere! 
Considering that Orville started as a sci-fi/Trek parody (unlike DSC) and wasn't an officially branded offering, it's amazing how far it's come...
Before I sat to watch Orville I had the same mindset, "Star Trek with dick and fart jokes" - like what Family Guy praised itself for doing and what even Doctor Who was doing often enough for a while... There are a few jokes that are deemed ribald, but it's a lot tamer than I'd thought. Quite a surprise, in fact... The only dick joke I remember is the phrase "got wood" at the end of one, which was surprisingly cleverly implemented.
At least they're not flagrant swearing and acting like a bunch of fast food workers after getting out of Senior High. Check that, Orville's done that as much as DSC had as well, with that stupid smartphone episode being the most flagrant case of being an uninspired Trek ripoff (the hollow asteroid with colony being the other.) But, as for swearing with the belief they're somehow being more sophisticated, Orville has kept it remarkably mature and is a step above DSC in that regard, if nothing else.
Yeah, there's some plot puree in there. DSC is guilty of the same things. Harry Mudd being one of the more obvious examples. Orville's done a few more neat twists that feel more original as well. I'm sure DSC has as well. Lower Decks had and I've watched far more of that. I missed a fair bit of Picard and if its big twist is from its season finale, I'm just going to say "we agree to disagree".
Except the easiest comeback of all time would be, "The only real Star Trek is the one that both Roddenberry and Justman created." There goes everything after TNG...
But it's inevitable when it comes to slapping a brand name on something. Each era has its fans and detractors, for numerous reasons. Not every era is liked the same and even clunky episodes have good moments, and vice-versa. I'm sure some Trek fans are stuck in the 60s, or refuse to do with anything post-1989, or pre-1999, and so on. Heck, even some called DS9 "Deep Throat Nine" because they didn't care for it. None of this is new, as far as phenomenon go.
That silliness aside, you are quite right. The "not real star trek" is not new. But people also noticed TNG got up to 3~6x million more viewers than the current shows. DSC started out with nearly 10 million, but by season 4 dropped to 1.4M. (Sources: EW and Variety) TNG started with 15M, quickly dropped to 8M, then went back up... but by its 4th season was 12M. Season 5 peaked at 13M. Between the seasons the ratings were comparatively steady.
Plus, TNG wasn't behind a paywall. There's no way around that one. Partly because people aren't going to go spend $70/mo for Hulu+Live just to see the new Orville episodes. (Unless the $7 and $12 plans for their library content include newly made episodes, which seems unlikely - especially as you apparently can't make a TV show anymore where a single episode costs < $1M to make.)
Not that ratings are the real deal, but to some they are.
Talk about an obvious food replicator joke as Federation Suit talks to Orion slave about where the fake apple came from...
Oh look, here's the officially branded show's most dignified moment:
Get past the odd use of profanity and there's a scene that could have been great, if they'd get it past the familyguywannabe/seemingly rough draft stage.
Looks overdone, "overproduced". Not keen on the pale teal hue either.
What is Trekkie-like? Is it about the IDIC concept? The one Gene wanted in TOS but balked by Nimoy? (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/IDIC ) Gene said he hated DS9 too (https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/2021/09/05/gene-roddenberrys-assistant-said-he-didnt-approve-of-ds9/) He hated the 80s Kirk movies, there are books about that... the TOS and TNG forums here have made suggestions about what Gene wanted TNG to do as well. Even wanting TNG to be utterly free of any TOS characters (per https://screenrant.com/star-trek-tng-original-story-plans-roddenberry-problems/ , et al) and almost as if he was retconning TOS away (which is not a new thought that pops up in these forums at times too)...
In short: IDIC is alive and well in all its complexities. Even the ironic ones. M<ost intriguing of all: If the claim that "fans are the show's worst enemy" are true, then it gets a whole lot more complex...
Ted Danson has already been on the Orville during its second season.
The biggest problem, of course, with The Orville is the copious amount of smoking.
The biggest problem, of course, with The Orville is the copious amount of smoking.
I've never seen Family Guy or any of McFarlane's other shows. The reason I think there's a lot of dumb crass jokes in The Orville is because I've watched The Orville. About twenty minutes into the first episode: "You see that dog in the background licking its balls?" "First thing I saw." It wasn't enough for McFarlane to include a dog licking its balls in the background. He had to have characters comment on it so no one missed it. There's a lot of that kind of dumbth throughout the show, though it's arguably not as bad as doing a whole episode about how funny it is that this alien guy is raping the Orville's crew members.
As a 58-year-old man with two university degrees who doesn't work in fast food, I don't give a fuck about the swearing either way. It neither adds nor detracts. Except for Tilly's "that's so fucking cool!" outburst, which I found cute, funny, and in character.
I have literally never heard anyone use that comeback. I've seen the Saint Gene brigade say it's not Star Trek if Roddenberry wasn't involved, which leaves you with two seasons of TOS, one movie, and a season or two of TNG. 90% of what people think of when they think of Star Trek, even if they're only thinking of Star Trek from 1966-1992, was created by other people. Klingons, Romulans, Spock's parents, tribbles, the Guardian of Forever, etc etc etc.
1987 is 35 years ago. The world changed. There's no way around that one. For that matter, in 1987 there were people concerned that Star Trek was syndicated instead of on one of the three major TV networks, because some markets didn't have a channel that could easily add TNG to its lineup.
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It's been so long since the second season, I naturally forgot! When I saw him here, I thought "hey cool, a cameo!"
I do enjoy this particular generic brand Bermantrek with immature humor added.
Where nobody minds being raped by blue people, aliens are treated like circus acts and people get voted to have lobotomies for humping a statue.
Where nobody minds being raped by blue people, aliens are treated like circus acts and people get voted to have lobotomies for humping a statue.
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Senator Balask, she's Xelayan, right?
I wasn't sold on The Orville at first, but it only took a few episodes to win me over.
I'm a sucker for a good space battle and this series knows how to put together a jaw dropping slugfest; the pandemonium they unleashed in that two-parter last season was glorious.
Nice surprise to see Bruce Boxleitner cast. Can't wait!
I'm a sucker for a good space battle and this series knows how to put together a jaw dropping slugfest; the pandemonium they unleashed in that two-parter last season was glorious.
Nice surprise to see Bruce Boxleitner cast. Can't wait!
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I only remember because it was around the same time as The Good Place was starting (or maybe I was starting to watch it) and I had a similar reaction to you -- "Sam's everywhere these days."
Did it though?
