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Discovery and "The Orville" Comparisons

I think in light of DIS and ORV I have finally come to the conclusion, that I am actually not a Star Trek fan. I am a fan of the way TNG told its stories. The spin offs DS9, VOY and ENT kept me entertained - not because they were "Star Trek", but because they kept parts of the way TNG told its stories which made me hold my interest. With DIS now I have come to the conclusion that my love relationship with the franchise has ended - because I never really loved the franchise itself, I just loved the way TNG told its stories.

If another show comes across that goes back to the way TNG told its stories, I become a fan of that show, because I personally actually don't care if it has "Star Trek" in its name or references Trek. I only care about the way a show tells its stories - and if it is "Star Trek", it is fine, and if it is not part of the Trek franchise, then it is fine for me too.

Which I personally think is a good thing, because you should never judge a book by its cover.

So, with DIS I finally say Good-Bye to "Star Trek". Because in the end I never was a fan of the franchise, just a fan of TNG and how it told its stories. ORV helped me realize that.

From this day forward, I will not call myself a Star Trek fan anymore. I am a fan of TNG type story telling (independend from the fact, that it is a show under the "Star Trek" brand name). That's pretty much it.


Rick Berman loves you.
 
I really wished I followed this, because I've heard it a couple of times but it doesn't make sense to me. Not sure how comedy makes drama more ridiculous...:shrug:

It just feels like it doesn't belong. I don't know how to quantify it, but it feels like one writer wrote serious scripts and then another, different writer came in afterwards to punch up the screenplay with jokes, but didn't alter any of the structure or surrounding dialog to make the humor fit. The different elements of the show don't sum to more than the individual parts.

Not all of the jokes are like that – I enjoyed the stuff with Bortis eating random objects at the breakfast table in episode 6 – but a lot of them are. And I have no problem with dramatic stories undercut with jokes, a lot of shows I love like BoJack Horseman and The Good Place operate the same way. But with Orville it just...doesn't...work. I get the feeling that McFarlane himself is not that interested in the humorous side of the show and so the jokes end up underdeveloped compared to everything else.
 
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It just feels like it doesn't belong. I don't know how to quantify it, but it feels like one writer wrote serious scripts and then another, different writer came in afterwards to punch up the screenplay with jokes, but didn't alter any of the structure or surrounding dialog to make the humor fit. The different elements of the show don't sum to more than the individual parts.

Not all of the jokes are like that – I enjoyed the stuff with Bortis eating random objects at the breakfast table in episode 6 – but a lot of them are. And I have no problem with dramatic stories undercut with jokes, a lot of shows I love like BoJack Horseman and The Good Place operate the same way. But with Orville it just...doesn't...work. I get the feeling that McFarlane himself is not that interested in the humorous side of the show and so the jokes need up underdeveloped compared to everything else.
I guess I have a different sense of humor then, since it doesn't feel out of place. The pacing is decent in most episodes. I think "Pria" would be one that stood out to me as kind of off for some reason. But it flows well. If the jokes don't land, they don't hold on them, but move on.

If there is a specific example that I might be able to get a better grasp of it. As it stands, I struggle to see the problem.
 
this is for me personally, its the way the comedy is delivered.

when they get serious on the orville its hard for me to take seriously because, for example, lamarr is such a dumbass at his actual job. so when the drama is around him dropping the ball so many times i just laugh and think "well you asked for that one"
 
this is for me personally, its the way the comedy is delivered.

when they get serious on the orville its hard for me to take seriously because, for example, lamarr is such a dumbass at his actual job. so when the drama is around him dropping the ball so many times i just laugh and think "well you asked for that one"
And I laugh because I realize that I've been in similar situations with people and their jobs.

I guess I strike a balance of serious and silly. It's ok to have both the serious and silly moments.
 
when they get serious on the orville its hard for me to take seriously because, for example, lamarr is such a dumbass at his actual job. so when the drama is around him dropping the ball so many times i just laugh and think "well you asked for that one"

No, LaMarr is great at his actual job: navigation and backup pilot. He's just a dumbass at most other things. Between this episode and "Krill," it's pretty clear that he and Malloy should never be trusted with missions that put them into contact with alien civilizations. Keep them on the bridge.

Not that I don't understand what you're saying, though.
 
Orville fans do love to compare it with TNG despite not having any Star Trek lore to back it up. At any rate discovery has a season 2 and might even reach 7 thanks to Star Trek fans. While there are rumors Orville might not have a season 2.

What rumors?... Scuttlebutt is that there will be a season 2 for Orville--crossing fingers.
 
Since this thread is open again and it's more appropriate here, I just want to point out that the DSC Klingons all have very unique looks. Skin colour, face paint, piercings, costuming. The important Klingons all look unique. I saw the preview and clips of Orville's Krill episode and they all looked identical. Same headpiece, same colour, same costume. Are they meant to be clones, or are they just being a lot less varied with their alien costuming?
 
No, LaMarr is great at his actual job: navigation and backup pilot. He's just a dumbass at most other things. Between this episode and "Krill," it's pretty clear that he and Malloy should never be trusted with missions that put them into contact with alien civilizations. Keep them on the bridge.

Not that I don't understand what you're saying, though.

When you're asked to go on a mission from your ship to the surface and perform a function, that's your job. Obeying your commanding officer, like the ships second in command is your job, there are lots of things that are his job, and in this episode he sucked at all the aspects of his job that were required of him.

He was being an utter dumbass at his actual job.
 
When you're asked to go on a mission from your ship to the surface and perform a function, that's your job. Obeying your commanding officer, like the ships second in command is your job, there are lots of things that are his job, and in this episode he sucked at all the aspects of his job that were required of him.

He was being an utter dumbass at his actual job.
I know lots of people that suck at their job.

I guess it just feels like real life to me.
 
Esthetics are TNG like. More TOS like in terms of command structure and less serious.

It's sort of a best of both worlds (pun intended).

One of the big things I missed with TNG was planet-of-the-week. Dispite the opening narration, TNG rarely if ever visited new planets and new civilizations for the first time. The Orville is doing that. At the same time, Orville is also engaging in talky diplomacy morality plays, which was TNG's staple. Also, while the production design is TNG, the music isn't Rick Berman sonic wallpaper snoozefest, but rather something more like the TOS movies. During action cues the music rises to the occasion rather than flattening it out the way it used to do on TNG.

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Since this thread is open again and it's more appropriate here, I just want to point out that the DSC Klingons all have very unique looks. Skin colour, face paint, piercings, costuming. The important Klingons all look unique. I saw the preview and clips of Orville's Krill episode and they all looked identical. Same headpiece, same colour, same costume. Are they meant to be clones, or are they just being a lot less varied with their alien costuming?

Might be a matter of budget,

That takes time, effort, money. Though the clone angle would be interesting.
 
I guess I have a different sense of humor then, since it doesn't feel out of place. The pacing is decent in most episodes. I think "Pria" would be one that stood out to me as kind of off for some reason. But it flows well. If the jokes don't land, they don't hold on them, but move on.

If there is a specific example that I might be able to get a better grasp of it. As it stands, I struggle to see the problem.
You didn't find the Mr potato head funny? It was like the first moment that I really laughed out loud...hard, in this show, and the dark humor that follows.
Might be a matter of budget,

That takes time, effort, money. Though the clone angle would be interesting.
If they look so different, why'd they have to paint red lines on that one guy's face? And make one an Albino?

I think that was so we can better tell them apart. There's a klingon in episode 6 that has scarring art(I forget what the practice is called)all over his face, like Native Americans used to do.
 
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