Going to start the Orville
- Thread starter ELCHawk
- Start date
Not at all, it's great
The first season was hammered by most professional critics, while actual viewers mostly loved it, creating a large discrepancy. By the time the second season rolled around, those critics had changed their tune, that it was worthy of praise. It was one of those rare instances where the critics were quite wrong and likely only viewed the first few episodes while making their final judgements. Quality-wise, the first and second seasons are actually fairly similar, but the second season is more sure in its footing.
I like Season 1 the best.
That's the point. TNG store brand.
No it isn't; critics hated it (most likely) because of of the humor, which I liked (there aren't enough dramedies on TV anyway), getting rid of that humor might be cool for them, but it makes the show be boring as its obvious source, TNG.
Do you like Strange New Worlds? The Orville is literally that, but with more cringe humour (and one outright problematic episode) and all the Star Trek trademarks scrubbed off.
Which is kind of fun. If imitation is a form of flattery, then the Orville being what it is, with Trek offering up a response to it in the form of SNW should mean that the Orville itself served up some inspiration.
My two cents:
After getting disgusted by Family Guy and its spinoffs, I almost never bothered. Much to my delight, the season 1 episodes were rather a clever mix of humor, parody, drama, and twists on sci-fi tropes. I enjoyed about 80% of the jokes, in fact, but did notice when some scenes started to feel forced.
A couple episodes feel like Star Trek was more a direct influence than others. Of those two, one was a lot more enjoyable. The other had its moments and innovated just enough, but it's the one season one story I have not revisited as much as the others.
Start this show from season one/episode one and watch in chronological folder. There are loose arcs built up.
Season one is pretty solid, especially for being a first year outing.
I would opine that season 2 is a little less effective on the whole, but not without some jaw-droppingly awesome moments and a couple jaw-droppingly awesome episodes. And one incredibly awful episode* considering how few episodes these seasons have. I do prefer season 1, but season 2 is solid and with its own set of strengths.
* It's got bad writing, bad execution, lazy acting due to lazy subject material, etc, the lot. Others really love it, but that ties into my conclusion:
Orville season one is nowhere near what some random review site said. IMDB's ratings have just as much weight (read: some but take it with a pinch of salt.) Heck, if Sisko and Ebert existed, don't listen to them either. The real point is this: If something looks potentially good, just try it out and decide for yourself. Entertainment and art ultimately boil down to what you, the individual audience member, get out of it.
I've not yet season 3. The premiere I had read up on and wasn't impressed by, but later episodes' synopses seem to have more promise.
And some really unfunny, uncomfortable, characters.
I just watched the new episode this afternoon: still going strong.
Which episode is problematic ?
Which episode are you talking about?
The one with the blue guy...
It's played for laughs, but Ed and Kelly (and previously, Kelly) are telepathically coerced into sex with the blue guy
Yep, that is a pretty disturbing one. The concept could be a worthy metaphor but it shouldn't have been played for laughs. A similar story was handled much better in an old She-Hulk comic.
I am into a few seasons of season 2. Still loving it. Although the one where Bortus got hooked to porn was probably the weakest episode so far. I did not mind the episode with Rob Lowe that made characters horny. Not my favorite but not bad. Much better than the fairy tale episode of SNW.
Bortus' relationship difficulties was probably the most believable of Season 2. Everything else was...eehh.
