News Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville
- Thread starter Kai "the spy"
- Start date
Iron Man's attitude matches his situation. There's a demarcation between situations that call for sarcasm and situations that call for seriousness. Orville has no such demarcation, so the serious scenes end up having no seriousness. It has a lot more of a Brooklyn Nine Nine vibe where they are in serious dangerous situations and approach them with a silly attitude.
That makes it more of a comedy with adventure than an adventure with comedy.
Yeah, really not worrying about that.
I agree, it definitely felt a lot more B99 than MASH. That's not a bad thing necessarily - I'd love a Brooklyn 99 in space and they do a great job of addressing serious subjects all the time - but I'm not sure that's what they were aiming for and it could get old fast if not balanced well. It is the pilot of course and both sci-fi and comedy can be genres that take a couple episodes to gel so I'll stick around.
I will say that it was more restrained than I expected for a Seth McFarlane show.
We won. Our QB stunk up the first half. Our defense was solid the whole game (WHAT?). What else needed to be discussed?
I don't watch much, but man was that crass, especially for a show at 8. Not my cup of tea. Or, should I say, "balls" as the Show did, about every four minutes, it seemed. Just wasn't funny to me.
Weird show. The repeated obvious attempts at humor really interupt the flow, though the flow was a meaningless running-shooting-escaping plot: No new concept or what-if, so it wasn't good sci-fi. Weird. Hmm, looking for a positive. Music was better than Berman-era.
Weird show. The repeated obvious attempts at humor really interupt the flow, though the flow was a meaningless running-shooting-escaping plot: No new concept or what-if, so it wasn't good sci-fi. Weird. Hmm, looking for a positive. Music was better than Berman-era.
I have to say that wasn't a disappointment...
Not stunningly funny but, that's offset by the fact that it had a fairly well written story and good action mixed in. This could grow on me.
Not stunningly funny but, that's offset by the fact that it had a fairly well written story and good action mixed in. This could grow on me.
Yeah, unlike say Futurama or even Red Dwarf or Hyperdrive the characters don't seem quite right. Instead of character-driven humor it seems like applying old-fashioned slob humor where it just doesn't belong. The helmsman is the worst, I don't see why that character would appeal to anyone and the navigator can't deliver lines to save his life. Jokes about wearing shorts and drinking coke on the bridge just don't seem to be going anywhere fast. I feel bad for Penny Johnson who seems to be trying so earnestly.
I think MacFarlane could get away with that on shows like Family Guy where the jokes are coming a dozen a minute but it feels out of place here. Also, I think some jokes could work better without calling attention to themselves as well. Like the dog licking himself onscreen didn't need the immediate callout afterwards, just let it work.
The tepid humor along with the homage to a long out-of-date style, I don't see this lasting very long. I didn't hate it but it certainly didn't seem like essential TV. I'll probably watch it because it's SF and I'm a fan of the genre but I don't see it grabbing casual viewers. Contemporary products like Guardians of the Galaxy are doing it in both a more natural manner and more relevant style. This might have worked better before products like Star Trek had already reinvented themselves.
The parts that were basically 1990s Star Trek with the serial numbers barely filed off worked for me. The humor did not. Overall, it was tonally messy.
It was, I realized, a lot like what a Star Trek: New Frontier television series would've been like.
It was, I realized, a lot like what a Star Trek: New Frontier television series would've been like.
I thought it was pretty fun. It was like "what if TNG didn't take itself so seriously" and/or "if the characters were silly and flawed rather than perfect and virtuous."
Certainly this is not to be taken seriously or (as others have foolishly suggested) as a substitute for DSC...but it seems like it could be a charming, good time each week.
I'll be back next week.
Certainly this is not to be taken seriously or (as others have foolishly suggested) as a substitute for DSC...but it seems like it could be a charming, good time each week.
I'll be back next week.
Premises that very nearly qualify as science fiction themselves.
Rough start. I understand now what some critics were saying about the episode not knowing if it is a comedy or drama/adventure.
The jokes were just as lame as they appeared in the trailers. They made The Big Bang Theory look like the height of subtlety. The "dude", "man" dialogue between the two crewmen had me rolling my eyes. It's the 25th century. Why would they still be talking this way? I don't mind the two guys being "bros", but they need to not make it so obvious that these are our "bro" characters.
The story was as one dimensional as it gets, with an ending that was so obvious that I thought for a second it was a setup for something...less obvious. I was wrong. In fact, I dozed off and missed the ship being saved and rolled back the DVR so I could at least see how it looked when the tree grew in the alien did ship.
The one thing I did like, Adrienne's cheating on Seth storyline, was undercut considerably when she predictably blamed him for what happened.
First episode was as predictable and obvious. But, maybe it'll get better. I don't think can get any worse.
The jokes were just as lame as they appeared in the trailers. They made The Big Bang Theory look like the height of subtlety. The "dude", "man" dialogue between the two crewmen had me rolling my eyes. It's the 25th century. Why would they still be talking this way? I don't mind the two guys being "bros", but they need to not make it so obvious that these are our "bro" characters.
The story was as one dimensional as it gets, with an ending that was so obvious that I thought for a second it was a setup for something...less obvious. I was wrong. In fact, I dozed off and missed the ship being saved and rolled back the DVR so I could at least see how it looked when the tree grew in the alien did ship.
The one thing I did like, Adrienne's cheating on Seth storyline, was undercut considerably when she predictably blamed him for what happened.
First episode was as predictable and obvious. But, maybe it'll get better. I don't think can get any worse.
This sums up my thoughts almost perfectly. It was funny, I liked the off-tempo pacing. The characters seemed human in contrast to the super-perfection of Trek. I enjoyed and laughed. It had serious, but it was just good.
The first half hour was a bit rough but it actually got better in the second half hour. Loved the Arbor day gag and the repair guy outside the ship as Mercer and Grayson were having a conversation. I might watch a few more to see if I start to really like it.
I REALLY liked it! The cast of characters are great, the ship design (exterior and interior) is cool, and the humor gave me a few good chuckles!
A fun watch.
Bring on the next 12 episodes!
A fun watch.
Bring on the next 12 episodes!
I got to say, I was underwhelmed. While flashy & action packed, etc... it fell short of the "Family Guy"/ "Ted" level humor that the ads implied. Maybe that's because he was trying to have a broader primetime appeal, but still, the comedy is not up to snuff.
It also fell short in its unexpected/ ill-fitting dramatic context. A lot of that is because it's an odd mix with the comedy.
It didn't come off as it's own thing very well, like it needed to use the Trek genre as a crutch & neither did it come off as a true parody of Star Trek. (Which is probably a good thing), which was the initial impression I got from the ads.
It kind of played like a very weak knockoff, band-aided with some gags, & it won't help running against Walking Dead, & NFL. I don't think it's got that kind of juice. None of the characters seemed all that engaging for what will be expected of them. Plus, anything genuine, & true to itself, was unfortunately left in the hands of McFarlane himself... & no one likes that guy.
Seriously. His screen presence may be one of the most repellant I've ever seen, which is why that western he starred in tanked, & his vast success has come from being a disembodied voice actor. His plastic dopey face & mannerisms combine together to yell "I'm a weasely D-bag. Don't like me". I'm convinced the only part that guy can play in live action & be believable is Martin Shkreli.
I really did tune in hoping to like it. I like Ted & Family Guy, & it wasn't terrible per say. I was ready to give this a chance, but it just didn't land imho. I don't know where they're going to get an audience for this
It also fell short in its unexpected/ ill-fitting dramatic context. A lot of that is because it's an odd mix with the comedy.
It didn't come off as it's own thing very well, like it needed to use the Trek genre as a crutch & neither did it come off as a true parody of Star Trek. (Which is probably a good thing), which was the initial impression I got from the ads.
It kind of played like a very weak knockoff, band-aided with some gags, & it won't help running against Walking Dead, & NFL. I don't think it's got that kind of juice. None of the characters seemed all that engaging for what will be expected of them. Plus, anything genuine, & true to itself, was unfortunately left in the hands of McFarlane himself... & no one likes that guy.
Seriously. His screen presence may be one of the most repellant I've ever seen, which is why that western he starred in tanked, & his vast success has come from being a disembodied voice actor. His plastic dopey face & mannerisms combine together to yell "I'm a weasely D-bag. Don't like me". I'm convinced the only part that guy can play in live action & be believable is Martin Shkreli.
I really did tune in hoping to like it. I like Ted & Family Guy, & it wasn't terrible per say. I was ready to give this a chance, but it just didn't land imho. I don't know where they're going to get an audience for this
Last edited:
Who cares? Some folks talk this way now.
If every week were like this week I'd be happy. I understand that's not the case.