When he fist started speaking I thought it was Brent Spiner. That actor had a good impression of him
News Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville
- Thread starter Kai "the spy"
- Start date
Based on my observation, that is not a majority held opinion.
In my opinion and the prevailing opinion of those I've talked to, there's enough comedy that it diffuses all dramatic tension and sense of jeopardy, but not enough that it works strictly as a comedy.
Or rather, the amount of comedy is not the problem so much as the placement.
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I bought the season pass on VUDU after watching the premiere. Here's hoping this will continue to be one of those incredibly rare television series as of late that I can continue to watch while managing to hold down my stomach's contents.
Looks more Yonic to me.
My wife kept swearing it was Spiner while we watched.
I have a feeling that he'll play like Roger from American Dad to a degree. Complete with the reason he was sent was because he was seen as unimportant on his world.
Ripped from (way back in) the Orville's twitter:
I like 'em!
Although in that shot of most of the crew, the orange and red shirts were difficult to distinguish from each other. (Also a lot of people in coveralls in that shot!) Also interesting that apparently Mercer, Grayson, and Bortus are the only three with blue shirts.
What an interesting signage!
- the green one (an universal color) to indicates medical care (with its cross) AND the scientific research, which covers a wider field , not necessarily related to care (with its atomic symbol).
- the yellow one for Engineering,
- the red one for Security (in fact, it looks like McFee Security's icon or like helmets worn in Power Rangers and/or japonese shows like Bioman),
- the dark blue (or black) is for Command (but it makes me think to a famous
brand for beauty products sold in Europe). What is the meaning of this symbol?
In any case, the uniforms do not seem very comfortable to wear for actors!
The Command symbol is also seen as the Planetary Union emblem on Headquarters and behind Halsey's desk. To me, it looks like the lines curve into the form of a spaceship or retro rocketship. Could also be the top view of the main hull of the Orville.
Or the Medical Marijuana Division.
So my take on the Orville pilot:
Overall it was ok, maybe a B-. It was entertaining, not great, but worth watching further to see if they can improve. Maybe I am just too used to modern Star Trek's two-hour pilots, but I felt that this was fine for a regular weekly episode, but didn't do enough to give any real information or characterization to the universe or to the characters. Hopefully, subsequent episodes will flesh things out.
Pros:
- After seeing the unimpressive jokes of the trailer I was actually surprised that many other jokes did work.
- I liked the CGI on Earth and the shipyard (reminded me of Enterprise CGI, but significantly better).
- For acting, the little character moments (Justin the Ogre, Bortas, Malloy, minor crew interactions) were good, though there were no big or amazing performances.
- The music was good. Very TNG-ish, but not sonic wallpaper.
Neutrals:
- Seth was ok. In fact, all the actors were pretty much ok.
- The direction was ok. It got the point across, but didn't really do much to enhance the show.
- The plot wasn't particularly strong, just enough to get through the hour.
Cons:
- The science for the temporal field etc., made no sense (but it was fun if you ignored that part).
- Outside of the two main characters, you didn't really get any understanding of the other characters beyond the one-line description that Mercer read off in the cargo bay: goof off helmsman, goof off navigator, strong security chief, serious all-male race 2nd officer, smart doctor, and racist robot (who didn't do anything remotely racist in the whole episode).
- The space combat scene, while it was nice to show superior maneuverability for the Orville (unlike TNG ships), was pretty terrible. The Krill ship sat still doing nothing but firing mostly ineffectively. The special effects were poorer than those shown in the rest of the episode - until the shields failed and the engine sections got damaged there was no external indication that the weapons systems were anything stronger than flashlights despite all the internal jumping around and exploding.
- The ground combat scene was similarly poor. There was no sense of menace or threat. The Krill were very much stormtroooper-like, dying by the handful, and hitting nothing. The whole sequence looked like they were shooting on location and didn't want to risk damaging anything.
- Didn't really learn anything about the Planetary Union/the bad guys/the larger setting of the universe.
Nitpick:
- Why was the shuttle bay access located inside the rings of the engines? They had to dodge in between the rings every time. That seems to just be asking for a collision. You could put the access on the sides, nose, top, bottom - anywhere else!
Overall it was ok, maybe a B-. It was entertaining, not great, but worth watching further to see if they can improve. Maybe I am just too used to modern Star Trek's two-hour pilots, but I felt that this was fine for a regular weekly episode, but didn't do enough to give any real information or characterization to the universe or to the characters. Hopefully, subsequent episodes will flesh things out.
Pros:
- After seeing the unimpressive jokes of the trailer I was actually surprised that many other jokes did work.
- I liked the CGI on Earth and the shipyard (reminded me of Enterprise CGI, but significantly better).
- For acting, the little character moments (Justin the Ogre, Bortas, Malloy, minor crew interactions) were good, though there were no big or amazing performances.
- The music was good. Very TNG-ish, but not sonic wallpaper.
Neutrals:
- Seth was ok. In fact, all the actors were pretty much ok.
- The direction was ok. It got the point across, but didn't really do much to enhance the show.
- The plot wasn't particularly strong, just enough to get through the hour.
Cons:
- The science for the temporal field etc., made no sense (but it was fun if you ignored that part).
- Outside of the two main characters, you didn't really get any understanding of the other characters beyond the one-line description that Mercer read off in the cargo bay: goof off helmsman, goof off navigator, strong security chief, serious all-male race 2nd officer, smart doctor, and racist robot (who didn't do anything remotely racist in the whole episode).
- The space combat scene, while it was nice to show superior maneuverability for the Orville (unlike TNG ships), was pretty terrible. The Krill ship sat still doing nothing but firing mostly ineffectively. The special effects were poorer than those shown in the rest of the episode - until the shields failed and the engine sections got damaged there was no external indication that the weapons systems were anything stronger than flashlights despite all the internal jumping around and exploding.
- The ground combat scene was similarly poor. There was no sense of menace or threat. The Krill were very much stormtroooper-like, dying by the handful, and hitting nothing. The whole sequence looked like they were shooting on location and didn't want to risk damaging anything.
- Didn't really learn anything about the Planetary Union/the bad guys/the larger setting of the universe.
Nitpick:
- Why was the shuttle bay access located inside the rings of the engines? They had to dodge in between the rings every time. That seems to just be asking for a collision. You could put the access on the sides, nose, top, bottom - anywhere else!
I think part of my excitement with this series is being able to watch from the beginning, to gather information as we go. It's fun, and it isn't bogged down with arguments over supposing this or that. It's a fun watch, something I've enjoyed even on repeat viewings (and will watch the encore tonight!)
There's definitely something to be said about not arguing the status of Starfleet for the umpteenth time.
The Orville is fun, and its universe is wide open for us to explore. I seriously doubt that Discovery delivers us anything major we don't already know about the Star Trek universe.
I will admit I was wrong about The Orville. I thought it would be just a string of stupid jokes set on a starship. But as it got closer to the premiere, watching interviews with MacFarlane and the cast, it started to change my opinion a bit.
Then watching it, I really love this show! Should FOX screw it up, I'd love to see it find a home to continue on Netflix or something, because it does deserve to get a chance. A fun Sci-Fi adventure series, what a concept!
I'm still very much looking forward to Discovery, but this has been quite a nice surprise!
I want to love Discovery (I've already started my subscription to All-Access), but everything about it so far has just been very "meh". I don't know if it is just that there is so much Trek out there that what they've shown doesn't feel particularly special, or I've just moved on from Trek. Right now, it just feels very much "been there, done that".
I will confess something here: when I watched The Orville, my excitement for Discovery was tempered a little.
And @Skipper: The Planetary Union is a peacekeeping armada. If you cross them, you'll get wood!
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And do they use/have money in PUF?
Lt. Kitan said she was fast-tracked for chief of security when she joined the military.
So.... Yes!
Just as much as Starfleet, which is to say yes.