I thought the exact same thing.
News Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville
- Thread starter Kai "the spy"
- Start date
I thought the exact same thing.
It was OK, considering all that has to be crammed in to first episode, but I will take more convincing to commit.
Going on a quarter-century after TNG, I was a little surprised that that was by far the most heavily referenced predecessor. The sets and decor, holodeck, music, VFX (the traveling starfield was identical to me), the "Worf" character, even the style of the act breaks. The Isaac actor was almost doing a Brent Spiner impression. My guess is that was all quite intentional, not only with TNG as probably the widest-remembered sci fi series, but also as a target, to deflate a little of that show's perceived self-importance and seriousness.
A lot of the humor seems to be based on "wouldn't it be funny if these serious, almost perfect science fiction characters had problems, neuroses, bodily functions etc. like regular people," and injecting life's mundane little annoyances into the futuristic setting.That's OK as far as it goes, but I don't know if it's sustainable. Likewise the "team of misfits" succeeding despite themselves is a little worn-out, I don't know how heavily they will go that direction, but I imagine it would wear thin over the long term.
My feeling was that the technical and production aspects got priority over the comedy. I don't know what audience they are going for exactly, but I didn't feel like it was a direct hit for either the casual-to-middling sci fi fan, or the Family Guy/Fox comedy fan. I think they have their work cut out for them, for sure.
Going on a quarter-century after TNG, I was a little surprised that that was by far the most heavily referenced predecessor. The sets and decor, holodeck, music, VFX (the traveling starfield was identical to me), the "Worf" character, even the style of the act breaks. The Isaac actor was almost doing a Brent Spiner impression. My guess is that was all quite intentional, not only with TNG as probably the widest-remembered sci fi series, but also as a target, to deflate a little of that show's perceived self-importance and seriousness.
A lot of the humor seems to be based on "wouldn't it be funny if these serious, almost perfect science fiction characters had problems, neuroses, bodily functions etc. like regular people," and injecting life's mundane little annoyances into the futuristic setting.That's OK as far as it goes, but I don't know if it's sustainable. Likewise the "team of misfits" succeeding despite themselves is a little worn-out, I don't know how heavily they will go that direction, but I imagine it would wear thin over the long term.
My feeling was that the technical and production aspects got priority over the comedy. I don't know what audience they are going for exactly, but I didn't feel like it was a direct hit for either the casual-to-middling sci fi fan, or the Family Guy/Fox comedy fan. I think they have their work cut out for them, for sure.
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MacFarlane is also a huge TNG fan. That would probably have a lot to do with it.
I think they need to find a way to merge the jokes and the other stuff together into a cohesive whole. Again, I'm comparing this to Red Dwarf and in that show the humor and other elements fit together perfectly, kind of like a Lister Sandwich!
In The Orville, it feels like he wrote a TNG episode and then grafted on some jokes. They feel tacked on rather than an integral part. And, the jokes often weren't as clever as RD. There were some nice touches though.
I did enjoy it moderately and will be watching more. I like how it's a parody of TNG. You can't take it too seriously because at its heart it's a parody. But, it lives and dies with its jokes, and those need some improvement.
If they find their groove, it could be a really good show. While they're not there yet, the potential exists.
Did anyone else get the subtle humor when the ship was leaving space dock? They basically recreated every shot of the Enterprise leaving spacedock ever, but they played it super straight. I was laughing at it and at the same time thinking that this is going to go over the heads of most viewers.
He's said he's a fan of TNG, TOS as well as things like the original Twilight Zone, which puts him on my good side.
I really liked the show, close to loved it just from the pilot, and will see how it goes from here. The humor and banter with the crew at points seemed pretty real to me, in that you have some amazingly capable or downright outstanding people at their jobs, and they'll crack a joke here and there while still able to do their work. I'm a paralegal doing documents for some loans, sometimes government-assisted ones for small businesses (those take a bit of concentration and are tedious). But I still turn around and crack a joke or lighten the mood once in a while, because constant focus on the job and situation will drive a normal person insane.
You want forced humor? Data with his emotion chip in Generations. That was something that was way overdone, and was something The Orville avoided, thankfully. The humor felt like it belonged to diffuse something before it got too melodramatic or tedious. Most of all, I was able to watch, smile and enjoy it, and escape from the world for an hour. I wish more TV was like that.
Even the music from Mercer and Malloy going to Orville to the leaving dock was a straight nod to the TOS movies! And one nod to "The Cage" during that sequence as well!
Yeah, that was a great nod to Star Trek. They basically recreated the lingering shot over the E like we got in the movies.
I have to agree, one drawback to this show at least for a casual audience is there's a lot of stuff here, both subtle and overt that you pretty much need to be a huge Trek fan to get. Or even some familiarity with military*, like a scene I enjoyed, when Mercer is introducing the other officers with him to the scientists by their name and position on the ship, we get some amusing word play when he refers to Grayson (who had been repeatedly referred to as the XO throughout the episode to this point) as "the ex-wife." That was a scene where I laughed and realized it wasn't a joke everyone would get.
*Yes, I did say military. They actually have established in this very episode the service the characters are part of is a military, meaning we should be able to avoid that argument for this show. Though I'm sure there are those who will argue the opposite because it's not 100% accurate to how a military should behave.
Also, I'm withhold comment that a show about a space exploration service that has many Star Trek people involved with it, is deciding to call the organization the show is about military while making it a carbon copy of Starfleet...
Well, that wasn't quite as bad as I feared. It has the light-hearted sci-fi fun of Eureka that I hoped for, but it does needs to severely reduce the obtrusive and unnecessary humor that it forcibly injects into many scenes. It's not just most of those jokes aren't funny, but they slow down the momentum of the scenes.
I liked the various references to Star Trek, from the slow approach to the Orville while in space dock to the aesthetic of the universe. The Krill are a bit too much like the Jem'hadar (as well as Farscape's Scarrans) but hopefully they'll get some fleshing out as the series progress considering they're set up as the big bad guys of the universe.
One thing I really liked about the show is the camaraderie between Malloy and LaMarr. Their relationship and the banter they share with each other reminds me of my time in the Navy among enlisted sailors. Certain comments they make such as inquiring about bars and strip clubs and "We're not getting until 5, are we?" as well the gossiping (or scuttlebutt as we called it), especially reminds me of sailors. I hope we see more of this particular aspect of the show and less of the squabbling between Mercer and Grayson, which was by far my least favorite part.
There's definite potential in the show and room to grow, but there's also a lot to the show that leaves little to desire for. Hopefully McFarlane focuses on the right parts.
I liked the various references to Star Trek, from the slow approach to the Orville while in space dock to the aesthetic of the universe. The Krill are a bit too much like the Jem'hadar (as well as Farscape's Scarrans) but hopefully they'll get some fleshing out as the series progress considering they're set up as the big bad guys of the universe.
One thing I really liked about the show is the camaraderie between Malloy and LaMarr. Their relationship and the banter they share with each other reminds me of my time in the Navy among enlisted sailors. Certain comments they make such as inquiring about bars and strip clubs and "We're not getting until 5, are we?" as well the gossiping (or scuttlebutt as we called it), especially reminds me of sailors. I hope we see more of this particular aspect of the show and less of the squabbling between Mercer and Grayson, which was by far my least favorite part.
There's definite potential in the show and room to grow, but there's also a lot to the show that leaves little to desire for. Hopefully McFarlane focuses on the right parts.
I was expecting one of the space suited dock workers to do a flip, but I didn't see that.
Yeah, I had already gotten that sense before going into the show. Alara Kitan's character background reminds me of Zak Kebron and the make-up around her brow and eyes reminds me of Soleta as seen on the cover of Fire on High. After seeing the first episode, the style is also rather similar to New Frontier with its ship full of misfits, including the former coupling of the CO and XO.
Yeah, I was also immediately reminded of that scene.
Yup, I had a similar reaction to that scene. As I mentioned in my review, the similarities to Navy life in this show really appealed to me as a former sailor. I hope they play up that aspect of the show.
All the "humor" took me out of the ostensible plot. It sounds from reviews that they will later tackle serious what-ifs and topical issues like gender norms. If that is interspersed with fart and dick-drawing jokes, and oh, hey, a sci-fi character saying "dude" and drinking a beer. . . that's gonna really take me out of any legit point/story they're trying to make.
Next you're going to tell us to stop using the Wilhelm Scream!
EDIT: Actually, the Howie Scream is more en vogue now.
Yep. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Patrick Stewart on the Orville later this season, especially given his collaborative history with McFarlane.
By the way, to add to the TNG'ness, I noticed that Brannon Braga was an executive producer.
YES! Thank you!