Seth MacFarlane Created "The Orville" To Fulfill A Need Star Trek Had Abandoned

[Danja]

Seth MacFarlane Created The Orville To Fulfill A Need Star Trek Had Abandoned - SlashFilm

When Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane came up with the sci-fi comedy series The Orville, he was trying to scratch a specific Star Trek itch.

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MacFarlane was clearly trying to recreate the vibe he remembers from Gene Roddenberry's show. Specifically, he loved the original show's sense of pacifism, something he carried over into "The Orville." MacFarlane said:

"I'm a huge fan and always have been. Gene Roddenberry's philosophy was always very meaningful to me when I was a kid. I always loved that the phasers were set on stun. That was something you really only saw on that show. That there was actually an ethical code, that it wasn't about just shooting faceless bad guys. It was about respect for life. That was the philosophy of the show, and I swear to God that's the reason that if I find a spider in my house, I've got to put it outside. I can't kill it."

Star Trek: Picard absolutely skewered whatever pacifist impulses Trek may have had in the past.

The show made it absolutely clear that diplomacy was only going to get you so far and that there are forces in the universe that are hell-bent on total annihilation.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm glad he got the opportunity to do so.

Star Trek has struggled with enemies since TNG and the Borg or the Crystalline Entity. There were forces that required combat. We see that even with the amount of conflicts that are referenced in TNG, with the Tholians, Cardassians, Tzenkethi, and Tallerians. Even with Lore, there was no pacifist way out.

Star Trek threaded the action adventure sandbox with diplomacy at times but large threats always demanded action.

 

[Danja]

Star Trek threaded the action adventure sandbox with diplomacy at times but large threats always demanded action.

Look at Star Trek: First Contact.

 

[JD]

Yeah, as much they claimed to be pacifists who preferred diplomacy, they're phasers and photon torpedoes sure did get a lot use.

 

[Steve Roby]

Seth McFarlane created The Orville to make dick jokes in space.

 

[Denise]

I watched two episodes of it and couldn't watch any more after they changed the baby's sex from female to male.

 

[Anwar]

Seth MacFarlane Created The Orville To Fulfill A Need Star Trek Had Abandoned - SlashFilm

When Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane came up with the sci-fi comedy series The Orville, he was trying to scratch a specific Star Trek itch.

www.slashfilm.com

Star Trek: Picard absolutely skewered whatever pacifist impulses Trek may have had in the past.

The show made it absolutely clear that diplomacy was only going to get you so far and that there are forces in the universe that are hell-bent on total annihilation.

Uh, TOS did that way earlier. Look at Wrath of Khan, no diplomacy there.

 

[The Wormhole]

The Orville is a great show and I enjoyed it for the most part, but this constant dick waving between its fans and Star Trek ones over who did it better is rather tiresome, particularly now, three and a half years after Orville's last season aired with no real idea when or even if there's going to be a fourth. And I say that as someone who once called The Orville Star Trek's true spiritual successor.

Also, I'm seeing some rather unnuanced views on Star Trek in this thread. Yes, Star Trek has almost always been about peaceful exploration and diplomacy over violence, but when there's a serious threat Starfleet has no qualms over resorting to violence, even if it means shooting first. That's been the case in TOS, it was even the case in TNG despite its reputation as the utopian Star Trek that was always optimistic to the point of naiveté.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

The Orville is a great show and I enjoyed it for the most part, but this constant dick waving between its fans and Star Trek ones over who did it better is rather tiresome, particularly now, three and a half years after Orville's last season aired with no real idea when or even if there's going to be a fourth. And I say that as someone who once called The Orville Star Trek's true spiritual successor.

Also, I'm seeing some rather unnuanced views on Star Trek in this thread. Yes, Star Trek has almost always been about peaceful exploration and diplomacy over violence, but when there's a serious Starfleet has no qualms over resorting to violence, even if it means shooting first. That's been the case in TOS, it was even the case in TNG despite its reputation as the utopian Star Trek that was always optimistic to the point of naiveté.

One thousand times this. I'm also so very tired of this argument.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Look at Star Trek: First Contact.

Not to mention A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR and FRIDAY'S CHILD, among other TOS classics. Revenge, Captain? Why not?

 

[Starflight]

Not a fan of the Orville, but he's right about this:

Star Trek' has chosen to go along a different path or try something different than what they've done before, which is great. But it's also left a wide, open space for the kind of episodic science fiction that they used to do, and I still have a huge appetite for that. I feel like a lot of people, a lot of fans do as well

I'm surprised more people haven't taken a crack at making their own Star Trek-esque shows. I think he's right that there's an appetite for pre-streaming style television in general.

I think he's also right that non-violence was a core recurring theme in the shows - yeah you can be like "but they shot the Salt Vampire!!!", but MacFarlane's correct in that the aggregate impression you get from watching the series as a whole (or at least, TOS/TNG/Voyager) is generally that Starfleet come across as heavily reluctant to use lethal force, moreso than in the vast majority of other sci-fi series, to the point where it stands out as awkward/off-brand writing when they do things like blast Remmick's head off or casually blow up a Malon freighter.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Not a fan of the Orville, but he's right about this:

Star Trek' has chosen to go along a different path or try something different than what they've done before, which is great. But it's also left a wide, open space for the kind of episodic science fiction that they used to do, and I still have a huge appetite for that. I feel like a lot of people, a lot of fans do as well​

I'm surprised more people haven't taken a crack at making their own Star Trek-esque shows. I think he's right that there's an appetite for pre-streaming style television in general.

I agree on this point at least and, as someone who loves serial-based Trek, I think the franchise should lean more back in this direction. I would argue Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds manage to capture the right balance between episodic and serial storytelling.

I think he's also right that non-violence was a core recurring theme in the shows - yeah you can be like "but they shot the Salt Vampire!!!", but MacFarlane's correct in that the aggregate impression you get from watching the series as a whole (or at least, TOS/TNG/Voyager) is generally that Starfleet come across as heavily reluctant to use lethal force, moreso than in the vast majority of other sci-fi series, to the point where it stands out as awkward/off-brand writing when they do things like blast Remmick's head off or casually blow up a Malon freighter.

I would say Deep Space 9 did, too. Yes, the Dominion War took over the premise in the final two seasons but that was after several seasons of trying to maintain the peace and war was the absolute last resort...which is the very essence of Star Trek.

 

[Danja]

I agree on this point at least and, as someone who loves serial-based Trek, I think the franchise should lean more back in this direction. I would argue Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds manage to capture the right balance between episodic and serial storytelling.

At least, SNW did before it veered into campy and OTT.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Agree to disagree on that point. I love every minute of it.

(And it's not like TOS was never campy and OTT...)

 

[Ovation]

At least, SNW did before it veered into campy and OTT.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm glad he got the opportunity to do so.

Same. And I get it might not have been for everyone, but I felt like it embodied the spirit of Past Trek. I liked its storytelling opportunities. It was fun to see something that could be lighthearted and still manage to explore serious themes.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Yeah, as much they claimed to be pacifists who preferred diplomacy, they're phasers and photon torpedoes sure did get a lot use.

Not enough n my opinion.
Romulus should have been a smouldering hunk of rock after their fourth attempt to invade the Federation.

Oh wait...

 

[Steve Roby]

Not a fan of the Orville, but he's right about this:

I'm surprised more people haven't taken a crack at making their own Star Trek-esque shows. I think he's right that there's an appetite for pre-streaming style television in general.

The Berman Trek model, which was the most successful period in Star Trek's history in terms of ratings, was 26 mostly standalone episodes a year. The Orville, with a network supporting it and the showrunner of some of that network's hit programs, managed to do 36 episodes in three seasons. Unless there's a major shakeup that ends up in a lot of consolidation in the streaming space and a massive viewer shift back to broadcast and cable TV, we're not going back there for anything as niche as a science fiction TV series. Even Star Wars hasn't attempted to do a 26 episode season of anything, or any length of season of a weekly live action Star Wars broadcast TV series. If CBS/Paramount has given up on that model, Fox couldn't make it work, and Disney doesn't even want to try to go there, who would be able to make it work?

 

[Set Harth]

Even Star Wars hasn't attempted to do a 26 episode season of anything

The closest it came to that was in some of the animated shows: TCW did 22 episodes in each of its first four seasons, while the second and third seasons of Rebels were 22 episodes in length.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I hope his appetite for this is still huge and the rumors of a season 4 are true.