They needed to end it after three seasons so that they could get started on the cartoon, followed by a movie series and a dozen spin-offs. Seth MacFarlane takes his homages seriously.
Which is better, The Orville or Lower Decks?
- Thread starter The Overlord
- Start date
Chances are about on par with that fourth Kelvin Universe movie Paramount keeps announcing over and over again to try and attract investors.
I admit I am one of the people who got less and less interested in the Orville the more it moved from its comedy format.
I wanted THE OFFICE in Space and Seth wanted to tell an actual serious sci-fi drama.
I'm sorry, but that's not what I'm here for.
I wanted THE OFFICE in Space and Seth wanted to tell an actual serious sci-fi drama.
I'm sorry, but that's not what I'm here for.
I wish that the sitcom from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia producers, Boldly Going Nowhere, went further than the pilot stage, it was exactly what you’ve described.
Also, I recommend Other Space, it was an excellent 1 season Trek-inspired workplace sitcom, with a lot of VOY influence, and Rutherford’s VA Eugene Cordero was a series regular, and as fantastic as he is on LD. In the US it’s available on Amazon Prime’s commercial-programming channel, FreeVee.
Other Space was pretty funny. I tend to like cheesy stuff and that really fit the bill. Plus, it has Milana Vayntrub.
Don't forget Space Force, with Tawny Newsome (Beckett Mariner) as a regular. Though this one may be done as well. Nutflix gave it a somewhat abbreviated second season.
You’d be right there! They announced I think in the last month that SF wouldn’t be coming back. Hopefully Tawny, and Jimmy O. Yang will star in something else good in the near future.
When I lived in LA I was lucky enough to see Tawny perform a couple times with her former castmates from a great reality show parody called Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, which included both Eugene Cordero and Doctor Migleemo himself, Paul F. Tompkins. They’re among the best improv performers around.
The comparison is less and less every episode because The Orville has abandoned being a comedy and Seth has admitted he has no interest in doing comedy sci-fi. It was just how he sold the show to Fox.
Which frustrated me greatly. If I go back to the show it won't be what drew me in in the first place.
MacFarlane always wanted the show to be serious sci-fi and originally pitched it to Fox as such. It was Fox who insisted on it being "Family Guy in space." And even then, it was mostly the promotional material for the first season that generated that impression. One can tell even in the earliest episodes, there was a serious show in there fighting to get out.
Which is a shame for those of us who wanted to watch a comedy and felt tricked.
There are always upcoming Futurama episodes.
There are all kinds of sitcoms that can assuage your comedy jones. The 'comedy' of The Orville was forced, at best. I think the only time I actually laughed out loud was when Ed and Bortas were playing Hot Potato and the ball's blades stabbed through Ed's hands.
I made the mistake of originally brushing off the show because of Fox's promotional materials/ trailers which made the show indeed look like Family Guy in space. The jokes were not funny and I was put right off what I thought was a bad parody of TNG. Even when I finally watched the first episode, it was a slog until the final scene. Then I realized there was something more going on than just a silly bad-joke-laden version of TNG (which is what I initially felt Lower Decks was, and while it definitely has redeeming qualities, I find it to be slightly more irritating than the first episode of The Orville.)
I made the mistake of originally brushing off the show because of Fox's promotional materials/ trailers which made the show indeed look like Family Guy in space. The jokes were not funny and I was put right off what I thought was a bad parody of TNG. Even when I finally watched the first episode, it was a slog until the final scene. Then I realized there was something more going on than just a silly bad-joke-laden version of TNG (which is what I initially felt Lower Decks was, and while it definitely has redeeming qualities, I find it to be slightly more irritating than the first episode of The Orville.)
By contrast, the idea of a slice of life comedy in space dealing with the oddities of a quirky cast of Barclays and Tillys was far-far more interesting than anything Seth MacFarlane can do with their Kayson or Krill adventures. Holoporn, interspecies dating, and more work so much better as well as to his strengths than dramatic writing. It is the waste of a good premise and I'm sorry to see the show went down that route.
Mind you, my opinion is biased because I'm a comedy writer.
Mind you, my opinion is biased because I'm a comedy writer.
The holoporn episode (which wasn't actually written by MacFarlane) was what I thought of as one of Orville's weaker episodes, as it was trying too hard to be funny and failing as a result. It and another episode about a planet which is governed by astrology are Orville's only misfires, IMO.
I find the holoporn episode well done but definitely not fitting in with how the characters treat it. Borus and his husband feel like real people in that moment.
For me, it and Gordon's love affair with a holo program are the highest points of the Orville.
Stories not about big epic space adventures but life in space and exploring the consequences of new technology.
I have mixed feelings on the Mochlan trans/homosexual persecution episodes for the same reasons Jesse Gender does or they'd be ranked higher.
Considering the first two episodes of Orville's third season, I'm going to say Lower Decks. I know some of the humor has been a little over the top in the first season, but I miss the "friends at a bar" vibe the show had from the second season. The show has gotten a little too serious.
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