The Orville (Star Trek parody) looks better than the new Star Trek.

[Adami]

I really liked co-pilot dude's role in this episode. He was there for a minute and said nothing.

They finally got him right.

[Orbert]

This one pretty much focused on Dr. Finn, her kids, and Isaac, which is cool.  Gave it a different vibe.

[abydos]

Didn't really like that one, as 99.9% of things that involve kids it sucked. Isaac carried it and made it watchable.

[BlobVanDam]

Despite the kids having the role of acting like shits for an hour, I found them surprisingly tolerable and redeemable. I agree that 99.9% of things that involve kids suck, but this actually fit into the 0.1% for me. I'm not saying I'd want to see them again, but if they showed up again, I wouldn't be bothered by it.

[soupytwist]

Just caught up with the latest episode.  Hmmm weakest since the first two.  The Orville is derivative, and this was written by Brannon (17 shuttles crashed in Voyager) Braga.   So guess what happens in this episode......Shuttle crash, survival, rescue - played straight.   So basically it's any number of ST episode, rolled into one dull 45 minutes.  We get some cornball 'Robots learns human ways' from some kids we've never seen before, and hopefully won't again.  I suppose if this were a real ST episode the Doctor would have cured the cannibalism - but I can't tell if it wasn't done due to halfarsed writing or trying to subvert expectations.

Until this episode The Orville had been improving.  I'll give it a pass because this was Braga writing 101.  Hopefully they can get Ira Steven Behr to write an episode next season!

[BlobVanDam]

This episode had a bit of a Naked Now thing going on. The solution was a bit predictable, and I wasn't a big fan of it. It was manipulative and would have ended up worse once the pheromone wore off. Overall perhaps my least favourite episode, but it was still ok.

[soupytwist]

Finally The Orville doesn't rip off an episode of TNG or TOS.....it's progressed to ripping of DS9 (the one where Lwaxana Troi turns up and have some virus that makes the cast fall in love with each other).  Oh and throw in one of those two bland warring factions having delegates meeting on the ship (two many ST episodes to mention) subplots.

Anyway I hated this episode, as it was a full on comedy episode (straight person having there mind altered to act gay....ha fucking ha, and sexual harassment comedy, really? ) and I just don't find the comedy writing on this show very funny, so your enjoyment will vary depending on how funny you find the show in general.

After improving for a while the last two episodes have been boring/annoying again. 

[soupytwist]

Double post.

[El Barto]

I'll point out something I've been saying for years. YOu take any 24 episode season of any of the ST franchizes and you'll probably find ~16 pretty average episodes along with four that are shit and four that are great. The difference between a great season and a crappy one is going to be a couple of more great or terrible ones. I see no difference to think Orville will be any different.

[BlobVanDam]

Compared to the first season of any Trek series, I think The Orville stacks up very well so far.

[DragonAttack]

I'll point out something I've been saying for years. YOu take any 24 episode season of any of the ST franchizes and you'll probably find ~16 pretty average episodes along with four that are shit and four that are great. The difference between a great season and a crappy one is going to be a couple of more great or terrible ones. I see no difference to think Orville will be any different.

Except.......lessons should have been learned from the past (regarding TOS and all that followed).  Fewer episodes, more time spent between, etc. 

This show fell into the 'formulaic' episodes ago.  I was just hoping for a B- entertaining show.  None of the episodes have reached that for me.  I didn't expect much, and it is living up to those expectations.  I appreciate the attempt.  I 'watch' it late on Friday nights while catching up on the newspapers.  It is simply 'background' noise.  Nothing grabs me or is keeping my interest.  I'll give it a few more tries, but I feel as if I won't be missing anything if I don't.

[King Postwhore]

Was Rob Lowe Derillio? (Sp?)

[BlobVanDam]

Was Rob Lowe Derillio? (Sp?)

Yes. Looking back at the first episode, it appears he played the character there as well. I saw the credit in this week's episode, then recognized the voice before the face, for obvious reason.

[Adami]

I mostly liked the episode. The ending was dumb, but I thought they humor was actually pretty good.

Not in the "OH LOOK HE GAY NOW LOL" way, but the idea of them both fighting over the guy was funny.

[El Barto]

That was probably the worst episode so far. Yet it still wasn't bad. Some of the jokes were pretty good. Compare that to the worst of TNG and it comes out far ahead. If that's the worst that they can do then we're in pretty good shape.

It was also pretty ballsy. I'm from a generation that still gets a little skeeved out by guys getting it on, so there were some awkward moments, but they didn't shy away from where they wanted to go. And they've now established that at least once Ed played for the other team. Gotta give them props for that. ST never would have put Riker in that situation.

I also liked the ambiguous "could be" at the end of the episode. We've seen several examples where this show isn't afraid to skip the easy way out of consequences.

[soupytwist]

Compared to the first season of any Trek series, I think The Orville stacks up very well so far.

I can see if your enjoying it it would stack up well against the spin-offs, as they all had slow starts.  But I can't honestly see how it can be compared to TOS - that show came out the blocks really strong and as well as having great characters, stories, it also created the ST universe.   9 Episodes into TOS we'd already had great episodes like 'Charlie X', 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', 'The Enemy Within' and 'Dagger of the Mind' with just a couple of lesser episodes 'Mudd's Women' and 'Miri'.

I'd put The Orville higher than TNG was at this point, and maybe on a par with Voyager.  Behind DS9 and Enterprise (which surprising had a decent number of good episodes at the start).   Although the rumours are the next episode of The Orville is one that the team rate really highly, so things could change.

[BlobVanDam]

Compared to the first season of any Trek series, I think The Orville stacks up very well so far.

I can see if your enjoying it it would stack up well against the spin-offs, as they all had slow starts.  But I can't honestly see how it can be compared to TOS - that show came out the blocks really strong and as well as having great characters, stories, it also created the ST universe.   9 Episodes into TOS we'd already had great episodes like 'Charlie X', 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', 'The Enemy Within' and 'Dagger of the Mind' with just a couple of lesser episodes 'Mudd's Women' and 'Miri'.

I'd put The Orville higher than TNG was at this point, and maybe on a par with Voyager.  Behind DS9 and Enterprise (which surprising had a decent number of good episodes at the start).   Although the rumours are the next episode of The Orville is one that the team rate really highly, so things could change.

Most of those early episodes of TOS are awful imo. The Enemy Within is classic, What Are Little Girls Made Of was good (if for the main chick if nothing else), and Mudd's Women is fun, but the rest are mostly really bad. So for me that's a 1/3 hit rate.
Don't get me wrong, the rest of the season after that point was mostly gold, but I definitely would not say it came out of the blocks strong.

This week's episode of The Orville was the weakest for me so far, which most of us at least seem to be in agreement with, but I stick by my opinion that The Orville is at least as strong as any Trek series at the same point, probably stronger. I know it's not perfect, and much like TOS, it's still definitely finding its feet, especially where the balance of comedy and scifi is concerned, but it has already had its share of great episodes that have made it one of my favourite current shows.

[BlobVanDam]

I enjoyed this week's episode. Getting the robot to create a holodeck simulation out of the crew's phobias and giving yourself a memory wipe to test yourself is an interesting idea.
Not a lot of comedy in this week's episode, and it wasn't used to undermine the crew's abilities.

And a guest appearance by Voyager's EMH, Robert Picardo!

[soupytwist]

No complaints from me with that, best episode of the show by someway.  The story was interesting and the comedy felt natural.
 More of these type of episodes please!

[abydos]

I enjoyed it too, it felt coherent and nothing felt forced or out of place.

[Orbert]

It was great as a mindfuck episode.  The clown, Evil Isaac, the spiders, all kept you wondering what the hell was going on.  When Dr. Finn, Medicine Woman, shot Nurse Park, I thought shit was getting pretty real, then Mercer said he was dead and I started thinking that maybe it was all a simulation.  They'd made of point of reminding us that they have holodecks (or whatever they're call in this universe).  But Nurse Park was a rather useless character, so I would've been okay with him being offed for dramatic effect.  Then when Malloy got eaten by the giant spider, I knew there had to be a reset button somewhere.

After all that great mindfuck, "It was just a simulation" felt a little weak.  I was good all the way up to that point, and there was a new twist to it (she didn't know it was a simulation), but it was still a reset button, and they lose a few points for that.

[Chino]

I'm really enjoying this show, and I know that it's not meant to be taken seriously, but I always know exactly how they are going to end. The show is very predictable. I predicted "common ancestor" before Rob Lowe even showed up, and I called "Simulation" as soon as everyone saw the clown on the camera. Both were still really good episodes though.

"Hobo clowns are the most dangerous because they're hungry" 

[BlobVanDam]

Yeah, those episodes in particular were predictable from the start, especially if you're familiar with other scifi, but often it's more about the message and how it plays out than mystery.

[SoundscapeMN]

really digging this show!

Last week's episode though did remind me of different Star Trek episodes and even like The Outer Limits.

Namely Deep Space 9's "Distant Voices" where Doctor Bashir is in some sort of coma (and also dealing with a bit of a midlife crisis) and has to retake the station per an alien representing the trauma in his brain.

[Chino]

I just hope we get to see Bortus sing My Heart Will Go On before the season is through. Talk about a tease!

[CrimsonSunrise]

I just hope we get to see Bortus sing My Heart Will Go On before the season is through. Talk about a tease!

    Seriously, I was on the edge of my seat! 

[BlobVanDam]

Another good episode. The premise reminded me of Flatland, which they mentioned. And I guess they just Geordi Laforged the black guy? Maybe he'll be a useful character now.

[King Postwhore]

 

Yes another satisfying episode. The 2D dimension looked very cool.

[abydos]

Probably my favourite episode so far.

[Orbert]

Interesting.  I wonder if Larry Joe Campbell (Newton) wanted out, or this is a shaking up of the cast and minor retooling of things that can happen anyway with a new show.

Was that one guy, the alien who was kinda trying to join Malloy and LaMarr's bro team, also the elevator music guy from a few episodes back?  If so, nice bit of continuity.  Even if not, just seeing more non-humans around is kinda cool.  I liked how Polovius (sp) was mentioned, the "lizard-looking guy" or whatever they called him, and then we actually saw him (another non-human!) and Mercer still couldn't think of his name.

Anyway, bold move, to simultaneously take someone previously established to be a screw-up and promote him, and break up the bro team on the bridge.  That seems to indicate shake-up and retool to me.  But ultimately it could help the show.  I noticed that when LaMarr went down to Engineering, some nameless crewman (crewwoman?) took over the station, as we've seen them do countless times on Star Trek and other shows.

Story itself was pretty cool.  Derivative of concepts from other works (which almost all sci-fi is, one way or another) but mixed differently and with a new twist here and there.  Just revisiting anything with The Orville's weird twist of being "serious but not 100% serious" sci-fi adds a new twist and keeps things interesting for me.

Still don't care about Ed and Kelly, though.  I mean, I care about them individually, but their relationship and the shit they have to go through to get it back into something resembling normal doesn't interest me at all.  But since they're on that track now, they have to see it through, and it could be worse than what they're doing now.

[BlobVanDam]

Was that one guy, the alien who was kinda trying to join Malloy and LaMarr's bro team, also the elevator music guy from a few episodes back?  If so, nice bit of continuity.  Even if not, just seeing more non-humans around is kinda cool.  I liked how Polovius (sp) was mentioned, the "lizard-looking guy" or whatever they called him, and then we actually saw him (another non-human!) and Mercer still couldn't think of his name.

Yep, same dude. Played by the guy who voices Cleveland (and others) in Family Guy, so I recognize the voice.

Not sure if the plan was to promote him all along to give him his own character development episode and mirror TNG, or whether they decided to mix it up part way in, but I think it will work out better having a full time cast member there instead of a recurring. I don't think the other dude on the bridge really needs him to play off anyway, as you've got Bortus and Isaac as foils to his shenanigans.

[Orbert]

Everyone at Previously.tv is pointing out the parallels to Geordi being promoted from the bridge to Chief Engineer, including the fact that both characters are black, and even that it's John LaMarr and LeVar Burton.  I never look for stuff like that, and even when it's that obvious, I never see it.  I'm still trying to watch and enjoy this show on its own merits, even if Trek (especially TNG) parallels are everywhere.

[El Barto]

I thought the bigger parallel was with B'lana Torez. That's what I kept being reminded of.

In any case, I hope this means we'll be seeing less of him. Just an all around bad character. And I'm really starting to dislike the XO girl. Easy on the eyes, and her backstory with Ed is perfectly good, but as first officer she's pretty dreadful. They have chemistry outside of work, but scenes where she's actually acting as XO don't work well at all.

[Orbert]

I thought her "discovering" that LaMarr's test scores are through the roof and then insisting that he be considered for a promotion was lame, and it was just to set up the promotion itself.  As an excuse to further a plot point, I can forgive it, but it did weaken her character overall.

[Dr. DTVT]

Latchkum!