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General => Movies and TV => Topic started by: MetalJunkie on June 02, 2017, 12:12:42 AM
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I can't wait.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9sKeCE8V0
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I'm really looking forward for this. It looks like Galaxy Quest in series form, and Seth MacFarlane has said it's still thoughtful scifi but with a strong comedy element. Visually it's definitely taken cues from TNG era Trek, rather than the generic Hollywood scifi look everything else has these days, including JJ-Trek (and Discovery, which looks just like JJ-Trek).
In before Kotowboy.
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I laugh my arse off at Family Guy and American Dad but Seth's schtick has gotten old now for me.
A Million Ways To Die In The West just looked as bad as "Genre Movie" where there's no jokes. Just pop culture references.
Never saw Ted either. A talking teddy bear who sounds exactly like Peter Griffin and has a potty mouth.
Nah.
Of course i'll give Orville a try. I'll always 'fess up if I like something I pre-emptively hated. And i'll 'fess up if I also think Discovery is shite.
*BUT*. you know there are those "trekkies" that will hate Discovery just out of principle. I'm pretty sure some of them have hated everything since
The Undiscovered Country.
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Kotowboy, watch Yes. It's a very good movie.
Of course I'm in on this.
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Kotowboy, watch Yes.
No. :neverusethis:
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Lol watch it. It's good.
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It really bothers me that the middle engine isn't symmetric. The "blue" should either be in the middle or there should be another "blue" on the other side.
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The top and bottom ones aren't technically perfectly symmetric either, but I see your point. With Star Trek you always had the perfectly symmetrical warp engines on either side. Those engines would be directing their force parallel to each other despite looking angled, so it's mostly for aesthetics. It has a more organic sea creature kind of look.
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In Star Trek - you mostly have two engines - which makes sense - equal output L and R.
But some ships have 3 or 4 nacelles - even though they can only go warp 9.9 ?
But it doesn't matter because they don't work like "engines" - pushing the ship forward - the warp engine 'warps' space and the ship crosses vast distances of space by stretching
and squashing space.
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Yeah, baby!
Pretty good stuff. We watched the first episode tonight. It was pretty much what I expected, which is fine; and possibly a little better in some ways, which is even better. Lots of yummy CG stuff, some laughs, and even a surprise or two. A new show to watch. I'm excited.
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I'm only 20 min in and I'm absolutely loving it!!
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That was well done. I like the crew dynamics, even if they are formulaic. It was funny only when it needed to be, and the humor rarely got silly. The mission was simple but I can see how they can progress to some more Star Trek themes. The music was perfect. It had a perfect Jery Goldsmith vibe when they were flying the shuttle around the Orville, a la TMP. There are several characters I'd really like to see developed. The racist cyborg should get an episode pretty soon. Gravity Girl seems to have a lot to offer. Certainly curious about the 2nd officer's story. All in all a good show. Look forward to more.
Two standouts were when the blue dude sploodged out of his fourhead, and Justin the ogre.
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I agree with all of the above. I really enjoyed it, a good blend of humour, drama, action and scifi. The characters have a lot of potential that they weren't able to explore in the first episode on top of the story and everything else, and I especially look forward to seeing more of the robot. I liked the style of humour and thought that all hit the mark. It's refreshing to have a lighter, fun scifi show in contrast to the modern serious gritty stuff.
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Is it on Hulu or something?
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I saw a tweet the other day that said it will be on Hulu the day after airing on TV.
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Oh cool. I'll catch it tomorrow then. Hopefully it's better than the trailer made it look.
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Interesting to see decent reviews here. Critics have mostly panned it. Not that I have much interest in what critics think, but often the mood here is similar to that of the critics so I'm glad there's more positivity about this!
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I'm surprised to see other people here enjoy it given the humour aspect, but for a first episode I thought it was really good. I was a little concerned about the reviews, although this is a reminder why I don't pay much attention to them.
For a first episode of a genre show, I thought they did a good job setting it up. Most of my favourite scifi shows have very weak first episodes, because there's so much to establish, and they're usually double episodes.
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I'd love to give it a shot but I literally cannot stand to look at or hear Seth McFarland. I've never found him funny and consider him a pompous a$$....
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I can see how critics would dump on it since it's a real oddball. It doesn't fit into any particular category so it doesn't have any of the necessary elements for a drama, or a comedy, or a sci-fi show. That's the sort of thing that screws with professional critics.
For a first episode of a genre show, I thought they did a good job setting it up. Most of my favourite scifi shows have very weak first episodes, because there's so much to establish, and they're usually double episodes.
Well, there wasn't really much need since the characters were fairly formulaic. Strong girl, racist, ex-wife, a couple of slackers, done. You don't need establishing stories about feeling the emotions of others, seeing the entire EM spectrum, working for your dead husband's boss, or whatever. They covered the principle group in 3 minutes then moved on.
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the promos looked awful, didn't even bother watching.
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For a first episode of a genre show, I thought they did a good job setting it up. Most of my favourite scifi shows have very weak first episodes, because there's so much to establish, and they're usually double episodes.
Well, there wasn't really much need since the characters were fairly formulaic. Strong girl, racist, ex-wife, a couple of slackers, done. You don't need establishing stories about feeling the emotions of others, seeing the entire EM spectrum, working for your dead husband's boss, or whatever. They covered the principle group in 3 minutes then moved on.
You're pretty much right, although being a scifi show, you still have to establish the setting, the dynamic of the world. Again, not a ton to establish yet, but it's still a fair amount to fit into 45 minutes of screen time. They balanced it as well as can be expected imo.
And for now the characters only had time to be briefly introduced, so I'd only expect the surface level cliche character tropes at this point. Bortus has a (male) partner we're yet to even see, many of the characters got little dialogue yet, etc. I expect and hope they'll get fleshed out over time. It's designed to be episodic rather than serialized, so it probably won't be a character development focused show, but there's still more to cover. Either way, I'm definitely interested in more.
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I just watched the first episode, and I liked it. I will continue to watch this show.
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For a first episode of a genre show, I thought they did a good job setting it up. Most of my favourite scifi shows have very weak first episodes, because there's so much to establish, and they're usually double episodes.
Well, there wasn't really much need since the characters were fairly formulaic. Strong girl, racist, ex-wife, a couple of slackers, done. You don't need establishing stories about feeling the emotions of others, seeing the entire EM spectrum, working for your dead husband's boss, or whatever. They covered the principle group in 3 minutes then moved on.
You're pretty much right, although being a scifi show, you still have to establish the setting, the dynamic of the world. Again, not a ton to establish yet, but it's still a fair amount to fit into 45 minutes of screen time. They balanced it as well as can be expected imo.
And for now the characters only had time to be briefly introduced, so I'd only expect the surface level cliche character tropes at this point. Bortus has a (male) partner we're yet to even see, many of the characters got little dialogue yet, etc. I expect and hope they'll get fleshed out over time. It's designed to be episodic rather than serialized, so it probably won't be a character development focused show, but there's still more to cover. Either way, I'm definitely interested in more.
Seems to me that the setting and dynamic of the world are very well known. That's the beauty of it. This pretty much is the ST universe, only with different names for everything.
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For a first episode of a genre show, I thought they did a good job setting it up. Most of my favourite scifi shows have very weak first episodes, because there's so much to establish, and they're usually double episodes.
Well, there wasn't really much need since the characters were fairly formulaic. Strong girl, racist, ex-wife, a couple of slackers, done. You don't need establishing stories about feeling the emotions of others, seeing the entire EM spectrum, working for your dead husband's boss, or whatever. They covered the principle group in 3 minutes then moved on.
You're pretty much right, although being a scifi show, you still have to establish the setting, the dynamic of the world. Again, not a ton to establish yet, but it's still a fair amount to fit into 45 minutes of screen time. They balanced it as well as can be expected imo.
And for now the characters only had time to be briefly introduced, so I'd only expect the surface level cliche character tropes at this point. Bortus has a (male) partner we're yet to even see, many of the characters got little dialogue yet, etc. I expect and hope they'll get fleshed out over time. It's designed to be episodic rather than serialized, so it probably won't be a character development focused show, but there's still more to cover. Either way, I'm definitely interested in more.
Seems to me that the setting and dynamic of the world are very well known. That's the beauty of it. This pretty much is the ST universe, only with different names for everything.
Yeah, I suppose. I'm totally ok with that, of course. :lol
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Really dug it. I'm really looking forward to seeing the character development as always in the first season.
As many said, the comedy was just right. It wasn't the typical overwhelming satire from a Seth MacFarlane show and was really enjoyable.
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I almost feel like it wasn't satire in the classic sense. Satire to me makes fun of the original material. The type of humor employed and the degree to which it is employed can vary quite a bit, and it can also run the spectrum from open mockery it to poking fun at it but with a clear respect for the source material, almost like a tribute. Sure, this was a direct rip-off of Star Trek, but it wasn't just a direct rip-off of Star Trek. It felt more like tribute than mockery. It got serious a few times and kept a semi-serious vibe, and I think that helped you feel like maybe there's more substance to it.
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That was better than I thought.
Not quite as joke heavy as I feared.
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I almost feel like it wasn't satire in the classic sense. Satire to me makes fun of the original material. The type of humor employed and the degree to which it is employed can vary quite a bit, and it can also run the spectrum from open mockery it to poking fun at it but with a clear respect for the source material, almost like a tribute. Sure, this was a direct rip-off of Star Trek, but it wasn't just a direct rip-off of Star Trek. It felt more like tribute than mockery. It got serious a few times and kept a semi-serious vibe, and I think that helped you feel like maybe there's more substance to it.
I agree. It wasn't a parody scifi show, it was a light scifi show with added humour. Seth Macfarlane is a big Star Trek fan (he even had a guest appearance in an episode of Enterprise back in the early 2000s), and from interviews I've read about The Orville, he definitely wants to recapture the classic Trek vibe.
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This is one show that would benefit from the Binge Watching of releasing the entire season at once.
It was ok, but I need more episodes or an entire season to really make judgement. Since it is one of those that gradually grows.
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Yea. It was okay. That's a good word. I expected complete trash and it wasn't that.
Unlike Marvel, it doesn't have my loyalty. So even though I'm going to force myself to watch the entirety of Inhumans because of that loyalty, Orville could lose me relatively quickly if they stay as bland as they are.
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Yea. It was okay. That's a good word. I expected complete trash and it wasn't that.
Unlike Marvel, it doesn't have my loyalty. So even though I'm going to force myself to watch the entirety of Inhumans because of that loyalty, Orville could lose me relatively quickly if they stay as bland as they are.
You can get that much out of a single episode that is basically a set up for the show? If that was the case I would have never watched TNG.
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We shouldn't have watched TNG based on the entire first 2 seasons. :lol Most of my favourite scifi shows had pretty weak first episodes/seasons.
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Yea. It was okay. That's a good word. I expected complete trash and it wasn't that.
Unlike Marvel, it doesn't have my loyalty. So even though I'm going to force myself to watch the entirety of Inhumans because of that loyalty, Orville could lose me relatively quickly if they stay as bland as they are.
You can get that much out of a single episode that is basically a set up for the show? If that was the case I would have never watched TNG.
These are different times man. I have a ton of shows I'm watching. Back in the day you just watched a few shows at their specific times. Now adays? If a show doesn't seem good enough, and doesn't have my loyalty, I move on. It is what it is.
Though I like Seth, and the people involved, so I'm giving it a good number of episodes to judge.
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Unless I really don't like what I see, then I normally give shows a bit of time - at least a full season usually.
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Unless I really don't like what I see, then I normally give shows a bit of time - at least a full season usually.
Yea, I can see that. I feel like there have been shows that I gave up on early on, but I don't remember which ones. They must have been really bad though.
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When a show starts, I judge it based on potential as much as anything else. I don't mind so much if the first episode isn't amazing if the overall premise and casting are good. But if it's irredeemably bad in some way, I won't bother.
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Unless I really don't like what I see, then I normally give shows a bit of time - at least a full season usually.
Yea, I can see that. I feel like there have been shows that I gave up on early on, but I don't remember which ones. They must have been really bad though.
Voyager. Though I came back in around season 3 or 4, and now consider it very good-excellent. I think I might have given up on TNG, as well, only to return later once they got their shit together.
This brings up a good point, though. We're basing our opinions of this on what was essentially Encounter at Farpoint.
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That is exactly why I'm forgiving on first episodes of scifi shows. It takes time for a show to find its feet. Even if every episode is of this same quality, I'd continue to watch The Orville though.
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Unless I really don't like what I see, then I normally give shows a bit of time - at least a full season usually.
Yea, I can see that. I feel like there have been shows that I gave up on early on, but I don't remember which ones. They must have been really bad though.
For me it's normally a case of "yeah, that's not really for me". Like Blob, if the general premise is something I think I might enjoy, I'll normally give it a fair shot for a while.
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Yea. It was okay. That's a good word. I expected complete trash and it wasn't that.
Unlike Marvel, it doesn't have my loyalty. So even though I'm going to force myself to watch the entirety of Inhumans because of that loyalty, Orville could lose me relatively quickly if they stay as bland as they are.
You can get that much out of a single episode that is basically a set up for the show? If that was the case I would have never watched TNG.
These are different times man. I have a ton of shows I'm watching. Back in the day you just watched a few shows at their specific times. Now adays? If a show doesn't seem good enough, and doesn't have my loyalty, I move on. It is what it is.
Though I like Seth, and the people involved, so I'm giving it a good number of episodes to judge.
IDK , I watched way to many shows in my lifetime! :lol
Even back then. The weird thing is back then it was appointment TV. You'd have to watch TV because the show is playing only at that time. Now we stream it, we DVR it.
Maybe that makes it easy to say I want to move on to something else.
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I liked the first episode, and seeing that Seth brought Brannon Braga on leads me to believe that the show won't go too wacky. I really hope Fox, who has a tendency to pull the plug quickly, gives this sci-fi/comedy hybrid time to come into its own, and people give it a chance.
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Tonights episode (the 2nd of the series) was ok. Nothing ground breaking, but the end "pay-off" was excellent!
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Considering that I was expecting "Family Guy in Space"....this series has shocked me.
No, it's not earth shattering or ground breaking, but it gets the basics of character development, heart, and story just right. And let's face it, the majority of shows out there are lacking at striking that balance. So to have it come from such an unlikely source is surprising to me.
It's basic, but it's perfect.
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I liked the first episode, and seeing that Seth brought Brannon Braga on leads me to believe that the show won't go too wacky. I really hope Fox, who has a tendency to pull the plug quickly, gives this sci-fi/comedy hybrid time to come into its own, and people give it a chance.
What? I don't recall Fox ever prematurely canceling a sci-fi/comedy hybrid.
Sounds gorram ridiculous.
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I enjoyed the second episode. A lot of good character moments, and a classic scifi story. I've watched enough scifi that I instantly figured it was a zoo, and I'd bet Seth got the idea from the Twilight Zone episode. Not a bad place to mine for stories.
I see they've finally settled on Alara having eyebrows. All of the promo pics had eyebrows, but the first episode didn't, and now she has eyebrows. I guess they changed their mind after the first episode and Photoshopped them into the promo stuff. A lot of other great practical aliens in this episode too, including the big guy in the zoo.
Just like Star Trek, they've got a mess hall. I'm seeing a pattern of the ship getting destroyed a lot. :lol
I liked the solution at the end with trading for reality TV.
The twist with the baby being female seemed out of nowhere for now, so I hope there's some good explanation for that next week, where I assume we'll see more of them.
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I haven't seen episode 2 yet, but my thoughts on the first episode were - this is bland. To be honest I didn't really get what it was trying to be, is it a Star Trek Homage or a Spoof? The humour (which I thought was weak) was the most jarring with the tone, and I honestly can't see myself sticking with this show if it going to continue with this style of comedy. But if you remove the comedy, everything else was bland and lightweight- characters, effects, story.
If I want to watch a genuinely funny Sci-Fi I'll watch Red Dwarf or Futurama.
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If I want to watch a genuinely funny Sci-Fi I'll watch Red Dwarf or Futurama.
The thing is, tonally it's very similar. I love those two shows, and I'm digging The Orville a lot as well so far. It's a strange hybrid that I think a lot of people don't get, or perhaps just weren't expecting going in (given that it's from Seth McFarlane).
Second episode was a lot of fun, and yeah I enjoyed the ending. :lol
A lot of other great practical aliens in this episode too, including the big guy in the zoo.
That big creature looked like Willem Dafoe.
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A lot of other great practical aliens in this episode too, including the big guy in the zoo.
That big creature looked like Willem Dafoe.
Oh shit, it does too. :lol
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If I want to watch a genuinely funny Sci-Fi I'll watch Red Dwarf or Futurama.
The thing is, tonally it's very similar. I love those two shows, and I'm digging The Orville a lot as well so far. It's a strange hybrid that I think a lot of people don't get, or perhaps just weren't expecting going in (given that it's from Seth McFarlane).
I didn't really have any expectations, I not really aware of Seth McFarlane, never seen any of his stuff before. The problem I had with the comedy was simply it didn't fit the tone of the show (in my opinion). Red Dwarf, Futurama & Rick Morty the comedy works because the theses show are clearly 'comedies' and the style of humour matches the tone. On the Orville so far we had some juvenile jokes in a semi-serious attempt at a space opera - for me that was to jarring, also a lot of the jokes for me fell flat anyway.
It was only the first episode so I'm willing to give it more of a chance, just for first impressions I was left a bit underwhelmed.
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I haven't seen episode 2 yet, but my thoughts on the first episode were - this is bland. To be honest I didn't really get what it was trying to be, is it a Star Trek Homage or a Spoof? The humour (which I thought was weak) was the most jarring with the tone, and I honestly can't see myself sticking with this show if it going to continue with this style of comedy. But if you remove the comedy, everything else was bland and lightweight- characters, effects, story.
If I want to watch a genuinely funny Sci-Fi I'll watch Red Dwarf or Futurama.
Totally agree with this assessment. Haven't seen Ep 2 yet.
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If I want to watch a genuinely funny Sci-Fi I'll watch Red Dwarf or Futurama.
The thing is, tonally it's very similar. I love those two shows, and I'm digging The Orville a lot as well so far. It's a strange hybrid that I think a lot of people don't get, or perhaps just weren't expecting going in (given that it's from Seth McFarlane).
I didn't really have any expectations, I not really aware of Seth McFarlane, never seen any of his stuff before. The problem I had with the comedy was simply it didn't fit the tone of the show (in my opinion). Red Dwarf, Futurama & Rick Morty the comedy works because the theses show are clearly 'comedies' and the style of humour matches the tone. On the Orville so far we had some juvenile jokes in a semi-serious attempt at a space opera - for me that was to jarring, also a lot of the jokes for me fell flat anyway.
It was only the first episode so I'm willing to give it more of a chance, just for first impressions I was left a bit underwhelmed.
This is why you don't understand the tone of the show. I think the comedy is understated compared to other Mcfarlane vehicles.
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It's just a damn weird show to try and figure out. I honestly don't think it'll make it, just because nobody really knows what it's trying to be. In the end I enjoyed last nights episode once it got rollin, but it took a while. The other problem is that a lot of the jokes really fell flat. It makes up for those with the ones that hit, some of which are great, but there are still some groaners in there.
I like some of the differences from regular ST. The girl freaking out when put in command must really happen, but in the ST world everybody's flawless, so they always step up and do a fantastic job. Sometimes outrageously so. It was good to see somebody suck. I also liked the casual attitude towards drugs and alcohol in their future. Another huge departure from Roddenberry's world, where they won't even drink real beer.
The doctor seems terribly out of place. She seems like she's supposed to be the straight character, but plenty of others already fit into that category.
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Not a bad episode. 2nd half was way better.
Yea, I think my main problem is how many jokes fall flat and what kind of jokes they are. The good jokes are great but the bad ones are just bottom of the barrel stuff and they're better than that. I think if they got a good editor to go into the scripts and just delete the obviously awful jokes about tummy aches from daddy, it would be good. Maybe pull a Mel Brooks and film 4 hour episodes and then just cut out the crappy 3 hours or whatever.
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Two episodes in guys it's too hard to decide if it's going to make it or not. So many great series like Seinfeld were never going to make it if we went by the first season. and to me it's
obviously better than Seinfeld's first a season so let's hang in there.
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Agree with Adami, second half of the episode was not bad at all.
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Episode 3 on Thursday night (if you don't watch it 'On Demand').
We are giving it a try. I was hoping for B+, but so far it's more C-. Not sure of Seth as Captain, the whole infidelity thing was old in the first episode, and downright tiresome in episode 2. We know the helmsmen will always provide a smart axe comment when on screen. A doctor as a Lt. Commander, who actually has to take charge for a spell? Ok, I'm getting nit-picky.
We've seen all the 'gadgets' other than a transporter. We're assuming this doesn't exist in Union technology.
Just not sure where McFarlane wants to go with this. It has some good and clever moments, but there is no drama, and the cast is small. I always wanted ST:TNG to have a 'Hill Street Blues' type of cast, so that there are 'shifts', meaning different shift commanders and staff, providing for many personalities, as well as one doesn't know who could possibly 'disappear' from week to week. How these humanoids stay awake 24/7 is quite a feat.
I just read where Jonathan Frakes is going to direct one of the 13 episodes. Oh, dear.
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Why oh deer to Jonathan Frakes? he's actually a very good director. Most shows don't come out firing on all cylinders in the first few episodes. So we give it a season 2 to the really see if it grows as a series.
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Why oh deer to Jonathan Frakes? he's actually a very good director.
My thought, as well. Tom Paris is also directing one, and he was also quite good directing. Personally, I think it's interesting that they're getting plenty of ST guys, while the trainwreck that is STD has none of the original talent involved at all. Everybody they brought in rage-quit or got fired.
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I guess I can't get the ending of 'Enterprise' out of my head.
Just read his credits for directing. Pretty impressive. As long as he doesn't have the cast tug their shirts down, or lean to one side while walking, I'll keep an open mind. ;)
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Finally got to see the second episode. I'd heard that the original broadcast on Sunday was delayed by the football game, and our DVR doesn't usually account for stuff like that, so I just waited to catch it on demand.
I liked it. Yeah, some of the jokes were bad, but there were more hits than misses, the sci-fi was pretty good, and the story was pretty good. Somewhat predictable, but the ending twist was fun.
I'm still digging it.
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I think the funniest part of the show is how astoundingly humorless Bortus is. It's not like he's Spock or Data. He's emotional. He just has zero sense of humor. His stoic reactions to things always makes me laugh.
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I think the funniest part of the show is how astoundingly humorless Bortus is. It's not like he's Spock or Data. He's emotional. He just has zero sense of humor. His stoic reactions to things always makes me laugh.
Yes. He's Worf.
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Yeah, I guess that is what they were going for there. Worf had a sense of humor, though. He was just always serious. Bortus doesn't seem that way to me.
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Yeah, I guess that is what they were going for there. Worf had a sense of humor, though. He was just always serious. Bortus doesn't seem that way to me.
It's been two episodes. I assure you by the end of the season he'll do one of those awful jokes that gets a huge laugh simply because no one expected it.
Like when Greyworm made an awful humorless joke, but everyone fell over laughing because it was Greyworm.
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No idea who Greyworm was, but you're probably right. At least Worf was actually pretty funny when he wanted to be.
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No idea who Greyworm was, but you're probably right. At least Worf was actually pretty funny when he wanted to be.
He's the Worf on Game of Thrones.
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Why oh deer to Jonathan Frakes? he's actually a very good director.
My thought, as well. Tom Paris is also directing one, and he was also quite good directing. Personally, I think it's interesting that they're getting plenty of ST guys, while the trainwreck that is STD has none of the original talent involved at all. Everybody they brought in rage-quit or got fired.
Speaking of Worf, Michael Dorn got offered some ridiculously low sum to guest on the show but turned it down. Imagine how bad the amount must have been for Michael Dorn to turn it down. :lol
I like that The Orville is picking up a lot of these Trek people. It certainly feels a lot more authentic Trek than STD is. I actually ended up muting the Star Trek account on Twitter because I couldn't take them trying to pass off that trainwreck as real Trek. :lol
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I think the funniest part of the show is how astoundingly humorless Bortus is. It's not like he's Spock or Data. He's emotional. He just has zero sense of humor. His stoic reactions to things always makes me laugh.
He's my favourite character so far.
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Christ on a Bike the first 10 minutes of episode 2 was the worst 10 minutes of TV I've seen for years, terrible, terrible jokes that just kept going and repeating themselves - then just when you think it can't get any worse, the his parents turn up and it gets worse we get 'awkward' conversation humour........ouch. The rest of the episode picked up somewhat (It really couldn't get any worse to be honest). Man this show is a mess, either annoying as fuck or just plain boring - I think I'm out, I honestly can't see how Discovery can be any worse than this, at least it won't try and be funny
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Ok, then please stop watching it, and leave the rest of us to enjoy it. Thanks. :)
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Why oh deer to Jonathan Frakes? he's actually a very good director.
My thought, as well. Tom Paris is also directing one, and he was also quite good directing. Personally, I think it's interesting that they're getting plenty of ST guys, while the trainwreck that is STD has none of the original talent involved at all. Everybody they brought in rage-quit or got fired.
Speaking of Worf, Michael Dorn got offered some ridiculously low sum to guest on the show but turned it down. Imagine how bad the amount must have been for Michael Dorn to turn it down. :lol
I like that The Orville is picking up a lot of these Trek people. It certainly feels a lot more authentic Trek than STD is. I actually ended up muting the Star Trek account on Twitter because I couldn't take them trying to pass off that trainwreck as real Trek. :lol
That was STD. He was to play one of Worf's ancestors, yet again. He was offered less than 1% of his last ST contract. I suppose it could have happened with ORV, but what you described did happen with STD.
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Why oh deer to Jonathan Frakes? he's actually a very good director.
My thought, as well. Tom Paris is also directing one, and he was also quite good directing. Personally, I think it's interesting that they're getting plenty of ST guys, while the trainwreck that is STD has none of the original talent involved at all. Everybody they brought in rage-quit or got fired.
Speaking of Worf, Michael Dorn got offered some ridiculously low sum to guest on the show but turned it down. Imagine how bad the amount must have been for Michael Dorn to turn it down. :lol
I like that The Orville is picking up a lot of these Trek people. It certainly feels a lot more authentic Trek than STD is. I actually ended up muting the Star Trek account on Twitter because I couldn't take them trying to pass off that trainwreck as real Trek. :lol
That was STD. He was to play one of Worf's ancestors, yet again. He was offered less than 1% of his last ST contract. I suppose it could have happened with ORV, but what you described did happen with STD.
Yeah, I meant STD. Sorry for the vagueness there. :tup
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Ok, then please stop watching it, and leave the rest of us to enjoy it. Thanks. :)
Ha! Fair comment. Just reread my last post and yeah I sound like ranting dickhead. Sorry bout that.
I want to like the show, but it isn't for me. I'm glad it's found an audience who do enjoy it though.
Peace!
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Shows like this, and movies as well, often have trouble finding an audience. Lots of people want it to be easily categorized as a drama, or a comedy, or whatever. Sure, dramas usually have lighter moments to break things up, and comedies often have serious moments, but usually it's rather obvious the genre that they're going for.
The Orville is confounding a lot of people because it doesn't fall clearly into a given genre. Those who expected and wanted outright comedy are disappointed that it's not wall-to-wall laughs. I don't think anyone expected "heavy sci-fi" but the production values and overall look seem to imply a more serious show, and the lighter tone runs counter to that.
Someone at previously.tv said it's like they tried to redo The Next Generation, only with "real people", not 24th century boring perfect people with no flaws and no personality. Yes, that's exactly what this is. Helmsman has no trouble telling the rest of the bridge crew that the new XO is a total bitch. Tactical guy just wants to be able to drink soda on the bridge. The pilot episode made a point that there are 3000 ships in the fleet, and they have to staff them all. Somebody at the Academy finished 399th in their class, but still earned their commission. They're not going to be assigned to the flagship; they're going to some low-level exploratory vessel like The Orville.
And that's what I like about this show. Sci-fi to me is its own genre, transcending drama or comedy or whatever. The XO ordered a "cannabis edible" from the replicator, and the Security Officer ordered tequila while she was the acting Captain. No, you'd never see that on Star Trek, but it is something that real people might do. I like that, not because it's funny, or not funny, or realistic, or not, but because it's different from what we've seen before.
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My issues with the show (and I like it for the most part) have nothing to do with being able to categorize it. It's that it really just feels bland for the most part. To link it to your argument, when you try to do too many things, you end up not doing any of them to a satisfactory level. If the comedy isn't funny, and the sci-fi isn't thought provoking, then you're just kind of left with the American cheese of TV.
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My issues with the show (and I like it for the most part) have nothing to do with being able to categorize it. It's that it really just feels bland for the most part. To link it to your argument, when you try to do too many things, you end up not doing any of them to a satisfactory level. If the comedy isn't funny, and the sci-fi isn't thought provoking, then you're just kind of left with the American cheese of TV.
But you're not 100,000,000 Americans 24-36. We're all Star Trek guys here, so we have a different take on the series. John Q. Public and Harold S. Critic do want that categorization. And in the end I think that's what'll kill it. The show itself will get better, but it won't find the categorization that'll keep the masses tuning in, and I don't think it'll get so much better that they start to love it despite it being an oddball.
I've always assumed it'd be one and done. If it does better then great. I'm really more interested in it outperforming STD so that CBS will actually see that Sci-Fi works and brand recognition by itself doesn't.
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Well to be fair, I am far far more important than all other human beings on earth.
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Well to be fair, I am far far more important than all other human beings on earth.
I knew Vulcans existed and now I have the proof.
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It definitely wasn't as good as I had hoped but it's just 2 episodes in. I think there is room for growth if given the chance, rarely a scifi show gets off very well from the get go. It has the potential to do both the comedy and the scifi very well.
To people who quit after 2 episodes there's only thing thing I can say to them - lol.
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My issues with the show (and I like it for the most part) have nothing to do with being able to categorize it. It's that it really just feels bland for the most part.
Fair enough. It is on the bland side. Everything looks all nice and clean, the characters are mostly well behaved, and things move slowly overall. I guess I'm used to sci-fi taking its time, so the pacing doesn't bother me, though I can see why it would bother a lot of people. It's not exactly a thrill ride or a laugh per minute. And Seth is known for his writing and voicework, but isn't exactly Patrick Stewart or William Shatner. I think a better actor would bring more... something... to the role, which would help a lot.
But as I said, for right now I'm just enjoying a different take on the future, like what if our technology continued to evolve, but we as people stayed the same. I'd probably be in my quarters ordering edibles from the replicator, then later you might find me on the holodeck running "tactical simulations" with the XO and Security Officer.
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Shows like this, and movies as well, often have trouble finding an audience. Lots of people want it to be easily categorized as a drama, or a comedy, or whatever. Sure, dramas usually have lighter moments to break things up, and comedies often have serious moments, but usually it's rather obvious the genre that they're going for.
The Orville is confounding a lot of people because it doesn't fall clearly into a given genre. Those who expected and wanted outright comedy are disappointed that it's not wall-to-wall laughs. I don't think anyone expected "heavy sci-fi" but the production values and overall look seem to imply a more serious show, and the lighter tone runs counter to that.
Someone at previously.tv said it's like they tried to redo The Next Generation, only with "real people", not 24th century boring perfect people with no flaws and no personality. Yes, that's exactly what this is. Helmsman has no trouble telling the rest of the bridge crew that the new XO is a total bitch. Tactical guy just wants to be able to drink soda on the bridge. The pilot episode made a point that there are 3000 ships in the fleet, and they have to staff them all. Somebody at the Academy finished 399th in their class, but still earned their commission. They're not going to be assigned to the flagship; they're going to some low-level exploratory vessel like The Orville.
And that's what I like about this show. Sci-fi to me is its own genre, transcending drama or comedy or whatever. The XO ordered a "cannabis edible" from the replicator, and the Security Officer ordered tequila while she was the acting Captain. No, you'd never see that on Star Trek, but it is something that real people might do. I like that, not because it's funny, or not funny, or realistic, or not, but because it's different from what we've seen before.
THIS POST NAILS IT
This is exactly why I've fallen in love with this show out of the gate. I don't care what John Q Public thinks. It's these exact qualities that (to me) actually make it a refreshing an original show. Not the writing per se...but just the mood, and the way it comes across.
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This show just keeps getting better.
You know how Galaxy Quest sometimes gets included in lists of Star Trek movies? They need to start giving the same nod to The Orville.
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This show just keeps getting better.
You know how Galaxy Quest sometimes gets included in lists of Star Trek movies? They need to start giving the same nod to The Orville.
Ehhhhhhh. Come on man. A fun show is a fun show, and it's very Star Trek esque, but at no point will I include this or Galaxy Quest in the same league as Star Trek.
Then again, I don't include ST:09 and onward as Star Trek either.
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I think the latest episode showed that they can manage serious scifi without the humour getting in the way. I've really enjoyed every episode so far, both for the comedy and the scifi, and I'm picky on both factors. I would put the first three episodes of The Orville up against the first three episodes of any Trek series. What would TNG's legacy be if it was canceled after one or even two seasons?
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This is what I don't get about people and scifi currently. What would TNG, DS9, Babylon 5, SG-1, Farscape even Firefly be like if it only got a few episodes up to a season before they got canceled? Even one of the more modern shows like Fringe didn't get their shit together until mid season 2.
Current shows like Dark Matter and Killjoys also had the same rough start and while Killjoys is picking up speed, DM is still mostly doing weekly episodes and just now starting to hint at a larger picture.
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I didn't enjoy the third episode as much, but to be fair I was very tired when I watched it. I'm usually in bed by 9pm throughout the week, and with them moving it to Thursday nights I'm going to struggle a little. I need to get a dvr
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I didn't enjoy the third episode as much, but to be fair I was very tired when I watched it. I'm usually in bed by 9pm throughout the week, and with them moving it to Thursday nights I'm going to struggle a little. I need to get a dvr
It is a must. All the shows I love are later in the evening. So now I watch them when I want and an hour show finished in 42 minutes.
The one downfall about that is a running joke my family had watching TNG. Mom, Dad, brother and girlfriend would watch it on the premier date. The joke was the resolution to the story line always ends at the :52 mark. No joke. That and my Dad telling my girlfriend at the time she had "Klingon" toes. Her second toe was the longest. The longest toes in our family was the big toe. :lol
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So I'm watching the third episode and while I still enjoy it and will continue watching, I did find a problem.
Redundancy. You have two emotionless dudes. The captain and his ex-wife are really similar in character as well, and then you have two almost identical (in character) smart alec dudes in the front. The only ones so far without redundancy are the somewhat cute super strong chick, who has great potential, and the obviously Star Trek doctor who is a combination of Bones and Pulaski.
I think the show could really be great if they took way more chances with both the sci-fi and the humor. Specifically the humor.
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I think some of that is the fact they haven't had time to explore all of the characters well yet. The black guy hasn't been given a lot to do yet besides being pals with the other guys, and the robot still hasn't had a lot of lines yet. Everyone else I'm content with so far. With an ensemble cast, it's going to take time before they all develop and stand out.
Heck, after 7 seasons, 3/4 of the Voyager crew was still totally redundant. :neverusethis: And 100% of the Enterprise cast was "the emotionless one". :neverusethis:
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Blob, you are officially to The Orville, what Kotowboy is to Star Trek Into Darkness.
LET THAT SINK IN!
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:lol To be fair, The Orville is more defendable than Into Darkness.
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I am genuinely enjoying Orville. More than I thought it would. As people said.. it's basically TNG with Realistic characters.
Also, I am glad it's not just live action Family Guy in Space.
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Yeah I'm digging it so far too, and I enjoyed seeing a more emotional side to Bortus this week.
I also just worked out that Klyden is Cutty/Tyreese/Tobias Church/Fred Johnson. I swear Chad Coleman is in everything these days. :lol
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I knew it was him beforehand, then completely forgot for the entire duration of the episode, then got reminded directly afterwards. :lol
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Damn, that was like serious sci-fi or something. At first, I was taken aback by the blatant, obvious transgender analogy, and then again when I realized that it's not an analogy at all, but actually about transgender, with the twist that the species/culture is monosexual (and thus homosexual... I think?) Did they actually establish an all-male species just so that they hit us with this? Okay maybe not just so they could do this, but damn, third episode they're diving into the actual not-fucking-around social commentary? Ballsy.
It ended the way it had to, with the point being made, even if it didn't result in immediate change. Seeds were planted, change takes time, and it doesn't happen all at once, or as the result of a single incident. Will this be one of many for this species? We don't know.
Surprisingly serious outing, and as I said, it caught me off guard going deep in only the third episode, but I liked it.
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I'm glad they didn't wimp out on the ending and go with the narrow and idealistic win for the human perspective. I liked the conflict in this episode and how it wasn't all wrapped up neatly.
I think they were wise to wait until the third episode before doing this kind of story. The first two episodes were much more light and fun, but this episode focused more on a classic scifi story and used the humour more sparingly. I've seen Star Trek fans all over the internet commenting very positively on this one.
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Yea, I was really impressed with the 3rd one. Less frat boy jokes, more stuff like this.
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Four episodes in and I'm sold. Given time we might get an "Inner Light" or other classic episode. We'll probably get a "Sub Rosa" too, but that's more than a fair trade.
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Another classic Trekky episode, with clear social commentary, and again the humour took a backseat to the story.
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Another classic Trekky episode, with clear social commentary, and again the humour took a backseat to the story.
Haven't seen it yet, but I was thinking that this could be a pretty simple way to solve their "genre" problem. Star Trek did comedy episodes every season, sometimes to great success. As long as they're willing to shelve the in your face humor for some episodes they can put it on display in others. And they can still work in specific scenes for the lulz when time permits. The Bortus's daughter episode was as serious as they've gotten, yet they still had el bandito challenging them to a dance off which really cracked me up. I think they might be onto something here.
And that's twice the drunken fuckup's holograms have cracked me up. Pretty good gag they've got working there.
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Another classic Trekky episode, with clear social commentary, and again the humour took a backseat to the story.
Haven't seen it yet, but I was thinking that this could be a pretty simple way to solve their "genre" problem. Star Trek did comedy episodes every season, sometimes to great success. As long as they're willing to shelve the in your face humor for some episodes they can put it on display in others. And they can still work in specific scenes for the lulz when time permits. The Bortus's daughter episode was as serious as they've gotten, yet they still had el bandito challenging them to a dance off which really cracked me up. I think they might be onto something here.
And that's twice the drunken fuckup's holograms have cracked me up. Pretty good gag they've got working there.
4th episode was roughly the same balance as the 3rd I think, and the same kind of Trekky allegory. I'm sure it will vary from episode to episode, but I think the first two were probably more humour biased than the average to grab the general audience, whereas the Trekky audience seems to be enjoying the stuff more like the third episode, which I'm guessing is more representative of the average. I've enjoyed it all, so I'm happy for some variety.
I can't wait to see this kind of crew doing more holodeck stuff, because it will be a lot more relatable than the stuffy Trek ones. I'd love to see an Orville holodeck malfunction ep. :lol
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I like the ode to the Star Trek episode where Spock had to hide his ears in Alara is wearing handkerchief to cover her ears.
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I like the ode to the Star Trek episode where Spock had to hide his ears in Alara is wearing handkerchief to cover her ears.
I think every Vulcan has an episode where they had to hide their ears.
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Yes, but obviously The Orville is not afraid to show where it's values came from. I'm fine with that. It's everything the old Trekies are asking for.
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Yes, but obviously The Orville is not afraid to show where it's values came from. I'm fine with that. It's everything the old Trekies are asking for.
I have no idea why but I thought this was the Star Trek thread when I replied haha. I was like "A Vulcan covering her ears isn't a not to Trek, it's just what they do"
My bad. I'll just slowwwwly back out.
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Still watching episode 4. Just saw the cameo. I :rollin ed...
BRILLIANT!!!
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Yes, but obviously The Orville is not afraid to show where it's values came from. I'm fine with that. It's everything the old Trekies are asking for.
I have no idea why but I thought this was the Star Trek thread when I replied haha. I was like "A Vulcan covering her ears isn't a not to Trek, it's just what they do"
My bad. I'll just slowwwwly back out.
:lol Well the lines are blurred. LOL
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Yes, but obviously The Orville is not afraid to show where it's values came from. I'm fine with that. It's everything the old Trekies are asking for.
I have no idea why but I thought this was the Star Trek thread when I replied haha. I was like "A Vulcan covering her ears isn't a nod to Trek, it's just what they do"
My bad. I'll just slowwwwly back out.
:lol Well the lines are blurred. LOL
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Well episode 4 was truly excellent. I’m sold.
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I like the ode to the Star Trek episode where Spock had to hide his ears in Alara is wearing handkerchief to cover her ears.
Yes, I immediately thought the same thing. :metal
The cameo at the end was a pleasant surprise too.
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Huh, didn't recognize him.
Excellent episode, though. That's two back to back that did ST every bit as well as TNG or TOS. In fact, there are plenty of plot points lifted straight out of the older series (which is fine). E4 was straight up For the World is Hollow. . ., with specific elements of half a dozen other episodes worked in. First Contact and Who Watches the Watchers certainly factored into it.
It was definitely a little more violent than you normally expect from ST. Not in a big space battle sort of way, but the guy being beaten by the mob was fairly stark. The treatment of the two gals was also a little more brutal than typical TNG stuff. We've already seen drug and alcohol stuff, as well as language that'd never be used in ST. Seems Seth is pretty willing to take advantage of being out from under the confines of Paramount/Roddenberry.
Shows definitely picking up in a big way. I hope they're able to keep up with it.
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So Barto, The Druyan God you saw on the screen of the ship at the end "has a very particular set of skills" if you get the movie refrence.
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Huh, didn't recognize him.
Excellent episode, though. That's two back to back that did ST every bit as well as TNG or TOS. In fact, there are plenty of plot points lifted straight out of the older series (which is fine). E4 was straight up For the World is Hollow. . ., with specific elements of half a dozen other episodes worked in. First Contact and Who Watches the Watchers certainly factored into it.
It was definitely a little more violent than you normally expect from ST. Not in a big space battle sort of way, but the guy being beaten by the mob was fairly stark. The treatment of the two gals was also a little more brutal than typical TNG stuff. We've already seen drug and alcohol stuff, as well as language that'd never be used in ST. Seems Seth is pretty willing to take advantage of being out from under the confines of Paramount/Roddenberry.
Shows definitely picking up in a big way. I hope they're able to keep up with it.
Definitely covered a lot of common scifi/Trek themes, but as usual, a very relevant and topical story, feeling very inspired by Trump/global warming.
I think they wanted to show that the chicks were as capable and badass as the dudes, which they've achieved. Totally missed opportunity to pass the bechdel test this week though. :lol
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Are we still at the stage where sci-fi shows are stuck making episodes just to show us all filthy males how badass women can actually be? I mean... come on, 99.9% of the people watching are on the same page, you do nothing by doing that at this point. And you won't make as badass of a character as Ripley.
I did enjoy the episode overall but it felt a bit too short. When they discovered the ship and seeing how old it was I was so hyped up to see something more, not a bunch of humans without explaining anything about where they come from and so on. It felt a bit like a Stargate Universe episode - starts off on a great premise to fall short to petty drama. And the actors they got for the main roles felt wasted.
What I enjoyed most about it was the fact that they were not afraid to just drop 99% of the comedy (with the exception of the, tbh, quite unfunny one-liners from McFarlane) and try to do a more serious episode. This is why I already love this show - one day you'll get a totally silly plot on the other you might be faced with something akin to The Inner Light.
One question to more dedicated Trekkies than me - I know that all ST episodes were quite pushy in terms of progressive goals (as tainted as that term is nowadays) but I always had the impression that they did it in a way that shows us how humanity has already gotten past such issues and that we can succeed this way. Recently all tv seems to be a direct mirror to our world and just preaching how things should be. This is a huge drawback imo when you try to make a show depicting a better world - mirroring social and political problems that are current to our time makes the whole fictional world they are in shallow and fake. Am I onto something or kind of full of shit?
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One question to more dedicated Trekkies than me - I know that all ST episodes were quite pushy in terms of progressive goals (as tainted as that term is nowadays) but I always had the impression that they did it in a way that shows us how humanity has already gotten past such issues and that we can succeed this way. Recently all tv seems to be a direct mirror to our world and just preaching how things should be. This is a huge drawback imo when you try to make a show depicting a better world - mirroring social and political problems that are current to our time makes the whole fictional world they are in shallow and fake. Am I onto something or kind of full of shit?
Not sure I follow. If humanity has already gotten past such issues and that we can succeed this way means that ST's future humanity had gotten past their problems then you're correct. They were still pretty up front that we in the modern times are scum. TOS was a little preachy and TNG was condescending in its arrogance. As it applies to ORV I haven't seen any indications that they're still mirroring us and all of our flaws. The characters are certainly flawed, but society in general seems to be more enlightened.
I suppose it's also the case that the progressive goals that ST has always been on about have come a tremendous way since the last incarnation of ST. When Roddenberry was showing racial integration it was a bid deal. When Orville shows guys as a couple, bridge officers drinking tequila and eating hash brownies, and tough, competent women, it seems pretty normal and hence reflective of our time.
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Can't speak for TOS as I can't stand through all the dated garbage to get to the good episodes but I enjoyed TNG even though it was condescending. It showed humanity that had almost entirely moved past what we fight about in our times and it served a purpose to, in a way, show how our future generations might look at us or how we would compare to them. As far as I know, it didn't have too many moments that could directly relate to current time situations like for example how writers/actors at STD openly talk about how something is Trump-inspired. If you make episodes that are so related to the current events it doesn't seem to be a good way to write stories that stand the test of time.
In Star Trek I don't recall a woman doing something badass and every male around be like "Daymn, women are tough" and act all impressed or surprised. Things felt natural and as they should be, not so much in your face as a lot of modern day television is. Gay couples or gender switching species in TNG/DS9, black bridge officer in TOS, female/black captain in Voyager/DS9 - what of it? Completely normal, no big deal about it. I guess what I"m trying to say is that if you mirror current events and issues you are bound to create a lot of episodes that are the equivalent of comedians who made their name by impersonating George Bush.
As it relates to The Orville, that talk between the N1 and that super strong chick felt kind of flat. Same for the premise of the whole transgender thing last episode. While I appreciate that they went with the rational approach of the person must choose and we should not force or encourage young kids transitioning, it was followed by very weak court session writing on both sides of the argument.
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In Star Trek I don't recall a woman doing something badass and every male around be like "Daymn, women are tough" and act all impressed or surprised.
Has that been happening in ORV? Admittedly I'm really bad at picking up allegory and subtle messages.
What I've noticed is that when TNG/VOY/DS9 had all of the things you mention it wasn't a big deal to them, but it was to us. When you see these things nowadays it's no big deal to anybody.
Since I haven't bothered with STD I can't speak of anything Trump inspired. I know that the earlier series have certainly done some stories that paralleled the modern era, if perhaps a little ahead of its time. Nationalism and terrorism certainly factored into their stories. Xenophobia, even on Earth. Stories about drug addiction. Right to die and euthanasia. Drumhead and Homefront/Paradise Lost really couldn't be anymore allegorical.
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That's Seth's writing style. Look at "A Million Ways To Die In The West". A lot of the main characters talk with today's pop references and not of the time of the 1800's. It's for comedic purpose. That's all I think he's doing here. You are looking to much into this.
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Has that been happening in ORV? Admittedly I'm really bad at picking up allegory and subtle messages.
Hasn't been happening a lot as far as I know but for instance the age old "men are "afraid" of strong women" was briefly touched upon.
What I've noticed is that when TNG/VOY/DS9 had all of the things you mention it wasn't a big deal to them, but it was to us. When you see these things nowadays it's no big deal to anybody.
Exactly, this is what I meant (although even when I watched some of them in the 90s and binged all of ST in the early 2000s it wasn't a big deal to me as well). Often in the last few years especially this hasn't been the case from all genres of TV/movies and I'd hate to see something like this pop up in The Orville or STD.
Oh well, back to playing video games :D
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This was was still really good. Not quite the level of the first few, but they can't all be zingers.
And the previews for next week look really amazing.
I **REALLY** like this show.
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This wasn't as good as the last two, but as good as the first two. Not a bad episode yet imo. I really hope it gets more seasons.
My only criticism is that if closing the wormhole at the end erases Pria, shouldn't it have caused a paradox, and killed them all again? If they'd closed the wormhole and Pria remained, it would have worked fine.
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This wasn't as good as the last two, but as good as the first two. Not a bad episode yet imo. I really hope it gets more seasons.
My only criticism is that if closing the wormhole at the end erases Pria, shouldn't it have caused a paradox, and killed them all again? If they'd closed the wormhole and Pria remained, it would have worked fine.
Yea, they screwed up time travel the same way just about every other show does (except Continuum), so I've just come to expect that specific kind of screw up and not be bothered by it.
Solid episode! The humor finally felt.......I dunno........better? The practical joke thing was great, I thought.
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This wasn't as good as the last two, but as good as the first two. Not a bad episode yet imo. I really hope it gets more seasons.
My only criticism is that if closing the wormhole at the end erases Pria, shouldn't it have caused a paradox, and killed them all again? If they'd closed the wormhole and Pria remained, it would have worked fine.
Yea, they screwed up time travel the same way just about every other show does (except Continuum), so I've just come to expect that specific kind of screw up and not be bothered by it.
I'm used to it, especially from US scifi (see Timeless, Time After Time, two recent time travel shows with no actual concept of time travel), it's just a little disappointing. How can I look forward to another time travel full of cool causality loops when they couldn't do it here?!
I like their take on the robot/AI thing. The Trek cliche is that every AI aspires to be human and learn to understand humanity. Then The Orville has an android who knows full well that he's superior to humans, and in a misunderstanding of such a weird concept like humour, chops a guy's whole leg off. :lol
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Also funny to see Malloy who is did not laugh at the practical joke on his leg. I was laughing at him being upset.
Anybody know the special guest? I'm surprised none of you have said anything.
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It was heavily advertised beforehand, so it wasn't a surprise or particularly noteworthy beyond that.
Unless someone guest starred as a background technician and I missed it.
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I've been away so I did not know it was advertised. The one thing I find weird is the actress thst plays the doctor. She's a high profile character actress but she's barely visible in this show.
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I follow The Orville and Seth MacFarlane on twitter, and it was mention a lot for the entire week beforehand. It wasn't like Liam Neeson's unexpected cameo, which as far as I know was left as a complete surprise until it aired.
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I follow The Orville and Seth MacFarlane on twitter, and it was mention a lot for the entire week beforehand. It wasn't like Liam Neeson's unexpected cameo, which as far as I know was left as a complete surprise until it aired.
We're talking about Charlize Theron, right?
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Good episode. Not great, bot bad. The thing with the leg is the hardest I've laughed in ages, though. While a lot of SM's jokes fall flat, the dude can occasionally belt one way out of the park.
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I'm a fan. Can't wait to see what happens this week
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Finally got caught up. We've been recording The Orville as well as a number of other shows, as usual, and the past couple weeks, whenever I ask the wife if it's time for The Orville, she's in the mood for something else. I finally told her to just level with me; if she doesn't want to watch the show, I won't be offended or anything, I just want to know. So I can watch the damned episodes that are backing up. She admitted that it's just not her bag. She really, really doesn't like Seth McFarlane. Fair enough.
So I watched episodes 4 and 5 pretty much in a row. The huge bioship, and the hot time traveller. "Can you open this jar of pickles" is such an awkward phrase, and that's gonna be a thing now? Two episodes in a row. Maybe next time, someone will say something about it, point out how stupid it sounds when he uses it so often. That would be meta, and funny.
Another episode apparently inspired by a TNG episode (Matt Frewer the time traveller) even down to the traveller being a "collector" of sorts, and getting rich off of the acquisitions. But different enough to work, I guess.
Still digging it.
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I've really been enjoying this show so far. Pleasantly surprised to see the balance they're going for between comedy and actual sci-fi.
They seem to be finding their footing pretty well, and the main cast is already decently established.
Honestly, in some ways this feels more like Star Trek to me than Discovery does, especially the TNG/DS9/VOY era.
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A good episode giving some backstory to the so far generic bad guys, the Krill. I liked how there was the moral dilemma of killing the Krill crew to save the humans, and that they didn't make it entirely black and white.
The humour got a bit much when they were supposed to be undercover, but at least the first officer called them out for screwing around at the start. "Bortus eats everything" was a funny scene though, and Malloy's leg could/should be a running gag.
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Yeah, Chris and Devon were a bit ridiculous. This is actually the first time it really didn't work for me. The primary complaint of many people is that the show doesn't know whether it wants to be serious or satire or what. I'm fine with any combination of the above, as long as it's entertaining. Chris and Devon would be dead now, as well as everyone down on that planet they were trying to save, and I had some trouble getting past that.
I mean, if the tactical officer jumps up and yells "Boom, bitch!" after blowing away an enemy ship in a space dogfight, I'm fine with that. I'm fine if the acting captain downs a shot of tequila, or the resident cybernetic guy cutting off my best friend's leg. It'll get better. But literally bumbling through the episode like idiots kinda took me out of the show for a minute.
But whatever, it was still fun, still entertaining, and ultimately carried a message. Pretty heavy handedly, actually. Another episode that didn't give us the easy happy ending. Those lunatics trying to kill you? They happen to be just as sure that they're right as you are that they're pure evil. And they have nukes, so maybe you might want to try a little harder to be friends with them.
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I agree the names went a little too far I did love the ending that the teacher had so much venom at the end. I really like that.
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I mean, if the tactical officer jumps up and yells "Boom, bitch!" after blowing away an enemy ship in a space dogfight, I'm fine with that. I'm fine if the acting captain downs a shot of tequila, or the resident cybernetic guy cutting off my best friend's leg. It'll get better. But literally bumbling through the episode like idiots kinda took me out of the show for a minute.
Yeah. It's just one of those things where you have to accept that the other side is a little more oblivious to it than the viewer, but it does take you out of it a little bit.
Also, I just realized this is the first episode so far not written by MacFarlane. The writer of this episode actually wrote a few episodes of Enterprise, along with the Star Trek episode of Futurama. How very appropriate.
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Yeah, Chris and Devon were a bit ridiculous. This is actually the first time it really didn't work for me. The primary complaint of many people is that the show doesn't know whether it wants to be serious or satire or what. I'm fine with any combination of the above, as long as it's entertaining. Chris and Devon would be dead now, as well as everyone down on that planet they were trying to save, and I had some trouble getting past that.
I mean, if the tactical officer jumps up and yells "Boom, bitch!" after blowing away an enemy ship in a space dogfight, I'm fine with that. I'm fine if the acting captain downs a shot of tequila, or the resident cybernetic guy cutting off my best friend's leg. It'll get better. But literally bumbling through the episode like idiots kinda took me out of the show for a minute.
But whatever, it was still fun, still entertaining, and ultimately carried a message. Pretty heavy handedly, actually. Another episode that didn't give us the easy happy ending. Those lunatics trying to kill you? They happen to be just as sure that they're right as you are that they're pure evil. And they have nukes, so maybe you might want to try a little harder to be friends with them.
It's a lighthearted sci fi show with serious moments. Can those not still exist? Why must there be one or the other?
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Damn. Really? That's very cool. Thank you Blob for having the time to look that up for me you slacker.
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I think episode for was my only "this is just OK" episode. But I want to point out that we're 6 episodes into the first season, and we haven't had a single show that I would consider "a dud" yet. That's pretty impressive.
I literally put this show on par with ToS.
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Same here. As I said, I still liked it, still found it entertaining overall, but it wasn't as strong as what we've seen already. And that's okay, too. Not every at-bat is going to be a home run.
TOS broke a lot of new ground, and at times the tone of that show varied a bit. I think there was more humor to it, intentional humor, than a lot of people remember. TNG had the benefit of learning from TOS, but was trying to update things for the 80's/90's as well as take it a step further, thus it too had to find its feet, and took a while to do so.
The Orville has the benefit of several series to study, and is mostly just trying to capture the same feel, with a few changes. Capturing the feel is working pretty well so far; nearly everything about it has an obvious TNG analogue. It's the "few changes" that they're still working out. How to balance the lighter tone with the serious themes. The balance just seemed off in this one, that's all.
Interesting that the weakest episode thus far IMO is also the only one not written by McFarlane.
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Interesting that the weakest episode thus far IMO is also the only one not written by McFarlane.
I think that's because MacFarlane has managed to find about the right balance of scifi and humour after doing 5 episodes, whereas a new writer didn't have as much to go on. I think the plot and general drama of this episode was as good as any previous one, it just didn't manage to strike quite the right balance to pull it off as effectively as it could have.
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My issues with the show (and I like it for the most part) have nothing to do with being able to categorize it. It's that it really just feels bland for the most part. To link it to your argument, when you try to do too many things, you end up not doing any of them to a satisfactory level. If the comedy isn't funny, and the sci-fi isn't thought provoking, then you're just kind of left with the American cheese of TV.
ive found the comedy to be hillarious... top notch..but the sci fi is clearly the backdrop for the comedy and nothing more. its there to be there but superficial and unimaginative. which is fine cause its still funny.
the drama? again superficial ( at best ) but again who cares? its a comedy.
complex issues? oi, unbalanced and biased. trek for the most part did a good job presenting all 3 sides to most social or political topics. Orville falls the flattest here but again... who cares? its effing funny.
i dont think anyone expects family guy to be family ties..
or million ways to die in the west, i certainly dont expect Orville to be a "real" sci fi show. its a sci fi ripoff using it as a back drop for humor. its about as real of a sci fi flick as spaceballs.
i think you hit the nail on the head. as long as they dont try to do too much it will remain funny.
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or million ways to die in the west, i certainly dont expect Orville to be a "real" sci fi show. its a sci fi ripoff using it as a back drop for humor. its about as real of a sci fi flick as spaceballs.
If you think that, then you don't know scifi. Comedy aside, this show is very much in the vein of classic science fiction, which is why it's been well received by many Trek fans. People expected a comedy in a scifi setting, and it turned out to be a legit scifi show that happens to have an element of humour to it. Heck, it's much more a "real" scifi show than actual Star Trek these days, which is superficial, empty modern Hollywood action drama dressed up in spaceships. This show gives me what I wanted from Star Trek that Discovery has failed to deliver.
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or million ways to die in the west, i certainly dont expect Orville to be a "real" sci fi show. its a sci fi ripoff using it as a back drop for humor. its about as real of a sci fi flick as spaceballs.
If you think that, then you don't know scifi. Comedy aside, this show is very much in the vein of classic science fiction, which is why it's been well received by many Trek fans. People expected a comedy in a scifi setting, and it turned out to be a legit scifi show that happens to have an element of humour to it. Heck, it's much more a "real" scifi show than actual Star Trek these days, which is superficial, empty modern Hollywood action drama dressed up in spaceships. This show gives me what I wanted from Star Trek that Discovery has failed to deliver.
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oh the "if you dont agree with me then you just know" angle.
well with logic like that why bother disagreeing with you at all?
space balls was well received by sw and st fans too.
i know fans of westerns that loved million ways to die in the west.
sure western and sci fi. yeah the setting sure. its there. but its a vehicle for the comedy.
Discovery is a sci fi show thats using the sci fi not just as a backdrop is an excuse for something like humor. its the primary angle of the show. the sci fi isnt just "there" as an excuse to do comedy in space.
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There is no evidence that the scifi in The Orville is only to serve comedy. Seth MacFarlane has outright said it's a proper scifi show, and is a long time science fiction fan (having guest starred himself in Enterprise), who's always wanted to make a scifi show. The show backs that up with real scifi plots, social commentary, etc, no different to classic Trek at all in that regard. The only difference is that it also includes humour. If you remove the humour, you still have a great science fiction show that stands on its own. That would not be the case if it were an "excuse" for comedy, and is not the case for parodies such as Space Balls and A Million Ways To Die in the West.
It's not just a matter of disagreement, it's a matter of you being at odds with what everyone has realized since the show aired. I'd claim Discovery is using scifi as a backdrop for drama more than The Orville is using it for comedy.
Also, Space Balls was fucking terrible. Not really relevant, but I had to point it out. :biggrin:
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The first time I watched Spaceballs I laughed my ass off. After repeated viewings it got old, and I realized how overrated it was. It still has some great gags, but it's not the be all end all of parodies. Same with Monty Python & the Holy Grail, but I still think that one is better.
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There is no evidence that the scifi in The Orville is only to serve comedy. Seth MacFarlane has outright said it's a proper scifi show,
he could say that till he is blue in the face.
i would predict that no one would watch that if it wasnt funny. its working of tng nostalgia and from my opinion watching it the sci fi is there for a little color to the comedy.
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It's not just a matter of disagreement, it's a matter of you being at odds with what everyone has realized
everyone? really?
sounds like a bit if a superiority complex
you dont just disagree. youre wrong because EVERYONE disagrees with you.
must be nice knowing "everyone"
ill just use you as a benchmark for truth from now on since you know everyone.
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The first time I watched Spaceballs I laughed my ass off. After repeated viewings it got old, and I realized how overrated it was. It still has some great gags, but it's not the be all end all of parodies. Same with Monty Python & the Holy Grail, but I still think that one is better.
there is something about not only spoofing sci fi but spoofing film making that makes me laugh every time.
i was never big on MP. i can recognize its cleverness though. never stuck with me.
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I'm also going to have to disagree with you Doug.
The humor was what almost turned me off to Orville. I really didn't connect with it in the first episode or two. And the sci-fi of those two episodes was merely there to give humor, so you're right for those two episodes.
After that though? I got hooked because of the sci-fi element. The humor was finally toned down enough to not put me off, and they actually got some good humor, such as the practical joke gag.
Either way, it was the sci-fi that hooked me, and the humor that almost turned me off.
I haven't seen Discovery, but this show is definitely more Sci-fi, at least, than the last 3 Star Trek movies.
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I'm also going to have to disagree with you Doug.
The humor was what almost turned me off to Orville. I really didn't connect with it in the first episode or two. And the sci-fi of those two episodes was merely there to give humor, so you're right for those two episodes.
After that though? I got hooked because of the sci-fi element. The humor was finally toned down enough to not put me off, and they actually got some good humor, such as the practical joke gag.
Either way, it was the sci-fi that hooked me, and the humor that almost turned me off.
I haven't seen Discovery, but this show is definitely more Sci-fi, at least, than the last 3 Star Trek movies.
at the end of the day all that matters is that you enjoy it. im glad that you do.
last three trek movies imo were flimsy space opetas at best. i agree the last three trek werent very sci fi.
and even the series werent sci fi from end to end. ds9 has large stretches of episodes dealing mostly with religion in cultures not touhing on science at all. i dont view orville not being sci fi as a critique. i thoroughly enjoy the show.
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Wait....you mean.....we can each enjoy the show, but for different reasons??!?
(https://media.tenor.com/images/69462a5f9a21d15cb58e97a5a9fd4b5d/tenor.gif)
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I'm honestly on the verge of calling this show not even a comedy. I tuned in expecting to be underwhelmed by the show because of the way Seth usually focuses on humor. But I've been completely shocked at how non-comedy this show is. As a matter fact, the reason why I love it is because it is not a comedy. Not really anyway. Not anything like any of Seth's other works.
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Let's put it this way. I consider galaxy quest to be more of a comedy then the Oreville
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If you think that, then you don't know scifi. Comedy aside, this show is very much in the vein of classic science fiction, which is why it's been well received by many Trek fans.
A lot of what makes Sci Fi interesting is about being original. 'I wouldn't even call The Orville a reimagining it's just a blatant carbon copy with simply the names changed. Warp drive? Ours is quantum drive. United Federation of Planets? Ours is the Planetary Union. You have Klingons? We have Krill (who look like the Jem'Hadar). We both have starships, shuttles, uniforms with insignias, corridors, bridges, captains' ready rooms, things that look like phasers and tricorders but might not be called those things, and aliens with prosthetic makeup.' Even the storylines can be traced back to a TOS or TNG origin.
I understand people can find The Orville an entertaining slice of TV, but is it good, original Sci Fi? Nah.
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A lot of what makes Sci Fi interesting is about being original. I wouldn't even call The Orville a reimagining it's just a blatant carbon copy with simply the names changed. Warp drive? Ours is quantum drive. United Federation of Planets? Ours is the Planetary Union. You have Klingons? We have Krill (who look like the Jem'Hadar). We both have starships, shuttles, uniforms with insignias, corridors, bridges, captains' ready rooms, things that look like phasers and tricorders but might not be called those things, and aliens with prosthetic makeup. Even the storylines can be traced back to a TOS or TNG origin.
I understand people can find The Orville an entertaining slice of TV, but is it good, original Sci Fi? Nah.
By those broad characteristics, there is not a single scifi show that is original, besides the first that included space ships and aliens. You know, there isn't a single original drama out there anymore because all of them have characters and some of those characters are at odds with other characters and there is some stuff happening. And everyone is wearing clothes for some reason. And there is no original war movie because everyone includes uniforms and guns and generals and even soldiers, etc.
The show is unapologetic about being a "spiritual" successor of TNG-era Trek. And while not amazing yet, it is still good sci fi. Does it use some nostalgia factor that STD has 0 of? Sure. It's what hooks you in to check it out, and from there on you decide whether or not to watch based on the stories and characters.
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A lot of what makes Sci Fi interesting is about being original. I wouldn't even call The Orville a reimagining it's just a blatant carbon copy with simply the names changed. Warp drive? Ours is quantum drive. United Federation of Planets? Ours is the Planetary Union. You have Klingons? We have Krill (who look like the Jem'Hadar). We both have starships, shuttles, uniforms with insignias, corridors, bridges, captains' ready rooms, things that look like phasers and tricorders but might not be called those things, and aliens with prosthetic makeup. Even the storylines can be traced back to a TOS or TNG origin.
I understand people can find The Orville an entertaining slice of TV, but is it good, original Sci Fi? Nah.
By those broad characteristics, there is not a single scifi show that is original, besides the first that included space ships and aliens. You know, there isn't a single original drama out there anymore because all of them have characters and some of those characters are at odds with other characters and there is some stuff happening. And everyone is wearing clothes for some reason. And there is no original war movie because everyone includes uniforms and guns and generals and even soldiers, etc.
The show is unapologetic about being a "spiritual" successor of TNG-era Trek. And while not amazing yet, it is still good sci fi. Does it use some nostalgia factor that STD has 0 of? Sure. It's what hooks you in to check it out, and from there on you decide whether or not to watch based on the stories and characters.
I'd say there is a difference between being influenced by something and ripping something off. 'Stranger Things' is a show not afraid to embrace it's influences (primarily Spielberg and King) yet it's still created something of it's own. I find the Orville to much of a rip off - the only thing that differentiates it from ST universe is the humour, which most people agree is the weakest aspect.
It'll be interesting to see how Charlie Brooker tackles it with the first episode of the next Black Mirror series.
(https://s3.r29static.com//bin/entry/442/720x864,80/1863127/image.jpg)
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I certainly wouldn't go so far as to call it a ripoff, but it's clearly trying to be very ST-like. Which is good because we're seeing that a lot of us have a real desire to see new ST, which the owners are not interested in providing.
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I'd call it an homage, not a rip-off or parody. There's no doubt it's inspired heavily by Star Trek and the TNG era aesthetic, and it makes no attempt to hide that, but a lot of those elements has been commonly used in other shows too. Underneath that, it still has its own unique characters and ideas, and does a lot that Trek wouldn't do (well maybe now that they're running around dropping F bombs, but that's not real Trek anyway ;) )
The thing about this kind of classic style scifi is that underneath all of that surface level dressing, it's not about space ships and lasers and military ranks. And in that regard, I agree with Barto that it's good they're basically doing Star Trek's thing, because Star Trek sure hasn't done it in the entire time I've been a fan of the franchise, and it's something that's sorely missing from most modern "scifi".
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I agree with Barto that it's good they're basically doing Star Trek's thing, because Star Trek sure hasn't done it in the entire time I've been a fan of the franchise, and it's something that's sorely missing from most modern "scifi".
What do you class as this ST thing? (genuinely interested, not asking as dick move).
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I agree with Barto that it's good they're basically doing Star Trek's thing, because Star Trek sure hasn't done it in the entire time I've been a fan of the franchise, and it's something that's sorely missing from most modern "scifi".
What do you class as this ST thing? (genuinely interested, not asking as dick move).
Exploration in general (I don't mean just randomly visiting other planets, as even Trek has done without that), using alien cultures to allegorically provide social commentary,
and present ideas and make observations and question morality, and promoting a hopeful and optimistic view of the future for humanity (rather than the more common bleak dystopian future that litters modern scifi), where people make an effort to co-exist peacefully despite their differences.
Even through the comedy, The Orville has striven to do this in most of its episodes so far, and has satisfied me in the same way as Star Trek has.
I'm sure Barto can add his own take on what "ST-like" is for him, but in short that's what Star Trek is to me. Even when DS9 for example was challenging what a Star Trek show is, it still never lost context of those core ideas.
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I agree with Barto that it's good they're basically doing Star Trek's thing, because Star Trek sure hasn't done it in the entire time I've been a fan of the franchise, and it's something that's sorely missing from most modern "scifi".
What do you class as this ST thing? (genuinely interested, not asking as dick move).
Exploration in general (I don't mean just randomly visiting other planets, as even Trek has done without that), using alien cultures to allegorically provide social commentary, and present ideas and make observations and question morality, and promoting a hopeful and optimistic view of the future for humanity (rather than the more common bleak dystopian future that litters modern scifi), where people make an effort to co-exist peacefully despite their differences.
Even through the comedy, The Orville has striven to do this in most of its episodes so far, and has satisfied me in the same way as Star Trek has.
To me, that was always the heart of what Star Trek was trying to do. It is also in large part what sci-fi in general has always done. It's not about how cool things will be in the future, the gadgets and tech and spaceships and aliens; those are all there because the setting happens to be some point in the future where we'll have things that we don't have now, and hopefully we can make plausible guesses as to what they are and what they'll look like. What's important are the stories, what they say about people, both individual and as collectives. What aspects of humanity will have evolved, and what will (sadly, sometimes) still be the same?
And the reason why most people don't consider The Orville a rip-off is because a rip-off is when you take someone else's work and try to present it as your own. McFarlane has made no secret of the fact that this is basically ST:TNG but with different characters and different tone. This is homage. It is honoring the work that came before it, respectfully continuing that work, and possibly expanding beyond it.
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I binged all of what's available yesterday evening. I've never seen the real Star Trek, but this show is hysterical.
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I agree with Barto that it's good they're basically doing Star Trek's thing, because Star Trek sure hasn't done it in the entire time I've been a fan of the franchise, and it's something that's sorely missing from most modern "scifi".
What do you class as this ST thing? (genuinely interested, not asking as dick move).
Exploration in general (I don't mean just randomly visiting other planets, as even Trek has done without that), using alien cultures to allegorically provide social commentary,
and present ideas and make observations and question morality, and promoting a hopeful and optimistic view of the future for humanity (rather than the more common bleak dystopian future that litters modern scifi), where people make an effort to co-exist peacefully despite their differences.
Even through the comedy, The Orville has striven to do this in most of its episodes so far, and has satisfied me in the same way as Star Trek has.
I'm sure Barto can add his own take on what "ST-like" is for him, but in short that's what Star Trek is to me. Even when DS9 for example was challenging what a Star Trek show is, it still never lost context of those core ideas.
I was actually waiting for you to provide an answer which I presumed would be better than my own. It was.
You mentioned the modern sci-fi=dystopia paradigm, and that's something Orville really has going for it. Theirs is a world I'd love to live in. Looks pretty good. From what I've seen of STD, it looks dreadful. Even JJ's universe seems pretty miserable, or at least supremely uninspiring. Looks just like today but with shinier gadgets. You go back to Roddenberry's universe and it was full of potential. That's a universe that looks a helluva lot better than our own. After Hours did a great bit on how awful GR's universe truly was, and they were absolutely correct in their observations, but that's almost solely because we see it through the eyes of the lifeless drones that man the Enterprise. Living in the TNG Federation equivalent of Colorado would probably be fantastic. The Union might be better. And that's an important component of ST. A hopeful and optimistic view of the future. STD seems about as wondrous and optimistic as Das Boot.
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This week's episode felt like TOS + Black Mirror. Not the most original idea, but very enjoyable.
Continuing the Star Trek ideals, it looks like they also don't use currency.
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Again, as with the episode with the gender change, they touched on an interesting topic but the exploration and resolution of it were quite shallow. I wish they dug a little deeper with more meaningful writing and more exploration of the culture instead of just basically portraying a whole country/planet as a Reddit-like site. At least they gave the second navigator some focus, him being in the show so far is totally pointless.
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Well, they fleshed him out a bit, and it turns out that he really is kind of a shallow, self-centered dick. So good and bad.
I guess it's inevitable that most episodes will resemble old Trek episodes (from any of the series) in some way, but I guess I wasn't thinking it would be so easy to watch an episode of The Orville and go "the story is mostly <this episode> but with a twist similar to <some other episode>".
What's interesting, and oddly surprising, is that different people are naming different Trek episodes. I thought immediately of the TNG episode where I think Wesley chases a volleyball into the bushes, and it turns out that it's a capital offense to damage public shrubbery or something. Picard and Co flip off the Prime Directive and bust him out of there. The setup was similar here, but the resolution was different. So that was good too, I guess.
The social commentary was really heavy-handed this week, but I guess that's gonna be the norm, too. Mabye the honeymoon's over already. I wasn't really thrilled with this episode. The formula is starting to become pretty obvious. We need something worthy of a good million or so upvotes, and soon, or things will get bad.
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I hated the episode from beginning to end. It was a message shoved down the throat with no subtlety, and the whole setup of the episode is just ludicrous. It combined The Voyage Home "we're going to contemporary Earth so the budget stays low" with TNG's "Justice" of Wesley being condemned to death over a silly act. Maybe the target audience for the episode were teenagers absorbed by social media, but to me it felt like watching one of those PSAs where everything is so obvious and distorted that any kind of impact gets lost.
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Yeah, basically.
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I've never old Trek episodes so couldn't draw any such comparisons, but I was put off by how the upvote idea was SO similar to a Black Mirror episode, right down to shops not serving anyone with a too-low score.
EDIT: That said, although it's incredibly on the nose (painfully so at times) the ideas are still good and extremely relevant.
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Lots of people on previously.tv saying that Black Mirror already did this episode. Good thing I don't watch that show.
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I've never old Trek episodes so couldn't draw any such comparisons, but I was put off by how the upvote idea was SO similar to a Black Mirror episode, right down to shops not serving anyone with a too-low score.
EDIT: That said, although it's incredibly on the nose (painfully so at times) the ideas are still good and extremely relevant.
Although the premise was very similar to Nosedive, the message was kinda different. Although the message was sorta similar to other episodes of Black Mirror anyway, since that's their wheelhouse.
It did bother me a bit for the entire episode that the setup was so similar, but in the end, I still enjoyed the episode in its own right, and it included more parody of modern society, since it's also a comedy.
Lots of people on previously.tv saying that Black Mirror already did this episode. Good thing I don't watch that show.
Orbert, not watching Black Mirror is never a good thing! :lol Get on that shit now. The episode in question is the first of the Netflix bunch. And the upcoming episodes will include what appears to be a clear TOS parody episode, which I'm looking forward to.
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I tried getting into BM but after the first 3 episodes I thought it was ridiculously bad so I stopped. In the future, I might just browse through a "Best of" episodes and catch those but I wouldn't waste my time with entire seasons of it. That's one of the downsides of anthology series - a simple streak of mediocre episodes can stand in the way of a lot of people getting into it.
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I'm enjoying The Orville and I'm not even a fan of Star Trek. Some of the episodes remind me of Sliders, but I'm sure Star Trek was an influence to that show as well.
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I'm just excited that anybody else remembers Sliders. :lol I'd say it was probably Trek inspired, with the timer being their plot device to set up a scenario in the same way a spaceship was to Trek.
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I'm just excited that anybody else remembers Sliders. :lol I'd say it was probably Trek inspired, with the timer being their plot device to set up a scenario in the same way a spaceship was to Trek.
I tried watching Sliders again a year or so ago, but it was pretty boring. It was a regular family watch back in the day.
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Lots of people on previously.tv saying that Black Mirror already did this episode. Good thing I don't watch that show.
Orbert, not watching Black Mirror is never a good thing! :lol Get on that shit now. The episode in question is the first of the Netflix bunch. And the upcoming episodes will include what appears to be a clear TOS parody episode, which I'm looking forward to.
I've heard it's great. But I don't do Netflix. Got too many bills to pay already, and not enough time to watch what I record as it is. Not looking for new demands on my time.
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I tried watching Sliders again a year or so ago, but it was pretty boring. It was a regular family watch back in the day.
I still quite enjoy the first two seasons, although the pilot is really dull. It went off the rails entirely in S3, and gets decent again at S4, then declined again for S5. I got them all on DVD, and thought those first couple of seasons held up pretty well, but I do have a big soft spot for '90s scifi/fantasy.
I've heard it's great. But I don't do Netflix. Got too many bills to pay already, and not enough time to watch what I record as it is. Not looking for new demands on my time.
Fair enough. :tup My fault for assuming people have access to everything. :lol
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One thing I'm still struggling with is the humor element. I'm totally fine with them watching Seinfeld on the big screen, but LeVar, I mean LaMarr, grinding a statue on an away mission, I rather get annoyed than laugh.
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I actually thought the most recent episode was pretty good. It was no more heavy-handed than any other socially-conscious episode of ST. Hell, probably less so than TOS or TNG. And for once the social commentary was pretty accurate. I also think the completely unstructured democracy is an interesting idea that hasn't been explored.
Interesting, I thought the episode was going to go a completely different direction at first, and it could have been made to work just as well. When people start to film him humping the statue, I figured he was going to get up-voted right on into the presidency. That would have been a less cliched problem of equal import for them to resolve.
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Looking at next week's preview it looks like Brian Thompson is in it. I've always liked him as a badass in movies and TV shows.
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I recognize him, but couldn't place him, but he's guest starred in several episodes of Star Trek.
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Too many TV shows to type but he was the bad guy in Cobra with Stallone.
The famous line, "What are you gonna do pig?"
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I haven't seen Cobra yet, but I did see Over the Top a few nights ago. :lol
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:lol
So you will love it then.
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The Orville just got renewed for a second season. :metal
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The Orville just got renewed for a second season. :metal
I hope they make some small cast changes.
Get rid of that 2nd pilot dude that was almost killed for dry humping a statue. Seriously. He's worthless.
Bring in someone to add in a different style of humor. A super dry witty guy would be nice, rather than all the frat boy humor the show uses.
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I don't think they need any cast changes, I think they just need to utilize the cast more fully. I still feel like they're dialing in the balance of comedy and how it fits with the scifi, so by S2 they'll hopefully have it sorted. I'm really glad it's renewed though. It would have been a cruel fate to cancel The Orville and yet have to endure another season of STD.
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The dude is just redundant though. He is the same as the other main pilot. We don't need two of the same characters. The main pilot serves a bigger purpose, but that other dude just is there.
Ohhh an Odo (later seasons) kind of character would be neat. Shape shifter trying to figure out how to relate to others. They have the robot, but he doesn't have that interest, which makes him unique, but I think another character that is a bit lost socially would be cool.
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The other dude is there to meet the diversity quota. Duh.
I actually love how the robot subverts the Trek/scifi trope of the AI/robot wanting to be more human, and instead just realizes he's far superior to humans. :lol
As I said, I do think they really need to utilize the cast better. You're not wrong about the pilot dude being redundant, though I don't think they need to replace him, but they definitely need to develop his character more so he has a use. At this point I'm not too bothered by it, but with a second season, they need to start giving those characters more depth.
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Yea I really like the robot dude. Keep forgetting his name. I really wish they would give him more focus. When they do, such as the practical joke thing, it's amazing.
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Just kill him and give Bortus his job. I can't figure out what he's supposed to do, anyway. I'd rather see them replace the doctor, though. She's the one that doesn't work. That's where I could see the dry, witty guy.
And I dig the robot not wanting to be human, but that's also Spock. He was there to provide the analytical perspective and considered himself superior to humans.
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The Orville just got renewed for a second season. :metal
Good to hear! Checking out Orville is definitely on my to do- list.
Is it true that Patrick Stewart and Scott Bakula did cameos for Orville?
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Just kill him and give Bortus his job. I can't figure out what he's supposed to do, anyway. I'd rather see them replace the doctor, though. She's the one that doesn't work. That's where I could see the dry, witty guy.
And I dig the robot not wanting to be human, but that's also Spock. He was there to provide the analytical perspective and considered himself superior to humans.
But Spock's thing was that he was half human. It wasn't that he didn't want to be human, he was struggling against it actively. It's a small difference, but Robot dude just doesn't have any concern at all. He's a complete outsider.
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I really liked last week's episode but there Is something that the show is doing, or attempting to do that is falling kinda flat with me. I keep coming back to a comparison with MASH, a group of silly individuals in a serious situation, and often enough amidst the hilarity there is something serious that happens that does fall kinda heavy on the viewer, at least it did with me.
Though I love the humor in the Orville, I feel when they try to bring it back to something serious, it's the seriousness that never ever sticks with me, in fact I find the attempt at real drama so silly it feels like a joke in and of itself.
The idea that LaMarr gets put on an away team, who's number one rule is to stay out of sight, out of mind and not cause a ruckus, while proceeding to dry hump a statue is hilarious to me, But it's so god awful stupid that I can't take his plight seriously, and his subsequent behavior not taking the rest of his situation seriously seemed again, hilarious to me but to stupid to take even remotely seriously.
Now maybe I'm reading the show's attempt wrong and they aren't trying so much to pull the mash "silly here serious there" thing, but it seems to me they are trying, and having a guy that bungling run into that situation makes it hard to take this as a "dramady" as someone recently told me it was.
I mean this is a minor nitpick, I still love the show and will take the laughs as I get them, I give last week's a solid 8 outta 10.
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In the original Trek, Sulu was the pilot and Chekov was tactical. He ran weapons, raised shields and stuff. When you're in battle, you need your pilot to concentrate on flying the ship while someone else mans the weapons. Even though LaMarr is a bit redundant (and an asshole), we have seen him actually doing his job a few times.
I totally agree that he had no place on that away mission, though, and was apparently only there to get into trouble and lead us into the plot/social commentary of the week.
Unfortunately, Bortus is the one whose job I haven't quite figured out. In fact, he took three weeks off to sit on an egg and apparently they got by fine without him. I say unfortunately because I like him a lot more than LaMarr, but it would make sense to lose Bortus. Or they could lose LaMarr and "promote" Bortus to tactical. His race specializes in weapons, so it makes sense.
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When I said the dude was redundant, I meant as a character, not his job. His character is like a more dick headish version of the main pilot.
But yea, I'm also not sure what Wofrus' job is.
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In the original Trek, Sulu was the pilot and Chekov was tactical. He ran weapons, raised shields and stuff. When you're in battle, you need your pilot to concentrate on flying the ship while someone else mans the weapons. Even though LaMarr is a bit redundant (and an asshole), we have seen him actually doing his job a few times.
I totally agree that he had no place on that away mission, though, and was apparently only there to get into trouble and lead us into the plot/social commentary of the week.
Unfortunately, Bortus is the one whose job I haven't quite figured out. In fact, he took three weeks off to sit on an egg and apparently they got by fine without him. I say unfortunately because I like him a lot more than LaMarr, but it would make sense to lose Bortus. Or they could lose LaMarr and "promote" Bortus to tactical. His race specializes in weapons, so it makes sense.
Sulu was helmsman and Chekov was the navigator. Sulu dealt with tactical. Chekov was the jack of all trades, though. He was Spock's backup at science in TOS, and was head of security and tactical officer in the movies.
I gather Lamaar is supposed to be the tactical officer. As I said before, shitcan him and give Bortus the job.
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I was happy to see this week's episode was focused on the doctor and Isaac. From the start, I knew the setup of robot + kids was going to be fun.
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I've given the Orville another chance. I first quit after three episodes, but found myself at home yesterday with a few hours to kill, so blew though the remaining episodes. I still don't rate it that highly - however it has potential, but It really, really needs to learn to stand on it's own two feet and stop just copying and pasting old Star Trek plots, every single episode within 15 minutes you can see which old TOS or TNG episode inspired it. The humor is still hard work for me, humor in Sci Fi works best for me when it's smart and geeky (Futurama, Red Dwarf etc....) the humor is the Orville is often to juvenile and ends up being quit jarring to the tone, also the jokes have the strange habit of being quite repetitive.
Overall I'm happy it's got a second season, hopefully going forward they can found there own niche and move away from just being ST-lite with jock jokes.
I actually love how the robot subverts the Trek/scifi trope of the AI/robot wanting to be more human, and instead just realizes he's far superior to humans. :lol
(https://i.imgur.com/DViZ9In.png)
Bender got there first :D
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I wouldn't even call it ST-lite these days, given that it's doing the stuff that Star Trek doesn't actually do anymore. Now I just consider it the new Star Trek series. :biggrin:
When Star Trek's done 700+ episodes, every scifi show is going to have some basis for comparison, but that's not necessarily copying. They come from common themes that are universally relevant. History repeats. This week's Discovery episode was also copy/paste of earlier Trek (and everything else that's done Groundhog Day, and probably stuff before that too). All scifi is basically copying Star Trek or The Twilight Zone, directly or indirectly.
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I wouldn't even call it ST-lite these days, given that it's doing the stuff that Star Trek doesn't actually do anymore. Now I just consider it the new Star Trek series. :biggrin:
When Star Trek's done 700+ episodes, every scifi show is going to have some basis for comparison, but that's not necessarily copying. They come from common themes that are universally relevant. History repeats. This week's Discovery episode was also copy/paste of earlier Trek (and everything else that's done Groundhog Day, and probably stuff before that too). All scifi is basically copying Star Trek or The Twilight Zone, directly or indirectly.
I think there is scope to create something a little less Trekkie. Ultimately The Orville isn't Star Trek so it has a fresh universe playground to build in any direction it chooses. On a tiny budget that basically was spent on some grey paint Red Dwarf created some fantastic Sci Fi concepts in it's early years, even though it was a primarily a comedy show first.
It's annoying that neither of Discovery or The Orville has scratched the Star Trek itch for me. I see potential in both, but both are a long way from being 'good' TV at the minute. I'm actually finding Legends of Tomorrow far more entertaining than either, and that show can be as dumb as rocks - but rarely fails to entertain. However that show had a rocky first season, then grew - so there is hope for both STD and the Orville, glad they both got renewed.
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I was happy to see this week's episode was focused on the doctor and Isaac. From the start, I knew the setup of robot + kids was going to be fun.
It certainty was.
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The Orville officially will explore the deep realms of space for a second season!
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You were beaten to the news by a day. :lol Doesn't make the news any less excellent though! :biggrin:
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And just to point out something to look forward to, eventually SMcF is going to make a play on the vag-faced alien thing, and it should be a real hoot. Wouldn't surprise me if we see an alien species at some point with cocks hanging off of their foreheads. And he's got a crew that'll actually make fun of the phenomenon.
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And just to point out something to look forward to, eventually SMcF is going to make a play on the vag-faced alien thing, and it should be a real hoot. Wouldn't surprise me if we see an alien species at some point with cocks hanging off of their foreheads. And he's got a crew that'll actually make fun of the phenomenon.
Men in Black II had ballchinians.
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I actually really liked the newest episode. Glad they gave Issac and the doctor something to do. And unlike that redundant pilot, I cared about their characters and they really held their own.
This was one of those episodes that really was a good ST episode.
Issac just leaving the kids because they'd slow him down was a good touch. So was the doctor just straight up killing that dude who was either holding her captive or protecting her or both.
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When I said the dude was redundant, I meant as a character, not his job. His character is like a more dick headish version of the main pilot.
As a character, I don't know if he's redundant, because Malloy needs someone to bro with for their lowbrow humor. It wouldn't work if Malloy was alone in his foolishness. Okay, it doesn't quite work now, either, but at least I can understand LaMarr's purpose as a character. I just think he could be a fun guy, less serious guy, without being an outright dickhead. You could have the two guys at the front console be joking around and stuff during downtimes, but still be 100% professional when the heat is on. Like Wash from Firefly, only two of him.
This week's episode was really good. Some clichéd and predictable stuff, like you knew the kid was gonna get sick when he fell into the water, and all the walking dead outside making their big move on the shuttle getting bombed by the rescue shuttle, but overall some nice moments, like Isaac learning the importance of physical contact, holding the doctor's hand. And hopefully this was the adventure that turned the kids from little monsters into semi-human, although I'd probably be fine if we never saw them again.
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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.
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This one pretty much focused on Dr. Finn, her kids, and Isaac, which is cool. Gave it a different vibe.
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Didn't really like that one, as 99.9% of things that involve kids it sucked. Isaac carried it and made it watchable.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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Double post.
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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.
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Compared to the first season of any Trek series, I think The Orville stacks up very well so far.
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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.
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Was Rob Lowe Derillio? (Sp?)
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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. :lol
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. :lol
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!
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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!
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I enjoyed it too, it felt coherent and nothing felt forced or out of place.
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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.
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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" :lol
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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.
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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.
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I just hope we get to see Bortus sing My Heart Will Go On before the season is through. Talk about a tease!
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I just hope we get to see Bortus sing My Heart Will Go On before the season is through. Talk about a tease!
:lol :lol :lol Seriously, I was on the edge of my seat! :lol :lol
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Another good episode. The premise reminded me of Flatland, which they mentioned. And I guess they just Geordi Laforged the black guy? :lol Maybe he'll be a useful character now.
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:lol
Yes another satisfying episode. The 2D dimension looked very cool.
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Probably my favourite episode so far.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Latchkum!
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OK episode. But not much of a finale was it?
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It's an episodic show, and MacFarlane said a while ago this season wouldn't have a cliffhanger or anything like that, so I wasn't expecting anything particularly different. Also, 13 episodes were made for this season, but only 12 were shown, because the last one would have been delayed because of Christmas etc, so it's been held back to air with next season. I don't know whether the episode that got held back was the 12th episode, or what was supposed to air as the last episode, so that may or may not have made a difference.
Very good episode btw. Definitely reminded me of Voyager - Blink of an Eye with the time acceleration and becoming part of the planet's belief system. Always an interesting story telling device. I think they covered the religious angle enough in other episodes to not need to do it here, but it was still fine here too, and left a more positive note.
I'm surprised a bunch of cavemen catching a quick glimpse of Kelly running away managed to capture such a perfect likely of not only her face, but the intricacies of a uniform completely alien to them. :lol
Hopefully this means they're done with the romantic angle with the captain now. I understand wanting to include some drama for a more general audience, but it's run its course now, and the show doesn't need it. Also, I think they've managed to find the right balance of comedy/scifi now. I'm really looking forward to next season, and hope they get a decent run.
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I thought the premise for the final show was excellent. They took two existing ideas and merged them into something that, honestly, any of the original ST series should have figured out. You had the contamination of First Contact (episode) played out over the time scale of Blink of and Eye. While I could have lived without the whole Ed and Grayson thing, it wasn't awful and the other character's bits were pretty good. I really liked Ed hanging out with the Bortus household.
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Ensign Turco was hot.
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Hell yeah, she was!
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Tell me more, Orbert!
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I don't know any more. I just know that she was hot.
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Oh, okay.
In that case, here's a very bad Star Trek fan film that Seth McFarlane and his friends made a long time ago:
(https://imgur.com/vu0MexF.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn_Sgcxg5PQ)
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He does a pretty good Kirk.
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Seth has said that The Orville is the show he's always wanted to make. This fits perfectly. He's always wanted to be Kirk, or if not Kirk, then the captain of a starship somewhere, sometime. Now he's doing exactly that. Hold on to your dreams, kids! They can come true!
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Bump because I just finished watching it last night...for the second time. I seriously can’t get enough of this show, it’s just what Star Trek should be.
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Such an odd show for me. I'd probably say I mildly enjoyed it overall - but there is massive room for improvement.
I started off absolutely hating it - the first two episodes are all over the place tone wise, a really scattershot approach where barely anything hits. The stories and world felt derivative, the comedy wasn't to my taste at all and the action is laughably bad. By the end of the second episode which ended with aliens watching earth reality TV --- I didn't want to watch anymore of this shite, and gave up.
I came back to it after hearing it have been improving - bulk watched the next 5 episodes to catch up, and yeah there were still major faults but I started to like aspects of the show more. I think the season peaked around the middle, then unfortuantly fell back into some of the more annoying traits again at the end.
I have read the Seth is going to include much less comedy for the next season, which to me it very welcome.
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I have read the Seth is going to include much less comedy for the next season, which to me it very welcome.
Indeed. It's much better at sci-fi than it is at comedy. And there's actually room for both. You can do comedy episodes as every other ST has shown (not sure about ENT, actually). You can also keep the entire series on a light-hearted tone without the need for constant jokes that hit or miss. You can also do the occasional "dark as fuck" episode, which he's clearly not opposed to, either.
One thing that did surprise me is that he's got no problem at all being much darker than Trek in general. People being beaten to death by angry mobs. Women being tortured. Severed heads being mutilated. Crucifixions. DS9 was pretty violent but didn't have the same feel that some of his scenes did. Dude's got all of the components on hand to do some very good stuff. He just needs to learn how to better incorporate them.
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I have read the Seth is going to include much less comedy for the next season, which to me it very welcome.
Indeed. It's much better at sci-fi than it is at comedy. And there's actually room for both. You can do comedy episodes as every other ST has shown (not sure about ENT, actually). You can also keep the entire series on a light-hearted tone without the need for constant jokes that hit or miss. You can also do the occasional "dark as fuck" episode, which he's clearly not opposed to, either.
One thing that did surprise me is that he's got no problem at all being much darker than Trek in general. People being beaten to death by angry mobs. Women being tortured. Severed heads being mutilated. Crucifixions. DS9 was pretty violent but didn't have the same feel that some of his scenes did. Dude's got all of the components on hand to do some very good stuff. He just needs to learn how to better incorporate them.
I don't mind a bit of lighthearted character dialog lines - such as Worf being frustrated, Data misunderstanding etc. But personally I don't really like comedy story lines or bland situation comedy like the Ed and Kelly setup. Star Trek is generally crap when a episode goes full on comedy (or the rather strange habit of using Irish stereotypes)
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JUST DUNNIT LITE THAT DAHHHM CAHHHNDLE!!!
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JUST DUNNIT LITE THAT DAHHHM CAHHHNDLE!!!
Win.
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A thing I wrote about why critics seemed to hate this show but audiences loved it: https://thenerdymillennialblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/whats-up-with-the-orville/
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YAY!!!!! It's ON!!! I was waiting for this show to come back more than any other!
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Sweeeeet. I didn't know it was back yet. I loved the first season.
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I was wondering if they would change anything since I think the feedback on Season 1 was generally lukewarm (though it obviously has a following). Like I was wondering if maybe they would go for more jokes and lose the dramedy thing they've got going on.
I'm happy to say that they doubled down on the drama. It's still full of Seth's style of humor, but the more observational relationship drama is fully intact. I think this show really nails a nice balance.
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Another good episode! I know they ended up with one more episode for Season 1 than they ended up airing, and I think this was it. It felt like it followed directly from the last episode, with Mercer and Grayson endlessly trying to figure out their relationship, and a new wrinkle added this time. The deal with Bortus' annual "release" was handled surprisingly well, especially considering it's clearly a direct satire of the Vulcan Pon Farr, and the cleansing and "new year" theme worked out nicely with the actual air date. Well played, Fox.
Presumably, the "real" Season 2 starts on Thursday.
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Just watched the first episode of season 2 and it was probably the worst episode yet. I really hope they stop with the relationship drama.
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Yep, it turns out this episode was production 201, whereas the Thursday episode is 112. I guess they wanted to have the "real" Season 2 opener.
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I was wondering if they would change anything since I think the feedback on Season 1 was generally lukewarm (though it obviously has a following). Like I was wondering if maybe they would go for more jokes and lose the dramedy thing they've got going on.
I'm happy to say that they doubled down on the drama. It's still full of Seth's style of humor, but the more observational relationship drama is fully intact. I think this show really nails a nice balance.
I really liked the episode, but I don't see how they doubled down on the drama. It was almost drama free. They got the humor just right though, which was nice. It was, overall, a really great, low-key, character episode. Really liked it.
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I was wondering if they would change anything since I think the feedback on Season 1 was generally lukewarm (though it obviously has a following). Like I was wondering if maybe they would go for more jokes and lose the dramedy thing they've got going on.
I'm happy to say that they doubled down on the drama. It's still full of Seth's style of humor, but the more observational relationship drama is fully intact. I think this show really nails a nice balance.
I really liked the episode, but I don't see how they doubled down on the drama. It was almost drama free. They got the humor just right though, which was nice. It was, overall, a really great, low-key, character episode. Really liked it.
Wha??? The tension between the captain and the ex? The new beau? Even the kids getting into trouble? Granted...it's basic situational drama that you would find in old school sitcoms, but it's a far cry from the slapstick...almost Airplane-esque...feel that a lot of people were expecting. I think this show is playing it fairly straight compared to the type of stuff Seth usually does.
EDIT - I know quite a few people who saw the initial previews and were thinking it was going to be something along the lines of "Dumb and Dumber In Space"....and that's not the way it went at all.
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I completely agree. Technically, that stuff was drama, but.......barely. Kids cheating? Girl has new boyfriend?
Orville has a decently high bar for drama from the 1st season, so this stuff just didn't register as drama to me. Especially not "doubling down on drama."
Still a ton of humor, they just refined it a lot more. The spying in the shuttle was funny. The story about the two headed girl was surprisingly hilarious.
I mean, the whole episode (spoilers?) was about a guy going to pee. The episode was like 95% comedy, it was just really good comedy and didn't feel like a bad Family Guy episode like much of the other humor from episode 1.
Like I said, loved the episode. Looking forward to the rest of season 2.
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Ok Adami.....tell me THAT wasn't drama. :angel:
I thought that got pretty heavy in places.
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I didn't see anything dramatic about it, but as Adami said, they struck a very nice balance with the humor. That's where the show erred last year. What I hope is that he can maintain that balance while working in the sci-fi element, which is what he already has down.
The fact that Bortis's "release" happens on a magnificent precipice overlooking a grand canyon, presumably full of piss, was a great idea. I got a good chuckle out of that. As for the rest of the episode nothing else was really noteworthy. It was a safe episode to start the season, which is a perfectly acceptable thing. I am a bit disappointed that we get a leftover from last year next, though.
Also, I don't like Claire and I hate her kids, but having Isaac as the surrogate father is a pretty good idea. Isaac might be my favorite character and this is an interesting way to put him out there.
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Ok Adami.....tell me THAT wasn't drama. :angel:
I thought that got pretty heavy in places.
Tell you what wasn't drama? Did they show a new episode?
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I didn't see anything dramatic about it, but as Adami said, they struck a very nice balance with the humor. That's where the show erred last year. What I hope is that he can maintain that balance while working in the sci-fi element, which is what he already has down.
The fact that Bortis's "release" happens on a magnificent precipice overlooking a grand canyon, presumably full of piss, was a great idea. I got a good chuckle out of that. As for the rest of the episode nothing else was really noteworthy. It was a safe episode to start the season, which is a perfectly acceptable thing. I am a bit disappointed that we get a leftover from last year next, though.
Also, I don't like Claire and I hate her kids, but having Isaac as the surrogate father is a pretty good idea. Isaac might be my favorite character and this is an interesting way to put him out there.
I think Seth is playing it safe. He doesn't want to do his typical over the top humor with an ode to an iconic show he loved growing up watching. So he does a nice balance of humor that's not too over the top.
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Ok Adami.....tell me THAT wasn't drama. :angel:
I thought that got pretty heavy in places.
Tell you what wasn't drama? Did they show a new episode?
Yes. New episodes air Thursday at 9pm.
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Ok Adami.....tell me THAT wasn't drama. :angel:
I thought that got pretty heavy in places.
Tell you what wasn't drama? Did they show a new episode?
Yes. New episodes air Thursday at 9pm.
Ohhhh. I watch them on Hulu, so it's always a day or so later.
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Good episode. Really enjoyed it. Another perfect blend of drama and humor. I think there was one gag I didn't like, when they were briefly arguing about how to pronounce the lady's name, but the rest was great.
Drama was still much lighter than it could have been, given what they actually did, but it was well done.
Really loving this show.
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I've never been so uncomfortable watching a TV show. Ever. But that's a great thing.
I think what bothered me is that Bortus' voice is bass-y and monotone enough and then when you get a bunch of them all talking like that it's really tiring to listen to.
One thing that ALWAYS bugs me about Star Trek is how SLOW everything is when they need to be FAST. So here we have a planet that's just about to be destroyed and instead of everyone being ready to go in their suits as soon as the shuttle lands it's all like "let's walk to the door, climb down the ladder, meet & greet the people, then talk for a while, now we can only take 30 of you so let's take more time to have a lottery, then we'll take even more time saying goodbye, etc".
It should have been "LAND! RUN! TAKE OFF! COME BACK FOR MORE!" but, as usual it's always like "we're in range now, Captain." "Ok, lock on and engage transporter and beam them directly to sick bay" when this entire sequence should already have been ready to go the INSTANT they were in range. GAH!
I really hate what they did to Topa and I'm glad it was addressed and not just everyone being ok with it... but WTF is that Jabbe the Hutt thing? Jebus Crunch, it's disgusting.
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Did anybody notice that Jason Alexander was the bartender? I didn't.
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Did anybody notice that Jason Alexander was the bartender? I didn't.
I saw him in the cast list. Then like near the end of the episode I put it together.
I knew the voice sounded familiar, but I didn't even connect it til later.
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Another dud episode. It was painful to watch how they dragged this 10-minute idea into a full-blown episode.
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Dr. Phlox makes a wonderful psychopath. I liked him when he was just a crazy fuck. Once he personalized his outrage with a backstory, not so much. Shame, because they kind of had a decent Cape Fear thing working, and Billingsly could have been a good Caddy.
So apparently the producer/star of the show bangs one of the principle actresses so they replace her with a carbon copy. That makes no sense to me, and I can't really see it anything other than a very bad sign. The episode was pretty bad on a variety of levels, and it significantly altered the future of the show. Not at all what I was hoping for two begin the new season.
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It was an interesting episode. No B-story, it was all about Alara going home, apparently to stay. Too bad. She was cute.
It didn't occur to me until someone pointed it out later that the psycho guy and Alara's dad were two former Star Trek doctors. Whoosh!
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I really "hate" it when TV shows have known or famous cameos as that is always a dead giveaway that they are going to be the main antagonist in some way. But at the same time, it was fun as a short nostalgia trip.
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I count myself fortunate because I tend not to watch TV that way. I'll watch the story unfold, and make predictions about what will happen, who's guilty or innocent or whatever, but only because I'm "into the story" and like to test myself, so if I'm right.
My wife will say things like "It's the assistant, who was jealous and killed her because blah blah blah..." and I'll ask how she's so sure. "Because the assistant is <some actress> and you don't cast <some actress> as the assistant of some random murder victim unless they're the one who did it." Yep, I recognized her, thought it was cool that she's on the show; it never occurred to me that she was cast any particular way. Recognizing a particular guest star and then figuring out how that must affect the plot seems something like spoiling the story for yourself. Can't be helped I guess, if your brain works like that, which is why I said I'm glad mine doesn't.
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It was an interesting episode. No B-story, it was all about Alara going home, apparently to stay. Too bad. She was cute.
It didn't occur to me until someone pointed it out later that the psycho guy and Alara's dad were two former Star Trek doctors. Whoosh!
She was replaceable enough. Halston Sage was prettier IRL, but the new girl wears the makeup better.
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rQeR2BBpilg/maxresdefault.jpg)
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I really liked the episode.
But wait, is that really who's replacing her? And why? Really? I am totally out of the loop for behind the scenes drama.
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I really liked the episode.
But wait, is that really who's replacing her? And why? Really? I am totally out of the loop for behind the scenes drama.
Not sure if that's a real cast photo or not, but it's the girl who's replacing her in the appropriate makeup and uniform. And the why is because she's "pursuing other interests," but one of those interests is apparently dating MacFarlane, which almost certainly factors into it.
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That's what makes it even weirder, and part of why no one can figure out WTF is going on. If someone's dating the show's creator and main star, that would usually mean their spot on the show is pretty much guaranteed if they want it. Perhaps she doesn't want it?
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The good news is that I always thought she was one of the weaker characters. It'd be nice if the new gal went the totally opposite direction and was super-confident about being a badass. If she's just a like-for-like replacement I'll be really annoyed. Though honestly, I'm already getting a pretty bad feeling about this show.
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Seems kinda lazy to just swap in another identical character. Having someone else of the same race swap in diminishes Alara's individual skills and basically says she only got the job because of which planet she comes from.
Also, it seems like the easy route to not rewrite any of the scripts they had, which is another shame, because Alara was always a pretty poorly written female character, spending all of her time moaning about how men were threatened by how strong she was.
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Honestly....this sounds like a TNG Krusher/Polaski nod to me.
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They should have killed off Alara with a tar monster and done a nod to Tasha Yar.
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Fox has confirmed that Halston Sage is out, but doesn't mention a reason why.
'The Orville': FOX Confirms Halston Sage's Exit (https://comicbook.com/startrek/2019/01/14/the-orville-halston-sage-exit-departure-alara/)
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Fox has confirmed that Halston Sage is out, but doesn't mention a reason why.
'The Orville': FOX Confirms Halston Sage's Exit (https://comicbook.com/startrek/2019/01/14/the-orville-halston-sage-exit-departure-alara/)
Apparently plenty of people a lot nerdier than us knew all about this way back in June. I saw a video last night of one guy predicting it right down to the plot of the episode. Nobody knows why, but the speculation has always been related to her and MacFarlane's off again on again relationship. I think the important thing will be how they work the new identical character. If she has the same zero-confidence personality then it'll be a very bad omen for how the show is run. If she's a Pulaski to HS's Crusher it'll be alright. I also think SM is begging for a lawsuit here. Everybody knows you don't bang your subordinates.
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Most shows, the first episode of the new season would include a remark or two about the previous character getting a big opportunity and suddenly moving to Arizona or something, and at the same time a new character would be introduced along with a similarly flimsy backstory, and we accept it and move on. I think it speaks well of the actress that she was willing to do the first couple of episodes of a new season, so they could include a proper "farewell" storyline, when she knew she was leaving the show. But she probably knows that this is the better career move (as opposed to refusing to cooperate and leaving them hanging and thus causing bad blood (which never helps)). And if this change was known so far in advance, then there's more to it than we less-nerdy people are aware of.
I prefer the Crusher-Pulaski type of switch. You have a new character in that position; give them their own personality and style, not a carbon copy of the previous character. The fact that the new Security Officer is also Xelayan and rather young-looking doesn't make me very optimistic, but I guess we'll find out tonight.
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Most shows, the first episode of the new season would include a remark or two about the previous character getting a big opportunity and suddenly moving to Arizona or something, and at the same time a new character would be introduced along with a similarly flimsy backstory, and we accept it and move on. I think it speaks well of the actress that she was willing to do the first couple of episodes of a new season, so they could include a proper "farewell" storyline, when she knew she was leaving the show. But she probably knows that this is the better career move (as opposed to refusing to cooperate and leaving them hanging and thus causing bad blood (which never helps)). And if this change was known so far in advance, then there's more to it than we less-nerdy people are aware of.
I prefer the Crusher-Pulaski type of switch. You have a new character in that position; give them their own personality and style, not a carbon copy of the previous character. The fact that the new Security Officer is also Xelayan and rather young-looking doesn't make me very optimistic, but I guess we'll find out tonight.
She looks tougher, though. I don't mind her looking the same if the character is better. Being tough and self-assured would be a huge improvement over Alara.
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True. But presumably the idea was that Alara would start that way, but gradually gain more self-confidence as time went on, and eventually we wouldn't worry about that aspect of her personality because it would be gone. Trek has a pretty spotty record when it comes to character evolution; some characters truly grew and changed over time, but most were basically the same person (with the same flaws) after seven seasons. 7 of 9 changed a lot, meanwhile somehow Ensign Kim was still Ensign Kim the greenhorn virgin loser he always was, seven years later.
But at least they didn't just have Worf Bortus take over as Chief Security Officer when Yar Alara was written out.
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True. But presumably the idea was that Alara would start that way, but gradually gain more self-confidence as time went on, and eventually we wouldn't worry about that aspect of her personality because it would be gone. Trek has a pretty spotty record when it comes to character evolution; some characters truly grew and changed over time, but most were basically the same person (with the same flaws) after seven seasons. 7 of 9 changed a lot, meanwhile somehow Ensign Kim was still Ensign Kim the greenhorn virgin loser he always was, seven years later.
But at least they didn't just have Worf Bortus take over as Chief Security Officer when Yar Alara was written out.
At least that would have given him something to do. Second officer isn't really a fulltime job. But then apparently neither is security chief insofar as the Orville goes.
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But that's always been true of Star Trek shows, and since The Orville is modeled after Star Trek, it makes sense. How many episodes have we seen that start with the crew hanging out in the mess hall or the lounge or the holodeck before being summoned to the bridge? Aren't bridge officers supposed to be there anyway? It seems like most jobs on any starship are just part-time jobs.
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But that's always been true of Star Trek shows, and since The Orville is modeled after Star Trek, it makes sense. How many episodes have we seen that start with the crew hanging out in the mess hall or the lounge or the holodeck before being summoned to the bridge? Aren't bridge officers supposed to be there anyway? It seems like most jobs on any starship are just part-time jobs.
What I was getting at was that neither of them actually have anything to do even when they are working. Data was the second officer but he worked at ops. Worf was CoS plus weapons officer. Nobody ever seems to tell Bortus to do anything, and I honestly have no idea who fires the weapons, except that it wasn't Alara.
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I'm one of the nerds that knew Halston was possibly out. I had heard that she had signed on to star in a movie and the pushed back start of Orville clashed with that so she would end up being absent a good part of the season. If I understand it, she went to film the movie after she left.
It also didn't look like an acrimonious split by any means, at least to me. You don't give the boat rocker a major standalone episode with a huge goodbye like that. I have seen it that they have left the door open for guest starring spots so I have a feeling we will see her again.
Based on episode notes, I don't think the new girl is showing until next week so we may get another week of Patrick Warburton and his 2 esophagi.
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I was hoping that Lt. Puddy was going to inexplicably turn out to be a total badass. Maybe he'll still get the chance.
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I wouldn't want Puddy to be permanent, because the balance of male to female characters was already off, especially now that new girl turned out to be Krill. That turn might have been more obvious if I paid attention to the casting. :lol
This would be my favourite episode of the season so far. Very Trek, not a lot of comedy this season though. But the last Krill episode was hurt by far too much comedy, so I'll take it. Let's face it though, a Krill/alien couldn't pass for human for very long, not in a position that close.
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I wouldn't want Puddy to be permanent, because the balance of male to female characters was already off, especially now that new girl turned out to be Krill. That turn might have been more obvious if I paid attention to the casting. :lol
This would be my favourite episode of the season so far. Very Trek, not a lot of comedy this season though. But the last Krill episode was hurt by far too much comedy, so I'll take it. Let's face it though, a Krill/alien couldn't pass for human for very long, not in a position that close.
Very Star Trek Discovery!
Ash Tyler is a Klingon genetically altered to look Human.
Jamel Tyler is a Krill generally altered to look Human.
The surname must have been a hint, can't have been a coincidence can it?
Good episode though - bit worried after the first two episode which were a bit dull. The last two episodes have been much better.
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I wouldn't want Puddy to be permanent, because the balance of male to female characters was already off, especially now that new girl turned out to be Krill. That turn might have been more obvious if I paid attention to the casting. :lol
This would be my favourite episode of the season so far. Very Trek, not a lot of comedy this season though. But the last Krill episode was hurt by far too much comedy, so I'll take it. Let's face it though, a Krill/alien couldn't pass for human for very long, not in a position that close.
Very Star Trek Discovery!!
Ash Tyler is a Klingon genetically altered to look Human.
Jamel Tyler is a Krill generally altered to look Human.
Real Star Trek was doing that storyline long before that.
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Well true - it's a bit of a Sci Fi staple. The surname made me wonder though.
Watched the first episode the second season of Discovery this morning. I liked it. Seems like they've gone for a lighter tone this time. Pike seemed like a really good addition too. Very early days but I'm hoping both The Orville and Discovery have good second seasons and find their groove (as you said The Orville seems to have toned down the comedy this season - which for me is an improvement.)
Or alternatively they'll both get cancelled as they start getting better. :-[
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Very good episode, I think. The most TNG episode thus far.
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Someone had noted that the actress playing Lt. Tyler was the same who played Teleya in that episode last season, but I didn't think much of it, since it's a Trek thing to re-use and re-cast guest actors. And I'd actually forgotten about it. Now we know why.
Pretty good episode. I bought it, pretty much all of it. Her persona as Tyler, her reasons for doing what she did, and the moments of doubt that Mercer managed to provoke. His attack on religion wasn't as vehement or obnoxious as it could have been, and that's good. It was more of a "Okay, but do you even think about this stuff, or do you literally just do it?" than outright condemning. Even the ending played well, because it's still ambiguous. Did he plant the seeds of some future relations between Krill and Union, or was she right when she said it wouldn't change a thing? That the Krill believe in manifest destiny and they've heard the some arguments from other species they've wiped out, including some much more advanced than the Union and the puny humans who run it?
Malloy's side story was funny enough. I'm not a huge fan of the character, but it was okay.
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Pro-tip: When somebody tells you that as soon as you're done lugging around a heavy object they're going to kill you, stop carrying the heavy object!
Pro-tip: When your captor and tormentor says "yeah, those guys are dicks. They want to kill me." the next words out of your mouth should be "SHE'S HIDING IN THE BUSHES!"
Also, Krill is Krikkit.
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After two good ones, episode 5 happened.....yeah that one stunk. Enjoyed the crews excitement at first contact, but then it fell of a cliff. In fact it turned into a rather forgetable Star Trek episode (and more than a whiff of 'Justice') - Crew held hostage by hard-headed aliens of the week complete with preposterous customs, repetitive dialogue, a meaningless action sequence, nonsensical starfleet (or whatever) rules, and a neat little technobabble solution that ties everything up in the last couple of minutes. Also I complained the first season had to much comedy at all, this episode is played way to straight though, oh and the new security officer was OK I guess
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New security officer is meh.
I rather liked the episode though.
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I really liked the new actress and her character, much more than the one that left.
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The problem is that was likely intended to be a standout episode. I think that was their effort to put out a big one and it was pretty meh. As I was hoping, Alara 2 is the tough and self-assured type, which is good. But her voice, though. As for the episode, it was pretty generic, although the astrology thing was a unique variant. I'm surprised that's never come up before. It's a good idea. The contrived resolution was just terrible, though. "Look, a new star! Everybody stand perfectly still until we figure out what this means!"
Maybe I'm wrong and next week is their best episode ever, but it sure seems to me that this season has been a step backward when they were desperately needing a step forward.
I really liked the new actress and her character, much more than the one that left.
I like the new character much more. I preferred the old actress.
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As someone who is not a Star Trek fan (the only Star Trek I have watched has been most of the movies and the Voyager TV series -- primarily because my wife is a big fan of ST:TNG, and Voyager started not long after we moved in together). I started watching The Orville because it was billed as a parody, but it hasn't lived up to that. It's more of a tribute or spin-off without the name or any official connection to Star Trek and with a few zany one-liners thrown in here and there. When I was watching the astrology planet episode, my wife was nearby and said it was a ripoff of a TNG episode. I have no idea if that's true, but it certainly seemed like something that could have been done. I like Alara and was bummed to see her go. If this show doesn't up the funny, it's going to lose me.
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I see no reason to think this was meant to be the biggest episode of the season. Feels like it's just one of many more serious episode. Last season had a good number of them, I see no reason this will be different.
Also agree with your thoughts on new girl. Better character, way worse actress. That voice.
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Did anybody else notice that the music was pulled from TWoK? I don't see anything that would connect the two, so I suppose it's just a coincidence. Still, very similar.
As someone who is not a Star Trek fan (the only Star Trek I have watched has been most of the movies and the Voyager TV series -- primarily because my wife is a big fan of ST:TNG, and Voyager started not long after we moved in together). I started watching The Orville because it was billed as a parody, but it hasn't lived up to that. It's more of a tribute or spin-off without the name or any official connection to Star Trek and with a few zany one-liners thrown in here and there. When I was watching the astrology planet episode, my wife was nearby and said it was a ripoff of a TNG episode. I have no idea if that's true, but it certainly seemed like something that could have been done. I like Alara and was bummed to see her go. If this show doesn't up the funny, it's going to lose me.
Crew meets cool aliens and get along swell until an irrational quirk turns them into vicious bastards is a pretty common Star Trek theme. Backwards-ass civilizations are ST's bread and butter. A modern civilization routed in astrology is, surprisingly, a new one. Like I said before, good idea. I'm surprised nobody else did it. So I don't know if it's a ripoff, but it was a new twist on an old theme.
That's pretty much Seth's MO. Take ideas from earlier STs and merge them or combine them with new elements, and honestly he's done very well with that. The two best episodes from the first season were both perfect examples. If the Stars Should Appear was lifted mostly from For the World is Hollow, and threw in elements from Relics (the Dyson Sphere) and The Chase (recorded message telling the people who and what they are). You've also got the leader of the planet being also the chief defender of the faith, a common sci-fi trope.
Mad Idolatry is an even better example, because it took existing ST ideas and let them move into something new. The super fast planet was from a [very good] VOY episode. Crew gets to watch a planet evolve in time-lapse. Corruption of planetary development happens a lot. Star Trek would have been pretty boring without it. In this case it reminded me of Who Watches the Watchers. Combining the two so that we see the corruption evolve with the planet over centuries was a damn good idea. Again, I'm surprised nobody thought to do it before.
The biggest problem with the show is Seth finding a balance between the comedy and the sci-fi drama. He's never really gotten it right, and it's debatable as to whether or not it's even possible. From where I stand, I'm not a big fan of his comedy. He swings for the fences and mostly strikes out. And then every once in a while he hit's a Jose Conseco style moonshot that has me ROTFLMAO. He has demonstrated a real knack for the sci-fi part, though. He's capable of doing Star Trek every bit as well as the Star Trek people were. That's what I'm wanting to see from the guy. Particularly since the actual Star Trek people don't seem to be the slightest bit interested in doing actual Star Trek.
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Not just inspired by old Trek, but also a bit of Twilight Zone thrown in too. Just the way I like it. :biggrin:
My dad caught last week's episode on TV, but didn't like it much because he expected more parody/comedy. He probably would have enjoyed the earlier episodes more. It's feeling more straight up scifi this season, with not a lot of comedy, which I'm perfectly fine with, I just hope it doesn't lose appeal for the casual viewer and get cancelled.
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This episode absolutely blew.
1) The ENTIRE bridge crew/senior staff goes to the planet?
2) Star Trek's rule was "no first contact until a civilization is warp-capable" but here it's like "oh, we heard your radio, time to show you everything". Come on. Can you imagine if we were visited way back when radio was just powerful enough to get out far enough?
3) Both parties should have a "here's our beliefs and rules and stuff" handbook to give to each other to avoid what happened, and even if something *still* happened, the "offended" people should be smart enough (they made radios so they is super cereal smart) to understand that it's an honest mistake and not go apeshit about it. Maybe this is what happens when you make first contact WAY too early.
4) So instead of just going in and taking back their people, an act that will be forgotten soon enough, they fuck with the ENTIRE PLANET and their clearly fanatical belief system? Did they present this plan to Ted Danson or just said "fuck it"?
5) I hate Bortus but I thought he had some good lines.
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4) So instead of just going in and taking back their people, an act that will be forgotten soon enough, they fuck with the ENTIRE PLANET and their clearly fanatical belief system? Did they present this plan to Ted Danson or just said "fuck it"?
Remember the cloaking technology the Orville shuttles had last season? I'm pretty sure the writers don't!!
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2) Star Trek's rule was "no first contact until a civilization is warp-capable" but here it's like "oh, we heard your radio, time to show you everything". Come on. Can you imagine if we were visited way back when radio was just powerful enough to get out far enough?
They kind of did make first contact look like a giant, galactic scavenger hunt. I've got no problem with them separating themselves from the Federation and SFC; different rules are encouraged, AFAIC. That one just seemed kind of odd.
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I didn't think it was that odd, but I do agree that the Union seems a bit naive compared to the Federation. I thought the whole point was that they were all excited about making first contact, the new people seemed really cool and just like us (no prosthetics, just some shiny silver spots on their faces), and everything was going really well. Of course there has to be some "dark secret" or something that makes them turn out to be poor candidates for joining, but live and learn.
The Union seems to be like a younger version of the Federation. They haven't figured a lot of this stuff out yet, and being fooled by a good first impression is something we've all done before.
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This episode was probably one of their best yet, in terms of comedy.
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This episode was probably one of their best yet, in terms of comedy.
It wasn't bad. Pretty light overall. The comedy was mostly good though.
Nice seeing Norm McDonald in the flesh, and also using the robot guy without his costume was cool.
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I gotta admit, I started getting a little weirded out by Dr. Finn pursuing a relationship with Isaac, but they did explain it well, they've been laying the groundwork for a while, and it does make sense. Hell, there are guys in love with their blow-up dolls or babes on the Internet that they've never even met. Isaac is good to her, helps her with the boys, and in general has been a very good friend to her. He noticed when she changed her hair a little. The parallels to the TNG episode "In Theory" are obvious, and much of the rationale is the same.
Except the stakes are higher. Data's one-episode relationship with a guest star we'll never see again (which saddened me because Michele Scarabelli was cute) is not the same as two regular cast members hooking up. Dr. Finn is an intelligent, career- and family-driven woman who's a bit lonely. Heck, she hooked up with Yaphit last season. But what the hell. I got over the weirdness by the end. If two people want to hook up, and they're okay with it, then it's not my place to judge.
Also, I think it mostly worked because of Penny Johnson's acting chops. She sold it. When Isaac announced that the experiment was over and he had no more data to collect, and she said "So... you've gotten what you want from me and now you're done with me?" and it was exactly the same hurt, unbelieving tone you'd hear from any other female in that situation, suddenly I got it. Holy shit, are all guys, even artificial ones, that bad? It was real to her. That's all that matters.
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Very good points.
Also Issac in her quarters in a wife beater and briefs. Classic stuff.
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That scene was killing me! LaMarr must've given him a whole list of "bad" things to say because he was pulling them all out. "Since I am incapable of stuttering, I must conclude that you heard me." Doesn't look like she needs any more desserts... Are you on your period? Oh man.
Also that early scene where LaMarr and Malloy were literally racing to the bridge to break the latest gossip was great.
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Still digging this show. I think it's actually getting better. The last two have taken storylines that I kinda thought we gonna suck and turned them into real thinkers.
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I just about get what they’re trying to do (metaphors for homophobia and transphobia etc.) — but the show constantly shows the same-sex culture as unnatural, wrong and generally screwed-up. And so far the Moclans (and no other race) have been been shown as sex addicts, attempted murderers, bigots, mutilators of babies, generally miserable in marriage, and practitioners of bizzare, barbaric cultural rituals.
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I just about get what they’re trying to do (metaphors for homophobia and transphobia etc.) — but the show constantly shows the same-sex culture as unnatural, wrong and generally screwed-up. And so far the Moclans (and no other race) have been been shown as sex addicts, attempted murderers, bigots, mutilators of babies, generally miserable in marriage, and practitioners of bizzare, barbaric cultural rituals.
In other words. . . normal.
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Yeah, the Moclans have been used as the metaphorical bad guys a disproportionate amount, especially since the show hasn't been on that long.
Their closest parallel race, the Klingons (especially TNG Klingons) had some things about their culture that threw us for a loop, but we got it over the course of several years. They were the main "getting to know you" race for TNG, much as the Vulcans were for TOS, so it made sense that we'd uncover a few unpleasantries, but at this point the Moclans are being presented as so far away from Union (i.e., Human) ideals that I'm not sure why we're still associated with them.
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Did the Orville just have it's 'Best of Both Worlds' moment? That was outstanding......after a second season that has generally been bland, where did this episode come from? I really hope they nail the second half next week.
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Did the Orville just have it's 'Best of Both Worlds' moment? That was outstanding......after a second season that has generally been bland, where did this episode come from? I really hope they nail the second half next week.
Which interestingly TNG failed to do.
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Great episode. Very interested to see how it’s resolved.
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Isaac will be influenced by his humanity to save the day, wiping out his entire race in the process leaving him the last of his kind and super special.
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This sucks. ALL the episodes have always been On Demand the very next day.......until now. WHY???? >:( >:( >:( :censored :censored :censored
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Isaac will be influenced by his humanity to save the day, wiping out his entire race in the process leaving him the last of his kind and super special.
That seems the obvious way. So I hope they do something different. Who knows? As long as it's well done.
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Either way I'm happy to see them do a bigger two part story, and who knows what we'll get in part 2.
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Either way I'm happy to see them do a bigger two part story, and who knows what we'll get in part 2.
They tend to be pretty self-aware, and I'm sure they know how obvious of a conclusion that would be, so I hope that use that knowledge to their advantage.
Maybe have Yaphit's people come and kill all the robots. That would be out of left field.
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Either way I'm happy to see them do a bigger two part story, and who knows what we'll get in part 2.
They tend to be pretty self-aware, and I'm sure they know how obvious of a conclusion that would be, so I hope that use that knowledge to their advantage.
Maybe have Yaphit's people come and kill all the robots. That would be out of left field.
But *IF* Isaac is going to come back to being a member of the crew, he has to have a redemption angle to his storyline. If some other race sweeps in an leaves Isaac alone, we don't get that.
Isaac having a change of heart may be a bit predictable, but if it were well written (as the show appears to be so far) I wouldn't really have a problem with it.
Now, having Isaac's race suffer a defeat without being completely wiped out and making Isaac a permanent villain/enemy....that might be a bit more daring.
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It seems possible/likely that when Isaac was reactivated, they did some other tweaking in his head, so they could redeem him without him saving the day, although it would still be the most likely choice here to keep him as main cast. I don't see them dropping another character this soon after replacing another, so I don't think they'll do anything too drastic here, like turn him bad guy.
I don't mind them going with the obvious choice here, as long as it's a good episode.
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As long as Isaac has strife. I think that would show a bit of humanity. Sort of in the mold of Data. Not sure if we will see that but I loved that this was so left field.
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I hope for more than Claire and/or her Sons just talking Isaac down using the 'power of love'. Based on the first episode things should have in reality have gone to far to just have a reset at the end of part 2.
On a side note. What are the chances of this show getting a 3rd season (and more hopefully) at the minute?
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Why would a race of AIs need so many bodies to inhabit that they've overpopulated an entire planet? And why go against other species when they don't need their planet to have oxygen, etc? Don't see the logic in that, so hopefully, they avoid a cheesy and a deus-ex type of resolution.
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I don't mind them going with the obvious choice here, as long as it's a good episode.
Indeed, and it'd be the obvious choice because they (appear to) have been setting it up over a run of episodes, and so if done well it'd be nice storytelling. I'm all for plot twists but I'd be less keen on a deus ex machina resolution.
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Why didn't they just disable all ships like they did with the Orville? The episode was really lame
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Don’t know if I’ll be alone in this, but I thought it was a great episode.
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Thankfully, I can watch a show and not spend my whole time looking for stupid things so I can make a YouTube video saying everything that is wrong with whatever in under 15 minutes. I just enjoy it.
With that said, I greatly enjoyed the Identity 2 parter. Not too surprising considering it was written by Brannon Braga who was a showrunner on 2 Trek shows and co-wrote First Contact, TNG's best movie.
With Braga and Joe Menosky on the production staff you can really see the Trek stuff coming through. Not to mention that many of the directors have been Trek actors/directors.
They have moved the needle much closer to the Trek side and really reduced the MacFarlane humor. Even though I have no problem with that, it seems people want more of the humor and less of the Trek. It's a slippery slope for them.
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It was an OK second part, but this was The Orville's first chance to really set itself apart from TNG and not just go for the big old obvious reset button. It was really predictable where this was going as soon as the Prime started questioning Issac's alliance. Still we got an decent battle out of it.
Talla is a much better character than Alana was in my opinion, while J. Lee (LaMarr) remains the worst actor I've seen on a TV for a good while.
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I waited until both parts aired before watching them, because I hate cliffhangers. I'm glad that they did this mid-season and not as an actual cliffhanger over a season break.
I thought it was pretty damned good. Both parts. In this case, unlike most Trek, the second part actually delivered and didn't feel like a cop out. Calling in the Krill was bold. But they've laid some groundwork for an uneasy alliance already, and this built upon that, so cool. Isaac came through, as most people figured he would, and of course it was "the power of love" or something like that. But it worked for me. Isaac seemed changed after his reboot, like he was ready to toe the line, but when Kaylon Primary threatened Ty, we knew he wasn't gonna let that go. But it came up in a reasonably plausible, dramatic way. So... cool.
Those who predicted Isaac wiping out the rest of the Kaylons, kudos to you! Not all of them, and it was done using some technobabble (EMP over the comms? Really?) But whatever, he sacrificed himself to disable the others and save the ship, and that's good because he's gonna need a few points on his side to build back some cred on the ship. He was, after all, responsible for the deaths of several Orville crew members and the entire attack on Earth and everyone who died in it.
No, it didn't really make sense that the Kaylons needed another planet, since they obviously have huge amount of empty space on their current planet. And it made even less sense that they'd travel all the way to Earth just to kill all humans. If they wanted another planet, I'm sure there are plenty closer to their homeworld, including some far better suited to them. But whatever, I guess we needed to have "the whole human race" threatened, and this is how they did it.
Some things you let slip, as long as other things work. Whether or not an episode, or a show in general, works for you, depends on which things are important and which things you're willing to let slip. The premise of them attacking Earth didn't make sense, but after all the other pretty good drama up to then, and the damned good CGI battle scenes, I could let it go.
Overall, I'd say this was the high point of the series thus far, or at least one of the high points.
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WTF? Double post.
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it was great, although I wasn't blown away by the outcome in part 2, as the lead up in the 1st part.
But it was certainly among if not the best episodes of the series thus far.
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I just noticed that S2 ended a couple of weeks ago. Did people just stop watching it, or was there simply nothing to comment about? I didn't give up on it, really, but I haven't had a huge amount of enthusiasm about watching it, either. Last episode I watched was with the astrological dickhead planet, and while it was actually a pretty good episode, those have been few and far between. Just haven't mustered up the interest in seeing Claire bang Isaac.
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The season finale was pretty epic. Isaac has practically disappeared. He's there but has been pushed pretty far to the back. It was nice to see Alara back for a bit in the finale.
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Yea, I haven't posted cause no one else was. But I've been really impressed with this season. The last few episodes have been fantastic.
Was it renewed?
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Yea, I haven't posted cause no one else was. But I've been really impressed with this season. The last few episodes have been fantastic.
Was it renewed?
Good to hear. I'll make a point to try and get back to it. Though it's a shame about Isaac. He was my favorite character.
And the ratings were pretty awful by the end of it. I wouldn't hold my breath for a renewal. Taking away the always high season premiers, the average ratings dropped from 4.33 to 2.96. That doesn't bode too well, but they might be willing to give it one final chance. Two seasons is a little short to yank the plug.
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Unfortunately, my posting is mostly reactive rather than proactive. If a thread I'm following gets updated, I'll see it, open it, and maybe comment. I've been following The Orville since the beginning and have still caught every episode, but for some reason I don't come onto DTF and post about it. I follow a couple of more Orville-specific forums for that, but I'm never the first one to post there when there's a new episode, so I'm still mostly reacting to what others have said.
Current theory about Isaac is that after the Kaylon deal, Isaac's status has changed considerably, but we just don't know exactly how yet. He did betray The Union, and the fact that he ultimately ended up changing sides due to his relationship with with Claire's kids doesn't change that. Basically he's turned traitor at least a couple of times, so now nobody trusts him. His role in the show has clearly been diminished, mostly "Isaac, compute this for me", but it's not clear whether the writers haven't figured out yet where to go with him, or we just haven't seen it yet. Since the season ended and we never got an answer, hopefully we get it next season (if there is a next season) because it's a pretty big question.
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Isaac was such a strong character, for me at least, that the whole Kaylon plot wasn't worth it at least for now. They've turned them into the super-baddies and that's it, which is a big loss in my opinion, not just because now we get to see Isaac a lot less, but I feel like they could have done a bit more with them, although nothing specific comes to mind. I'm beginning to think they did that as a way to softly write-out Isaac of the show as he became the best thing about the show.
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I loved the first season of this show, but I haven't seen any of the second. I'm a cord cutter and no longer have Hulu. I have no other way to watch this show otherwise.
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EDIT: Wrong thread, sorry!
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I loved the first season of this show, but I haven't seen any of the second. I'm a cord cutter and no longer have Hulu. I have no other way to watch this show otherwise.
It was on broadcast television. You so far in the Styx you don't get the local FOX affiliate? And I gather you have some ethical objection to just DL'ing the thing. For shows that are free to actually watch I check those concerns at the door.
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I get one channel through my digital tuner and it's a Hispanic version of QVC. I haven't DL'd something in years. Can't be bothered :lol
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I think overall I enjoyed the second season more than the first...........but this second season started quite poorly, which may have hit rating, the first two episodes in particular were mostly dead air. I hope it gets renewed, if not isn't this the sort of show a Netflix/Amazon might pick up. I get the feeling the international figures for this show are probably quite healthy.
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Season 3 confirmed.
https://deadline.com/2019/05/the-orville-renewed-season-3-fox-1202612705/
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Awesome! A really great show.
Sadly and not so sadly we live at a time with like 70,000 shows going on at once. It's no wonder rating for most shows aren't what they used to be. There's just too many shows to watch. Too many options. People are losing cable and watching these shows later on Hulu or something. They need a new way to measure how good a show is.
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This makes me happy!
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Cool. I look forward to the direction that Season 3 will take.
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great news about the renewal!
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however it's going to be another Midseason premiere which sucks.
https://deadline.com/2019/05/fox-fall-2019-20-schedule-upfronts-new-shows-empire-the-masked-singer-the-orville-last-man-standing-1202613344/
Once again returning in midseason is Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi comedy-drama The Orville, which takes longer to produce.
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At least it's returning! Love the show and you can definitely see Brannon Braga's hand in the show.
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bump.
moving to Hulu exclusively for Season 3
https://twitter.com/TheOrville/status/1152707002658770944
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Wow, the response is pretty much unanimously against. Hulu folks are just sitting quiet right now ha ha.
But yeah this sucks. No Hulu, no Orville I guess. :(
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But yeah this sucks. No Hulu, no Orville I guess. :(
Dude, this is the 21st century. :lol
Don't much care, to be honest. I made it through about half of the second season and just wasn't into it at all. Hell, I stopped on a cliffhanger episode and don't even care enough to find out what happens. Maybe when every episode stops being about Isaac and Fucking Claire it'll turn around, but I'm just not interested enough to wait it out.
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I know. Many people pick and choose their content and/or services and/or providers and save a lot of money doing it that way, and still get to see what they want to see. But I'm too lazy to do that. Someday I might overcome that; it might even be The Orville that pushes me. The future is yet unwritten.
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Being on Hulu exclusively doesn't look good, imo. Perhaps this third season will be the last.
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Essentially, Seth couldn't deliver for even a midseason start. That led to the Hulu move.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/seth-macfarlanes-orville-moving-hulu-season-3-1225865
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Well, this won't get awkward on set at all.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/adrianne-palicki-files-divorce-apos-053825642.html
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Well, this won't get awkward on set at all.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/adrianne-palicki-files-divorce-apos-053825642.html
In spite of that news, the article said they were hanging out at Comicon.
Seems that nowadays, the divorce is sometimes just as nonchalant as the marriage.
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Kids these days
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Well the part of the story of the Orville is a divorced couple being able to work together, so....
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Ha ha, good point!
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it's not that weird; Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco were dating for awhile, may have even been engaged, but then broke up and both were on The Big Bang Theory, and remained friends for many years.
James Roday and Maggie Lawson as well, although I think things were kind of weird during the last season of Psych, but as far as what they've said publicly, they are friends and have managed to work together on 2 movies.
I suppose the alternative is per The Orville, MacFarlane was dating Halston Sage and then the 2 broke up and she ended up leaving the show (or now just making guest appearances?)
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So, according to Halston, she didn't ask to leave nor was she asked. They just did it.
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-halston-sage-left-the-orville-and-what-shes-doing-next.html/
Halston Sage did what ‘The Orville’ writers asked
Fox never issued a clear reason for writing Alara Kitan off The Orville and bringing on a brand new Xelayan. Halston Sage wasn’t entirely clear either but had good spirits about the whole thing.
“I completely trust our writers and producers,” Sage said. “I think everything happens for a reason.”
So, did she choose to leave the show or did they ask her to?
“It wasn’t about a choice,” Sage said. “It was what was best for the show at the time.”
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That whole deal with Halston Sage leaving the show seemed weird, at the time and now. It just happened, and we never heard a reason, either from the showrunners or anyone "inside". Very odd.
I liked Alara and thought the character had potential, so "what was best for the show at the time" meaning her character being written off is obviously a matter of opinion. I like Talla too, though, and I probably won't be watching the show anymore anyway, so whatever.
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When I first heard the Hulu announcement, I was absolutely going to pass on it.
But now that Hulu is part of that Disney package rollout...I might bite after all.
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bump.
slightly OT: anyone seen the Galaxy Quest documentary? it's well worth it for any Trekkie who even mildly enjoyed the film.
my only qualm was, they mentioned the film's influence today and talked about Guardians of the Galaxy, which I follow, but nothing about The Orville ::)
it's on Amazon Prime for those who have it.
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bump.
slightly OT: anyone seen the Galaxy Quest documentary? it's well worth it for any Trekkie who even mildly enjoyed the the film.
my only qualm was, they mentioned the film's influence today and talked about Guardians of the Galaxy, which I follow, but nothing about The Orville ::)
it's on Amazon Prime for those who have it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnjoiqfhDtQ
There you go. It's from the same team that made the documentary. When I saw it in theaters, they played that first actually.
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Finally got around to wrapping up S2. The first half of the season really sucked ass. The war with the Kalons, which is where I actually bailed ages ago, was alright, but pretty predictable. I actually like them as antagonists. Completely logical and dispassionate, like the Borg were originally, but absolutely brutal. Blood of Patriots was pretty good, but also a little predictable. They're running into problems partly because it's all been done before, and partly because they don't have a knack of pacing. They spend a ton of time in the setup and then have to rush through to the conclusion. In any case, the final two episodes were excellent. Again, it had all been done before, but as they often do they combined various elements to come up with something fairly original and entertaining. And in this case they turned it into two well produced episodes. Good on them.
I'm still not particularly high on it, and I'm hardly dying for its return. Most of this season really stunk it up, and I'm not cool at all with Supergirl's replacement. Much like last season, though, they managed to sneak in just enough quality to maintain some interest.
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Season 3 to be the final season?
https://thedisinsider.com/2020/08/01/season-3-of-seth-macfarlanes-the-orville-to-be-its-last/
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Season 3 to be the final season?
https://thedisinsider.com/2020/08/01/season-3-of-seth-macfarlanes-the-orville-to-be-its-last/
>:( >:( >:( :censored :censored :censored :censored :censored
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I'm just glad there's a third season in the can so that there will be some new programming to watch.
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Truth be told, three seasons is enough. I wanted a second season to see if it would find its footing, and it didn't. It still doesn't know what it wants to be, and the hybrid format just doesn't work all that well. Considering how good the guy is at both Star Trek and comedy, I have to conclude that you just can't combine the two on a weekly basis. Interesting experiment that just didn't pan out.
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I totally disagree
Stadler Bart. I thought the show found a great balance in that second season. But I do agree three is enough. I think the format, while good, is a bit limiting in what can be done and going much past three would result in immensely redundant stuff.
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I totally disagree Stadler Bart. I thought the show found a great balance in that second season. But I do agree three is enough. I think the format, while good, is a bit limiting in what can be done and going much past three would result in immensely redundant stuff.
Perhaps. The truth is that I really thought the first half of the season sucked lots of ass, so I'm probably not the fairest judge. It does seem to me, though, that the balance came about by separating the comedy and scifi even further. Episodes leaned more heavily one or the other, rather than trying to be lots of both. This isn't a bad thing, really. I'm just not sure it's sustainable.
A problem I think the show runs into is that some of the stories can be fairly dark. Usually the best episodes, to boot. This is a good thing, I think. The problem is that it's hard to make Seth Macfarlane Jokes while people are being tortured, or beaten to death by angry mobs, or crucified, or slaughtered in droves by psychotic androids. I think there's a mutual exclusivity at work hindering what he's trying to do.
And while the first half kind of blew, the season really did end on a high note. As I've often said, it's occasionally very good. I just don't think the formula is sustainable.
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It's back, kinda. Well, it's getting there.
Season 3 Of ‘The Orville’ Due To Resume Production In December (https://sciencefiction.com/2020/11/16/season-3-of-the-orville-due-to-resume-production-in-december/)
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11 episodes, but at least some of them might be longer than normal.
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Hey, remember this show? Finally has a release date for the new season.
March 10, 2022
https://tvline.com/2021/09/23/the-orville-season-3-premiere-date-hulu/
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I'm still interested. Two years ago, we didn't have Hulu, so I was kinda bummed. But now we have a Roku with Hulu and like 1000 other channels, so sure, I'll check out Season 3.
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It’s about time. I was so bummed that this wasn’t a huge hit. I absolutely love this show.
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Am I right is thinking this will be the last Season?
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Am I right is thinking this will be the last Season?
Pretty sure Seth has made that clear. The chances of it suddenly becoming a smash hit are so remote I see no chance of him changing his mind.
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excited, but bummed a bit that it will be the final season.
I guess it likely never will be accused of overstaying its welcome, like many other shows.
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My hunch is that you're probably lucky to be getting a third season. If it wasn't profitable for FOX, I'm pretty sure it won't be for HULU. I suspect Seth really wanted to wrap things up properly, and had to beg, borrow, and steal to pull it off. It wasn't a bad show at all, and it was excellent every once in a while, but it was an unworkable format. It was never going to appeal to a broader base than the relatively small one it had. Also, that last season sure as hell didn't help matters.
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Babylon 5's Bruce Boxleitner to appear.
1st shots of the new season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpg6VwO90kk
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Sweet! Captain Sheridan was a cool guy. I loved Babylon 5.
That trailer got me pretty psyched for Season 3. I can't believe 2022 is just around the corner.
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new clip..however season premiere pushed back til June on Hulu
https://tvline.com/2022/02/04/the-orville-season-3-premiere-date-delayed-june-new-opening-credits/
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comes to HULU June 2nd.
Not a ton of buzz or promotion though which sucks, but the latest trailer adds quite a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUzv1PxhBf8
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Trailer looks like we are getting an season arc.
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Wow. I’m kinda dumbstruck.
Looks like Seth just decided to forget the comedy completely. Ballsy move, but I suppose that if you knew it was going to be the final season of your passion project, you just do what you want and screw the haters.
Just didn’t expect anything quite THIS heavy.
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I wasn't that surprised. He was slowly pushing the comedy out as more of a minor thing. This was a heavy episode. I REALLY do not like Charly so far. It's rare for a character to just rub me the wrong way, but she really does. Hoping she gets better.
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That was definitely an intense episode.
I enjoyed it. Not positive I like the idea of taking away Isaacs ability to kill himself, but still good.
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That was definitely an intense episode.
I enjoyed it. Not positive I like the idea of taking away Isaacs ability to kill himself, but still good.
I don’t recall that they took away his ABILITY to kill himself, the doctor just made him promise to come and talk to her. And then she logically explained why it was illogical for him to make that decision.
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That was definitely an intense episode.
I enjoyed it. Not positive I like the idea of taking away Isaacs ability to kill himself, but still good.
I don’t recall that they took away his ABILITY to kill himself, the doctor just made him promise to come and talk to her. And then she logically explained why it was illogical for him to make that decision.
I guess I meant that they brought him back.
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Not a great first episode, I was kind off bored by it to be honest, Trek by numbers and oh so predictable. But the first episodes of the two previous seasons were among the weaker episodes so hopefully it'll improve.
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Second episode was better, a little more humour in it and a nice transition into almost horror, and it was nice not to have a miracle reversal cure. I do has a few issues.
1. All that budget spent on damn fine effects for a TV show....yet we get that laughable action fight scene when Talla fight 3 monsters, complete with 60's Bond film sped up sequences.
2. Where the hell did all the crew go when the monsters showed up? Looked like the ship only had the main cast on it.
3. I like Doctor Finn (medicine woman), well acted too. But do we really need two heavy Finn episodes to start a new season?
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Second episode was better, a little more humour in it and a nice transition into almost horror, and it was nice not to have a miracle reversal cure. I do has a few issues.
1. All that budget spent on damn fine effects for a TV show....yet we get that laughable action fight scene when Talla fight 3 monsters, complete with 60's Bond film sped up sequences.
2. Where the hell did all the crew go when the monsters showed up? Looked like the ship only had the main cast on it.
3. I like Doctor Finn (medicine woman), well acted too. But do we really need two heavy Finn episodes to start a new season?
Wasn't she like a third of the last season? Unlike you I don't much like her, and I saw way too much of her in S2.
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Episode 1 - “Let’s do classic Trek and lose the humor.”
Episode 2 - “Let’s do Alien instead…but maybe a bit more humor.”
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"What about the rest of us?"
"...you might get the sniffles?"
"I am prepared"
That's a great moment that is funny but not distractingly.
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Yeah I liked that moment, but it was the sole bit of humour in two 1hr+ episodes. Not a complaint really, I'm enjoying it so far, it's just a bit weird that they've stopped writing pretty much any funny moments. Like, even below the normal level of most drama/sci-fi.
Then again it's only two episodes so far, maybe there'll be some lighter stuff in the mix later in the season.
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I thought Isaac getting a bit TMI with admiral was kinda funny. That was the first time I saw in this season what could be described as Seth’s “brand” of comedy.
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They are toying with classic, big themes, but doing it in a shallow/rushed way so there's a lot to critique, but I'm still finding it very enjoyable. I hope they lose the whole drama around Isaac pretty soon as he's one of my favourite characters and the moments around him make for very funny moments. The whole practical joke from season 1 when he cut off that guy's foot in his sleep is still giving me chuckles when I think about it. Also, get rid of the kids, please. Nothing interesting around them and they're not really good at acting either.
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They are toying with classic, big themes, but doing it in a shallow/rushed way so there's a lot to critique, but I'm still finding it very enjoyable. I hope they lose the whole drama around Isaac pretty soon as he's one of my favourite characters and the moments around him make for very funny moments. The whole practical joke from season 1 when he cut off that guy's foot in his sleep is still giving me chuckles when I think about it. Also, get rid of the kids, please. Nothing interesting around them and they're not really good at acting either.
"Drama around Isaac" has been a problem for most of the show's run. Isaac is tailor made for that particular style of comedy. The thing with the leg might be the funniest gag the show's pulled off (and the leg randomly dropping from the ceiling later was a great callback). So many episodes in S2, and from what I gather S3 revolve around him and Flynn's family and they simply weren't good. He's a great supporting character, but he's also been the subject of their most boring episodes.
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The 3rd episode was again OK - I kind off worked out the twist midway though the episode. There was a little more humour on this one, but considering the story there was potential for much more.
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The 3rd episode was again OK - I kind off worked out the twist midway though the episode. There was a little more humour on this one, but considering the story there was potential for much more.
You figured out halfway through that the specific aliens from that other episode had evolved 50000 years, become immortal and we’re trying to understand death through the eyes of the people that shaped their history? That’s really impressive.
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The 3rd episode was again OK - I kind off worked out the twist midway though the episode. There was a little more humour on this one, but considering the story there was potential for much more.
You figured out halfway through that the specific aliens from that other episode had evolved 50000 years, become immortal and we’re trying to understand death through the eyes of the people that shaped their history? That’s really impressive.
I was thinking the same thing.
I figured it was some sort of holographic tech pretty early on, but that was about it.
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I still like The Orville, and I don't think this season is any better or worse than previous seasons. Maybe a little better, actually. But here the thing. The Orville came up during a time when I was hurting for some Star Trek. I didn't watch Discovery in 2017, but I watched The Orville. Later, I caught up with Discovery but I still find The Orville to be more faithful to "old school" Star Trek than the new Trek. So The Orville filled a hole for me, scratched the itch, whatever you want to call it.
Now we have Strange New Worlds, which IMO is a return to form. Episodic, mostly focusing on concepts and stories, and while they've leaned pretty heavily into the characters, it's not the travesty that Discovery is with Cadet/Ensign/Captain Michael Burnham saving the fucking galaxy every week.
Anyway, my point is that now that we Strange New Worlds, I find myself not as anxious to watch The Orville. I'll go two or three days after it drops before checking out the new episode. It can wait until the weekend, because I have "real" Trek now. And The Orville is still good and I still like it, but now it has to compete with actual Star Trek, the kind I like. And while it scratched the itch, it was never quite as good as the real thing.
This week's episode kinda emphasized that to me. It was a follow-up to a Season 1 episode that I thought was pretty cool, but the follow-up was pretty weak. We spent most of the episode wondering WTF was going on, then when we got the answer, it was seriously underwhelming. Really? That's all the explanation we're gonna get?
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The 3rd episode was again OK - I kind off worked out the twist midway though the episode. There was a little more humour on this one, but considering the story there was potential for much more.
You figured out halfway through that the specific aliens from that other episode had evolved 50000 years, become immortal and we’re trying to understand death through the eyes of the people that shaped their history? That’s really impressive.
Lol no.
I figured out Talla wasn't the real Talla.
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Episode 4 was by far the best episode of the season, really good story, pacing felt on point too.
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The 3rd episode was again OK - I kind off worked out the twist midway though the episode. There was a little more humour on this one, but considering the story there was potential for much more.
You figured out halfway through that the specific aliens from that other episode had evolved 50000 years, become immortal and we’re trying to understand death through the eyes of the people that shaped their history? That’s really impressive.
Lol no.
I figured out Talla wasn't the real Talla.
Also impressive! I honestly didn't figure it out. I started wondering when everyone had an "experience" but her but then they pretty quickly told us. What gave it away?
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The 3rd episode was again OK - I kind off worked out the twist midway though the episode. There was a little more humour on this one, but considering the story there was potential for much more.
You figured out halfway through that the specific aliens from that other episode had evolved 50000 years, become immortal and we’re trying to understand death through the eyes of the people that shaped their history? That’s really impressive.
Lol no.
I figured out Talla wasn't the real Talla.
Also impressive! I honestly didn't figure it out. I started wondering when everyone had an "experience" but her but then they pretty quickly told us. What gave it away?
I just got a feeling during the second program on the plane that someone was an imposter, and remembered the episode started with her coming back to the Orville from personal leave, making her the obvious candidate. Then when she claimed to have her experience along with Kelly it pretty much confirmed it.
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Latest episode was a real slog. Aside from the Krill episode I've been generally struggling with this season, the spark just isn't there.
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Finally caught up. I thought the Topa episode was really well done. I'm sure it annoyed the people who are annoyed by trans issues, but I thought it made some good points and provided a relatable point of view. Also, it followed the tried-and-true method of Sci-Fi using an analogy (albeit a very obvious one here) to make points about our own society.
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Also liked the latest episode. A bit TOO on the nose, but still largely handled well.
The season is definitely a bit more....dreary....than the others, but I'm really digging it.
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Finally caught up. I thought the Topa episode was really well done. I'm sure it annoyed the people who are annoyed by trans issues, but I thought it made some good points and provided a relatable point of view. Also, it followed the tried-and-true method of Sci-Fi using an analogy (albeit a very obvious one here) to make points about our own society.
See and what I thought was most interesting about it was that (IMO) it was a bit ambiguous as to which side it was landing on.
Don’t want to get too P/R, but I thought the episode could be taken two ways. On the one hand, it could be taken as a modern day allegory for trans rights to choose…but there was also a subtext of changing what what you were born with being “wrong”.
I could see people getting in an uproar over either direction while the artist can just sit back and say…”what did it mean to YOU?”
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I don't disagree with that. While I'm pretty sure we're supposed to feel like The Orville crew was "right" and the Union brass were "wrong", it goes deeper than that. I thought they did a good job of bringing in some political reasons why we can't just do what we think is right. The Moclans have their own culture which is just as "right" to them as it is "wrong" to us, and right now is not a good time to alienate one of our allies, especially one that supplies a lot of the hardware we need to fight the war. So there were layers. I'm just saying that it presented both sides of the argument pretty well, regardless of how we the viewers might feel personally about the issue.
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I'm sure it annoyed the people who are annoyed by trans issues.
Why? Essentially this episode was about a trans person being confused and unhappy and only able to find happiness when turned back into their birth gender.
But as I said the episode bored me, and it's message was confusing and delivered with all the subtly of a day time soap opera. It even setup a subplot (the archaeology stuff) that was pretty much dropped after the intro.
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I'm just glad they got rid of Klyden. I hate that guy.
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I'm sure it annoyed the people who are annoyed by trans issues.
Why? Essentially this episode was about a trans person being confused and unhappy and only able to find happiness when turned back into their birth gender.
You just answered your own question. If you're already annoyed by all the media attention (for lack of a better term) on trans issues these days, then a full episode, actually the longest Orville episode so far, dedicated to this issue would be a complete turnoff. I personally don't have a problem with trans folk or the issues they face, but I didn't need an hour and 15 minutes dedicated to it. That said, I thought it was well done and I enjoyed it.
I kept waiting for the B story with the archeological ruins to somehow connect to the main story, but it never happened.
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Not to get too much into it, they handled the first episode much better. As for the latter, I liked the episode, just wasn't a fan of the "let the kid decide" parallel they were leaning towards. In their particular case, it made sense, as it's just reversing something, but we all know what the messaging is. That said, I'm not bothered by it, and if I were in charge, I would put it as a second plot in an episode, instead of dedicating so much time to it, in what is most likely your final season before being canceled for good.
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Despite the massive shift in tone this season, I am enjoying it overall quite a bit. The episodes are definitely unnecessarily long - good stories and well told, but could have been done in 55 minutes or less rather than 65-75 minutes and still with plenty of room to breathe.
Other than being a bit too long, I otherwise thought the Topa episode was excellent.
The latest episode though, I'm less keen on. It was a great idea and was being told well, but I feel pretty unsatisfied about the resolution and how everyone just seems to agree they did the right thing when I'm not at all convinced that they did.
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they announced awhile back that while the 3rd and likely final season was delayed and was going to be less episodes, all of the episodes were going to be slightly longer.
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Despite the massive shift in tone this season, I am enjoying it overall quite a bit. The episodes are definitely unnecessarily long - good stories and well told, but could have been done in 55 minutes or less rather than 65-75 minutes and still with plenty of room to breathe.
Huh. I didn't even notice they were longer.
The latest episode though, I'm less keen on. It was a great idea and was being told well, but I feel pretty unsatisfied about the resolution and how everyone just seems to agree they did the right thing when I'm not at all convinced that they did.
Yeah, I guess they're trying to distinguish their setting from Star Trek where anything goes time-travel-wise. But, I was really conflicted.
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There wasn't really an easy answer, no matter what. I didn't like that the original plan was to grab Malloy and take him back to the future (ha!) against his will, after he'd spent 10 years, built a life and started a family. But the solution of jumping back those 10 years to when he'd only been there a month and still wanted to go "home" still meant that in some alternate reality, he did meet the girl of his
dreams fantasies, married her, and started a family, but that isn't "our" reality. But he couldn't/wouldn't leave them, and it really was unfair to expect him to. I did like that they revisited the girl from the WTF episode and the cell phone.
So we got the least crappy solution, and I think maybe part of the message was that there wasn't a good clean solution, and that's why you don't fuck around with time travel.
A little more in the Isaac/Charly thing. I still think she's being unprofessional by being so openly a bitch to him, but that's a few times now that she's also done her job, with/for Isaac, when she clearly didn't want to. So I guess she gets points for doing her job, but loses them for being a bitch about it. At least they avoided the trope of them working together and suddenly coming out of it best buds or even friends at all. She still blames him for the death of her more-than-friend, and rightfully so, and no, she still hates everything he stands for.
And on a completely shallow note, I didn't think much of Charly before now, but she looked really nice in jeans with her hair down. Like, whoa.
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And on a completely shallow note, I didn't think much of Charly before now, but she looked really nice in jeans with her hair down. Like, whoa.
I read somewhere (and dunno if it's a joke as Seth has a history of this) but the actress is currently dating Seth.
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That's what I read as well. Seth does that. He was dating Halston Sage (Alara Kitan) during the first season. So if you're currently dating him, you get to be on the show.
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That's what I read as well. Seth does that. He was dating Halston Sage (Alara Kitan) during the first season. So if you're currently dating him, you get to be on the show.
For someone who has been so openly critical of Weinstein and the casting couch culture…it seems a bit….weird.
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I see what you mean, but I honestly think it's more like good old-fashioned nepotism. I've never heard about anything improper going on between Seth and his co-stars, other than that the ones he was dating at the time and who probably got cast because of it. But IDGAF really, it's his show, he can do what he wants. I liked Alara, and Charly isn't quite a horrible character; it just seems like her talents are snarking on Kaylons, and thinking in four dimensions or some shit. Whatever, she's cute.
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I see what you mean, but I honestly think it's more like good old-fashioned nepotism. I've never heard about anything improper going on between Seth and his co-stars, other than that the ones he was dating at the time and who probably got cast because of it. But IDGAF really, it's his show, he can do what he wants. I liked Alara, and Charly isn't quite a horrible character; it just seems like her talents are snarking on Kaylons, and thinking in four dimensions or some shit. Whatever, she's cute.
I generally agree with you. At the same time, Alara left the show right around the time they split up. Not saying that there was anything wrong there, I haven't heard that she had a problem with it, but the timing was kind of noticeable.
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Oh yeah, the timing was a bit obvious. And if it really does come down to "they're banging, she gets to be on the show; they broke up, she's gone" then that's pretty shitty on Seth's part. But again, it's his show. I'm pretty good at separating the art from the artist, and in the end, all I really care about is whether the show is any good. Alara was a cool character. Charly gets a lot of shit on some of the other boards I visit, but it's hard to tell how much is because they truly dislike the character and how much is some kind of resent that she obviously got the gig because she's banging Seth.
It reminds me of Paul McCartney and Wings, and how Linda McCartney was always there, singing bad background vocals and playing the occassional tambourine. People gave her shit about it, even gave Paul some shit about it. But I saw an interview with Linda, and she was under no illusions at all. She's up there because Paul loves her and wants her on stage with him, and he's Paul McCartney and it's his band, so she's up there on stage with him. Simple as that.
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Latest episode was real gem - A return of some humour, a whole lot of heart and a decent plot (and a couple of fun sub plots). Pretty much perfect Orville.
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after the Season 3 finale, all 3 seasons will be picked up by Disney+.
It might suggest a 4th Season could be coming.
https://screenrant.com/the-orville-streaming-disney-plus-season-3-finale/
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after the Season 3 finale, all 3 seasons will be picked up by Disney+.
It might suggest a 4th Season could be coming.
https://screenrant.com/the-orville-streaming-disney-plus-season-3-finale/
Makes sense as it's already on the Disney+ in the UK.
After a mixed bag at the start the most recent two episodes have been really good.
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Just watched episode 8.
Great job of storytelling. I really wish ST:SNW hadn’t stole his thunder, because Seth is on a roll.
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The last (ever?) episode was a bit of a miss - way to long. I kind off get why they did this episode if they thought this is the last ever, but it wasn't great. Shame because the last few episodes were great.
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I really dug it. Not perfect by any stretch but a good sendoff. They had two stories that I think they handled well. Wasn’t super dark or anything and brought back the hopefulness and fun that wasnt always present this season. Plus nice cameo at the end.
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I really liked the finale, even though it didn't fully resolve everything with the Moclan and Krill conflict. With the aftermath of the battle episode, it was a nice change of pace, high on humor and lighthearted-ness.
Also it finally hit me, Klyden is played by the same actor, Chad L Coleman, who played Fred Johnson in The Expanse.
https://i.redd.it/36apcw1cjxf91.jpg
also the drummer at the wedding was a cameo of someone famous. he looks familiar but i'm spacing on who. It looks a little like J Michael Stracyznski from Babylon 5.
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Also it finally hit me, Klyden is played by the same actor, Chad L Coleman, who played Fred Johnson in The Expanse.
He was Cutty in the Wire too, he was also in The Walking Dead for a while.
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Finally saw the finale tonight, and I thought it was pretty good. It was smart resolving the main Kaylon conflict last episode and getting Charly out of the way (pretty cool character arc, if a bit cliched and clumsily executed at times) so that this episode could relax a bit, and give us some promise for the future. Yeah, the Moclan/Krill alliance is still out there, but things onboard The Orville are peachy for now, and life goes on.
Nice to see Alara again. I forgot how damned cute she is.
The return of the egg salad sandwich!
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Also it finally hit me, Klyden is played by the same actor, Chad L Coleman, who played Fred Johnson in The Expanse.
:o
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So, I just learned that there was a Season 3 episode that was cut due to covid impacts on the series, but it was released as a novella (https://smile.amazon.com/Orville-Sympathy-Devil-Seth-MacFarlane-ebook/dp/B09Z76NZRH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1EQFP7TLPI6Y3&keywords=the+orville+sympathy+for+the+devil&qid=1659978723&sprefix=the+orville%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1). Ebook or audiobook (narrated by Bruce Boxleitner) only, apparently.
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Late to the party but I watched S01 last week and are now halfway into S02. Honestly, I absolutely love everything about this.
I had to just mention one thing, in S02-E6, the concert segment is such a great capture of a live performance with an orchestra. I love how they focus on diffrent instruments and see them play the correct parts. I know it's a nerdy thing but I love attention like that. I just hate for example when they zoom in on a drummer in a band and he plays off-beat or something to the music.
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I always appreciate it when care is taken to at least make it look like someone is actually playing what we're hearing. Best of all is when the actor can actually play, but it seems like a decent actor could fake it pretty well. It's just another kind of acting.
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nothing confirmed, but there may be a Season 4 on Disney+.
https://www.cinemablend.com/streaming-news/seth-macfarlane-shares-the-latest-update-on-the-orville-season-4
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That would be awesome!