Why should I watch The Orville?

[JD]

Orville in its first 2 seasons is more like a comedy spoof of Star Trek but made with respect and love for the franchise. It may not be everyone's style of humor but to me it was funny enough to have a laugh once a week ( or rather it could have been since i binged it ages ago).

Season 3 is a major departure in tone, reducing the humor significantly and making it a bit more subtle and focusing more on story. It is a big departure and after the first few episodes made me nearly quit but the story quality improved tremendously and they turned out some pretty good stories and character arcs in the best tradition of Star Trek.

I didn't think the shift in tone was that sudden, they were already toning down some of the humor later in Season 1 and into Season 2.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

For the first two seasons a good comparison - it's a tongue in cheeck style of humor.

If it's more like GQ than ST, I might check it out. Thank you.

 

[fireproof78]

I didn't think the shift in tone was that sudden, they were already toning down some of the humor later in Season 1 and into Season 2.

They toned it down by the 4th episode.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

If you want a show that's going for a feel that's maybe one third TOS to two thirds TNG but you wish that Star Trek had had more jokes about dogs licking their balls and comedy episodes about rapists, The Orville may be for you. Sure, it gets more serious, but by then they've already established that half the show's regulars are one-dimensional buffoons, so you may have some difficulty caring when they're in serious situations. If you've had the coyote run off the cliff as a joke a dozen times and brought him back to do it again, don't expect me to care that oh, maybe this time the coyote will die or have permanent injuries. He's Wile E. Coyote. He's been firmly established as a joke. There is no pathos to be had. I'm not going to cry for him. The fact that some of the key roles are played by people who aren't very good actors doesn't help.

If you want funny Star Trek that's actually Star Trek, there's Lower Decks. If you want serious Star Trek that's a blend of classic and newer Star Trek storytelling and has a strong cast, there's Strange New Worlds.

I'm not a hater. I watched the first two seasons and bought the soundtrack and some comics. But ultimately the show shot itself in the dick too many times for me. Obviously others disagree.

Comedy episode about a rapist, WTF?

 

[Tuskin38]

Recently there's some good indicators it may get a 4th season but it's not confirmed yet.

It hasn't been announced officially by Fox/Disney, but an actor has confirmed it, the person who runs the Official Orville podcast confirmed it, and production weekly apparently has filming dates listed.

 

[JD]

Comedy episode about a rapist, WTF?

There's an episode with an alien who seduces people with pheromones and it makes the whole crew act horny. The whole thing brought up a lot of serious issues with consent that it didn't address.

 

[Daedalus]

Orville in its first 2 seasons is more like a comedy spoof of Star Trek but made with respect and love for the franchise. It may not be everyone's style of humor but to me it was funny enough to have a laugh once a week ( or rather it could have been since i binged it ages ago).

Season 3 is a major departure in tone, reducing the humor significantly and making it a bit more subtle and focusing more on story. It is a big departure and after the first few episodes made me nearly quit but the story quality improved tremendously and they turned out some pretty good stories and character arcs in the best tradition of Star Trek.

The future of it was kinda in limbo since the season 3 finale, concluding some major storylines but leaving enough threads left to continue others. Recently there's some good indicators it may get a 4th season but it's not confirmed yet.

I couldn't enjoy season 3 as much, for that reason. There was something about the opening scene of S3 with Gordon and the new toy that immediately changed my perspective of things.

It lost the tv format as well, by changing the aspect ratio. I don't always like shows going full cinematic.

It wasn't a bad season, by any means. I just missed the old flavour.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

There's an episode with an alien who seduces people with pheromones and it makes the whole crew act horny. The whole thing brought up a lot of serious issues with consent that it didn't address.

Didn't Enterprise already do that in S3 "Rajiin" and again in S4 "Bound?"

 

[fireproof78]

There's an episode with an alien who seduces people with pheromones and it makes the whole crew act horny. The whole thing brought up a lot of serious issues with consent that it didn't address.

As well as being responsible for early on conflicts for the Grayson's. Deeply frustrating episode.

 

[JD]

Oh right, I forgot about that whole aspect of it.

Didn't Enterprise already do that in S3 "Rajiin" and again in S4 "Bound?"

I'm pretty sure people have had issues with those episodes to. But the big difference is that The Orville played it for laughs.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Oh right, I forgot about that whole aspect of it.

I'm pretty sure people have had issues with those episodes to. But the big difference is that The Orville played it for laughs.

In "Rajiin," the lady alien was seducing everyone for their DNA for the Xindi bioweapon.
In "Bound," things got stupid.

 

[JD]

Yeah, I know.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have never seen The Orville, and it's probably just as well, because I surely would not get the joke.

Generally speaking, I don't do parodies well. Especially not when it's Trek they're making fun of. I take everything seriously.

And I'm definitely not a fan of MacFarlane humor.

 

[fireproof78]

I have never seen The Orville, and it's probably just as well, because I surely would not get the joke.

Generally speaking, I don't do parodies well. Especially not when it's Trek they're making fun of. I take everything seriously.

And I'm definitely not a fan of MacFarlane humor.

It's definitely not a parody of Trek. It uses a lot of the tropes, but incorporates a lot of domestic humor, substance use, and the like.

It also is a highly dramatic series at times. I don't think they really make fun of Trek, as much as they have fun with a Trek like premise.

 

[FPAlpha]

It's definitely not a parody of Trek. It uses a lot of the tropes, but incorporates a lot of domestic humor, substance use, and the like.

It also is a highly dramatic series at times. I don't think they really make fun of Trek, as much as they have fun with a Trek like premise.

To be fair the first season especially seemed like a parody of Star Trek, especially Next Generation when it made fun of general Sci Fi but also Trek related tropes. It seemed like they inverted TNG where when TNG was serious ( which was most of the time) Orville tended to be silly but occasionally snuck in a serious topic like the Moclans only male society ( which led to one of my favorite moments of the entire show in season 3) much like TNG occasionally snuck in the funnies.

 

[Owain Taggart]

And I'm definitely not a fan of MacFarlane humor.

I would say it's not his typical humor. I usually don't like his typical style, which is often snarky and cynical, but here the humor has heart, and I wouldn't have liked the first two seasons so much if it weren't for that. McFarlane is a huge Trek fan and it really shows here.

 

[fireproof78]

To be fair the first season especially seemed like a parody of Star Trek, especially Next Generation when it made fun of general Sci Fi but also Trek related tropes. It seemed like they inverted TNG where when TNG was serious ( which was most of the time) Orville tended to be silly but occasionally snuck in a serious topic like the Moclans only male society ( which led to one of my favorite moments of the entire show in season 3) much like TNG occasionally snuck in the funnies.

It always lacked the full punch of a parody to me. Yes, it makes fun of tropes but the stories are always driven by characters solving the problem, not joking about the problem, or something unexpected. The solutions usually come organically, and the characters have a earnestness about them that's meant to take more serious, than a parody which has serious characters in absurd situations.

 

[Steve Roby]

It started out very much as a parody of Star Trek, though some fans argue otherwise, and it was reviewed as such when it started. MacFarlane desperately wanted to do a Star Trek show and couldn't do it officially. Parody is a protected form of speech whereas just ripping off something to the point of hiring writers, producers, and cast members from real Star Trek could get you sued. So, hey, yeah, everybody, it's a parody. Then he gradually made it more serious, but that didn't really work for me either, though by then evidently it was clear he wouldn't get sued.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

It started out very much as a parody of Star Trek, though some fans argue otherwise, and it was reviewed as such when it started. MacFarlane desperately wanted to do a Star Trek show and couldn't do it officially. Parody is a protected form of speech whereas just ripping off something to the point of hiring writers, producers, and cast members from real Star Trek could get you sued. So, hey, yeah, everybody, it's a parody. Then he gradually made it more serious, but that didn't really work for me either, though by then evidently it was clear he wouldn't get sued.

My question: instead of making not-Trek, why not make something original?

 

[The Wormhole]

Generally speaking, I don't do parodies well. Especially not when it's Trek they're making fun of. I take everything seriously.

It's not a parody, but rather a Star Trek-like show but with characters who have a sense of humor and like to draw penises on things. Even then most of the comedy and humor is in the first season, forced into the show by Fox over MacFarlane's objections. The show gets gradually more serious in the second season and definitely very serious in the third.

Even in the first two seasons where it had levity it's very comparable to SNW. Indeed, in many ways, SNW is a Star Trek version of The Orville.