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First reviews for Seth McFarlane's scifi drama The Orville
- Thread starter Slayven
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The design wasn't always great and comments can be painful on mobile but at least it was easy to find reviews for stuff and to read ones you missed or to follow while watching
The redesign makes it impossible
Random Human
They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.
Haha, thank you!
Given how much this takes after Trek, it's just like any random research station in the Trek universe that ends up sending a distress signal to be answered by the Enterprise.
I suppose that they're more used to relatively mundane discoveries or things that would benefit everyone and so if somebody really feels the need to steal it, they'd be willing to freely give it. It was just that the time thingy was so far out of the norm of their discoveries that they didn't know how to handle the matter. Also possible there was a minimal security force that was dispatched off-screen.
It wasn't horrible. Not great either. It's tonally really weird. The jokes aren't funny and the dramatic moments fall flat. The whole thing feels like it's trying to capture the glory days of past shows (especially TNG) but without much of an identity of its own. It doesn't help that McFarlane is way out of his depth as a dramatic actor. Still, there's just something very comforting about this type of show for me, because I grew up on TNG. I'll stick with it for now.
(And how refreshing is it to hear music of this quality and with a real orchestra in a network television show?)
(And how refreshing is it to hear music of this quality and with a real orchestra in a network television show?)
Eh, I've seen worse from Seth McFarlane. Probably will watch a few more episodes before deciding if I should stick with it. Nothing really laugh out loud about it though. That being said, CBS should be ashamed that their new Star Trek series is relegated to streaming basically while FOX gives this show a green light to lead into The Simpsons. I mean hell, they could have shuffled Discovery off to the CW, at least.
They easily could have had it on CBS itself. They had Supergirl on CBS for its first season and I think Star Trek of any kind is bigger then that.The point is to continue to build their streaming service and expand it (it's being made available in Canada early 2018 I believe they announced a few ago and they're in the process of buying one of the major networks in Australia and likely will be expanding it there as well.). Not like that was the only place they could put it. They're spending 6 to 8 million an episode. They also announced three new original shows for the service back around comic con I think and are letting you stream live NFL games via the service as well. That is just your local games though but still that's a thing. They're not dumping it or anything.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Star Trek would bomb on CBS unless they moved Scott Bakula over to it and made it about a crew of 40 somethings having safe and boring adventures about American exceptionalism. lol
dead souls
Member
Scott Bakula already bombed on Trek once.
So CBS still has that age issue? I thought they were suppose to be working on that.
DiscoJer
Member
I realize shows never make much logical sense, but there's a lot of stuff that bothered me.
Apparently CBS has sold the world wide rights to Discovery to Netflix for enough money to make the show already break even.
https://www.trektoday.com/content/2016/12/netflix-sale-funds-star-trek-discovery/
Like how would a tree tear apart a starship?When plants grow and hit some sort of resistance, they grow in another direction. I have an old shed that has a tree growing under one side (which is open), where it reaches the roof it started growing sideways
Why would inertia suddenly be a problem on the shuttle? The Orville was doing loop de loops around that ship and no one on it was wearing seatbelts. Maybe the shuttled didn't have anything to remove inertia like the starship, but they kept bouncing off of debris and didn't seem to have any effect on people inside the shuttle.
How weak were those aliens weapons? Ignoring the fact they couldn't hit anyone, the one person they did hit seemed to be completely unaffected by it. A rifle shot, no less. I know Sci-Fi weapons are always worse than actual firearms, but these have to be the weakest I've seen.
And why would the aliens be so dumb? They could have destroyed the shuttle from orbit, as it was just parked there. Or they could have actually secured it, not just have one guy hide in it. And where was he hiding?
Why would inertia suddenly be a problem on the shuttle? The Orville was doing loop de loops around that ship and no one on it was wearing seatbelts. Maybe the shuttled didn't have anything to remove inertia like the starship, but they kept bouncing off of debris and didn't seem to have any effect on people inside the shuttle.
How weak were those aliens weapons? Ignoring the fact they couldn't hit anyone, the one person they did hit seemed to be completely unaffected by it. A rifle shot, no less. I know Sci-Fi weapons are always worse than actual firearms, but these have to be the weakest I've seen.
And why would the aliens be so dumb? They could have destroyed the shuttle from orbit, as it was just parked there. Or they could have actually secured it, not just have one guy hide in it. And where was he hiding?
Apparently CBS has sold the world wide rights to Discovery to Netflix for enough money to make the show already break even.
https://www.trektoday.com/content/2016/12/netflix-sale-funds-star-trek-discovery/
firehawk12
Subete no aware
(That's the joke
)They don't need to though, since they have the most popular dramas and sitcoms on TV. Maybe that will change, because there was a time when ABC was dominant and then NBC in the 90s, but right now the channel is filled with NCIS/Criminal Minds spinoffs and Chuck Lorre sitcoms.
I still think the only way Trek would work on TV in 2017 is if they had a young/teen cast and made a Star Trek Academy show on the CW.
That or you make it all gritty and incesty like a scifi Game of Thrones and put it on Showtime.
Futurevoid
Member
Tonally, its all over the place and just never felt right for me. I agree that it has a strangely comfortable TNG nostalgia thing going for it but that's about it. The jokes were garbage, the writing awful and the drama as it were was DOA thanks to the ill-timed attempts at humor. It's just a show that doesn't know what it wants to be. Which is too bad cause the music/CG and what not look decent.
Galaxy Quest already did this about 1000x better......
Galaxy Quest already did this about 1000x better......
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Watching now. It's not outright dreadful, just weird. Too clunky and flat to be an effective drama. Too fast and without a sense of timing to work for comedy. Like there are moments where you'd expect a joke setup, a really really obvious joke setup, and the show just speeds by them and does nothing.
EDIT: Some of the line reads in this are really bad. Doesn't help that the dialogue is stilted and over explanatory, but damn.
Final Edit: Yikes. They're really serious about this, huh? I'm out lol
EDIT: Some of the line reads in this are really bad. Doesn't help that the dialogue is stilted and over explanatory, but damn.
Final Edit: Yikes. They're really serious about this, huh? I'm out lol
March of the Crabs
Member
I actually found it quite solid for a pilot. The tone needs tightening and the characters need to be fleshed out, but I think it has a lot of promise if Fox actually sticks with it.
Cross-Section
Member
Watched it. Not perfect by any means, but it scratched the Trek itch.
That said, Other Space was way better at doing the whole "It's Trek but funny!" aesthetic.
That said, Other Space was way better at doing the whole "It's Trek but funny!" aesthetic.
Discotheque
Banned
You thought galaxy quest took itself too seriously?....galaxy quest?
Anyways this shit was weak. I would normally be up for a show with this type of concept but I did not enjoy it. I think seth can be alright in small appearances but not as a lead character
firehawk12
Subete no aware
That was fine. It's not the disaster the reviewers said it would be and literally is just Star Trek with a cast of 20th century characters.
It'll also probably be cancelled in a few weeks.
It'll also probably be cancelled in a few weeks.
I liked it at Face value for what it is.
It's Star Trek plus stargate plus spaceballs.
Derivative, slightly funny, pretty enough to be decent, and familiar.
I liked it enough to keep watching weekly, but it's not quite amazing enough to be on my list of shows id make an effort to rewatch a whole season again at a later date.
It's Star Trek plus stargate plus spaceballs.
Derivative, slightly funny, pretty enough to be decent, and familiar.
I liked it enough to keep watching weekly, but it's not quite amazing enough to be on my list of shows id make an effort to rewatch a whole season again at a later date.
googleplex
Member
I'm watching now. But i'm having a hard time trying to form an impartial opinion about this show because I'm so desperate for an actual good Star Trek TV show.
Fancyarcher
Member
It's great music, and it's even more depressing that Seth MacFarlane seems to be one of the few people willing to pay for an orchestra, and wanting music that has uses actual themes, instead of being atmosphere in the background. Incredible!
no hes saying this show takes itself too seriously and the jokes don't land, unlike Galaxy Quest.
For real. The music was actually really good. I hope they take a more Firefly/Farscape approach Action/Comedy as oppose to Comedy /Action. The
Krill
Nonetheless I like the show a lot more that I should have and expected to. Will keep an open mind and hopefully it can only improve from here.
radios shipping overview
Member
Maybe if the ratings are there, they can improve the writing over time?
...
It's dead in the water, isn't it?
...
It's dead in the water, isn't it?
And if it was on Netflix in the United States where I lived, that would be cool beans. Unfortunately, it's on CBS All Access here and is basically the only show I would watch on CBS All Access. Good for CBS though.
But that's a different topic. We should be talking about the Orville.
It's a Star Trek spoof... Logical inconsistencies like that have appeared in Star Trek episodes before although not as absurd as how The Orville does it. Having said that, they were all played straight despite being slightly more absurd except for the
inertia/seat belt
Basically, whenever ships in the Star Trek universe get hit or turn quickly, the bridge crew would move around to signify the ship was hit or stopped too quickly. A running joke in the Star Trek fandom is that the Enterprise needs seat belts to prevent that. Naturally, the Orville's shuttle HAD seat belts and then the crew stopped the shuttle, sending only the Krill flying forward. It was subtle and a joke that's been overplayed, but it was the only joke that actually seemed to work with the Star Trek-like setting.
Chock me up for the "wasn't so bad, kinda liked it actually" category.
It's hard to tell what they are going for as its not riotously funny, though some of the stuff caught me good, and its not serious or anything, but it wasn't bad.
I stuck around for the whole thing, and that says a lot in this day and age.
It's hard to tell what they are going for as its not riotously funny, though some of the stuff caught me good, and its not serious or anything, but it wasn't bad.
I stuck around for the whole thing, and that says a lot in this day and age.
I didn't completely hate this but it was definitely uneven as uneven gets. And kind of dull.
But I was completely intrigued by pretty much everything about it. People weren't kidding with the whole "it's a drama, not a comedy" thing, it really did feel like all the jokes were around because of some compulsion on McFarlane's part, as if the jokes themselves didn't want to actually be on the show but had to be because McFarlane does comedies. It was perplexing how much they felt out of place.
And then you get to the absurd amount of ripping off of Star Trek. I understand ST's cultural impact and that this is supposed to be a 'parody' but this was just Trek down to the most minor of levels. If it was just one thing it wouldn't be much of a big deal but from the visual design to the music to the entire conception of the Union, it is just Star Trek. Why is there a holodeck on this show at all? Or look at the actor playing the robot crewmate, he talks in the same manner/inflection as Brent Spiner's Data. Baffling.
But I am fascinated by this and am glad it is this tonal clusterfuck that doesn't really work instead of the 'not Other Space, not Galaxy Quest' I was expecting it to be. If only the rest of television that wasn't particularly good was as interesting to behold as this mess.
But I was completely intrigued by pretty much everything about it. People weren't kidding with the whole "it's a drama, not a comedy" thing, it really did feel like all the jokes were around because of some compulsion on McFarlane's part, as if the jokes themselves didn't want to actually be on the show but had to be because McFarlane does comedies. It was perplexing how much they felt out of place.
And then you get to the absurd amount of ripping off of Star Trek. I understand ST's cultural impact and that this is supposed to be a 'parody' but this was just Trek down to the most minor of levels. If it was just one thing it wouldn't be much of a big deal but from the visual design to the music to the entire conception of the Union, it is just Star Trek. Why is there a holodeck on this show at all? Or look at the actor playing the robot crewmate, he talks in the same manner/inflection as Brent Spiner's Data. Baffling.
But I am fascinated by this and am glad it is this tonal clusterfuck that doesn't really work instead of the 'not Other Space, not Galaxy Quest' I was expecting it to be. If only the rest of television that wasn't particularly good was as interesting to behold as this mess.
Himynameischris
Member
It was ok, no worse than some of the worse Star Trek shows (which are pretty terrible). I'll keep watching mostly cuz I love Sci-fi but I'm not expecting it to last past season 1
Haunted
Member
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I had no idea MacFarlane was a huge fan until he started appearing on all the Star Trek blurays, so it's clear that this is basically a professional fan film. It's Star Trek: Continues, but with a somewhat higher budget (lol) and whatever comedy sensibilities he brings with him.
I'm honestly surprised they aren't being sued, considering how hard Paramount went after Axanar.
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Yeah...some parts of this actually rubbed me the wrong way because if isn't satirizing Star Trek, it's just wholesale ripping off parts of it. Like I understand pulling out the tropes of the crewmembers if you intend on lampooning it. But if you play it straight, it comes off as just being creatively bankrupt. This felt like it was using satire as a shield so they could play around in the Star Trek toybox without coming up with original ideas.
I know nothing is new blah blah blah execution is everything blah blah blah. But this really did come off like a really expensive fan film.
styl3s
Member
This is exactly how i feel about it. It's like Blue Bloods to me, it's a show i can just sit back and have a beer and not have to overthink and just enjoy myself.
I hope it gets renewed.
lunchtoast
Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARddozr7u70
He also did this song as Steve when he started a band with his friends during the sweat shop celebeartion episode.
Amen
Discotheque
Banned
ah I see. that makes a lot more sense haha.
Mr. Pointy
Member
Well, Brannon Braga is EP on the show. I know where this series is headed.
I mean you can there are shows and movies who have done this, there's a reason Dramedy exist (besides award shows not taking straight comedies seriously)
Now it seems Seth couldn't accomplish it
ManDudeChild
Member
This one really blurs the lines between homage/satire/ripoff. To cover something that hasn't been said already in this thread, they really should have avoided the color scheme for the uniforms. It's just too on the nose, and the green uniform worn by Kasid.... Dr.Finn reminds me of the Lantern Corp. Maybe she gets a power ring?
firehawk12
Subete no aware
You know, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually pitched this to CBS before going off and making his own show. lol
Still, like the other poster above said, there's such a dearth of Star Trek content - particularly now that fan films are "illegal" - I'll take anything. At the very least, it doesn't have to deal with the baggage of the franchise like Discovery, where the show seems similarly creatively bankrupt and risk adverse.
Justin Bailey
------ ------
I'll give it a chance. I can see some potential with the show. He kept the "we're divorced" joke running way too long, but some of the general banter was funny and lighthearted. I think if the crew can find their stride the show could work.
Armoured Priest
Member
I feel like its a missed opportunity to have used Ron Jones to compose for the show's music.
Considering the working relationship MacFarland and Jones already have from Family Guy and Jones' history with Star Trek.
Oh well.
Still want to see the show, when I have a little time.
Wife and I watched. We'll give a few more episodes before deciding whether to continue or not.
Drop the crap jokes and there's potential in there.
As I've said before. I'm glad someone is spending money on some sci-fi, just sad that this was one of the things. A pilot who draws dicks on things... A toilet seat joke... Please.
Drop the crap jokes and there's potential in there.
As I've said before. I'm glad someone is spending money on some sci-fi, just sad that this was one of the things. A pilot who draws dicks on things... A toilet seat joke... Please.
Extra Sauce
Member
Is this show going to help or hurt Discovery?
Discovery is probably going to hurt itself, so Orville doesn't matter.
Both aren't headed in a good direction anyway.
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