The Orville

There have been a few times when I watched this show where I forgot I was watching The Orville. It has the true spirit of Star Trek written all over it. It's a bit more tongue in cheek, yes. But it has heart and portrays in-depth and heart felt stories. I watched the first episode of ST Discovery and still haven't gotten around watching the second, I'm just not that into it. Full of virtue signaling BS and it doesn't "feel" like Star Trek. I hang out for every new episode of The Orville, it is THAT good. Do your self a favor and watch this instead of Discovery if you want that real old feeling of Star Trek. A must!

Seth McFarlane and the team have done a wonderful job of taking the best elements of Star Trek, lighten it up with a little comedy and telling stories that are entertaining and relevant at the same time.

Where Star Trek has become a dystopia, a dark vision of the future with unlikeable characters (especially discovery) and a focus on action and visual effects instead of great stories, the Orville focusses on what matters and really goes where no man has gone before.

This show should be called Star Trek: Orville. It's more Star Trek than anything else out there right now. And I mean it in the most positive way.

And i'm not sure why that puzzles me but it seems the actual Star Trek franchise has been taken over by directors and writers who wish to take it to a very dark place.

The release of Star Trek: Picard sadly confirmed that with the introduction of profanity and for the first time in a Star Trek show the M for Mature rating so it's good to see The Orville keeping the tradition of Star Trek while even managing to create its own universe and characters.

The Orville has proved that the Star Trek serialized format is still a popular one with the viewers and I hope the creators can keep it going. Fantastic show that addressed many of todays insane ideals (gender pronouns, sex change, etc) while maintaining the comedy. Genius.

If this is your thing then check out the British comedy that was missed by many called Hyperdrive.

As many critics have pointed out, this isn't a spoof of Star Trek. It's not exactly an homage either. The best way I can describe it is that MacFarlane wanted to make a Star Trek show that recalls that franchise's earlier days, back before it became an action blockbuster film series and before the TV shows started becoming dark and grim and edgy. MacFarlane is making his own version of the original Star Trek, and he is a new Captain Kirk. All the optimism and sincerity and lightheartedness of that show is here, and in many ways it's kind of wonderful. I'm honestly surprised something like this exists.

There's some off-color humor, but it's never (so far at least) particularly offensive, or at least its offensiveness pales in comparison to many of McFarlane's other works. Still, it's distinctly him, so it's not going to be appealing to everyone.

In any case, I've really enjoyed The Orville. It's not a perfect show. Some of the jokes do fall flat. But I love its spirit. I love that someone is actually trying to make a Star Trek show that isn't just filled with explosions, space battles and gritty action. You should check it out and make up your own mind. Maybe you'll hate it, but maybe not. It's fun and kind of sweet and I'm happy it's a thing, however weird and unexpected it might be.

Update: November 2017 The show keeps getting better from week to week and it seem has now found its groove. The Orville uses its adventure-of-the-week format to explore modern-day social issues and tackle current moral dilemmas in a sci-fi venue. The show is refreshingly progressive in its politics, and optimistic to its core. It is a Star Trek show for folks who want something a bit old-school. By not having a budget (or requirements) for wall-to-wall spectacle, the hour-long Fox show is forced to focus on character, chemistry, sci-fi plotting and moral debates that have partially defined Gene Roddenberry's property for generations. (though the special effects look superb and almost movie like)

Yes, to a certain extent it's fan fiction, but then so is so much of our current pop culture entertainment. But by being a network television show, it is forced to be the kind of Star Trek that fans claim the recent movies have neglected in favor of four-quadrant blockbuster thrills. The Orville is not a spoof, but rather a straight-faced Trek show with characters who are funny and which you can learn to love.

The Orville is a show with potential. I liked how it didn't try too hard to be funny. In fact, it reminded me more of a Star Trek episode than Family Guy. I suspect there will be many comparisons to Galaxy Quest.

My concern is the audience. To appreciate this show, I think you need to be both a science fiction and crude humor fan. I'm one of these people, but I'm not sure if there are enough of us to support the production. Hopefully, we'll be seeing a lot more of The Orville.

Star Trek discovery was also released, and I have to say, this show comes closer to what I expect in a Star Trek series.