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The not-Trek show "The Orville" premiered last night, and the critics predictably hate it.

Did anyone watch it? What did you think?

I'm of a mind that it's no worse than the TNG pilot (not a high bar to clear!).

I watched the first ten minutes, then was completely and utterly shocked anyone on the crew stuck around for another thirty-five. I'm amazed this thing is taking a 1 hour time slot. For that kind of time investment I might as well just watch Galaxy Quest and actually enjoy myself

I got bored after 20 mins or so. The thing is it wasn't quite funny enough to be a real parody. I didn't hate it but if this show is going to stay around it's going to have to get better. There isn't a lot of room for shows like this unless they are actually good. I'll probably watch the next episode this upcoming weekend. As without Game of Thrones and Twin Peaks I have the time. But hopefully it doesn't remain as dull.

We live in a world where Firefly was cancelled, so I couldn't see this making it to a second season unless it dramatically improves.

The only part that got a good chuckle out of me was when the Cap. MacFarlane barrels out of the bridge and steps through the blob guy. Okay Seth. You got your cheap laugh,.

I have little hope for improvement. I think the entire initial concept is actually terrible for what this show as billed as. The whole martial strife gag just isn't funny, and sets the completely wrong tone. Add in that MacFarlane has no charisma on screen, and the occasional stabs at funny just come off as out of place. Watching the show left me completely confused because it was billed as comedy but it struck me as more failed melodrama than anything and then someone pulls some slap stick gag from left feild and sends the tone spiraling into a worm hole.

Eh it was a bit PG in feel, I prefer a bit more crudeness and disturbing elements to my humor. The only part that amused me was the blue guy jizzing out of his face at the beginning.This was kinda billed as a comedy. But was more of a drama...but it kind of failed in both areas.

Definitely with you on that. I can't tell if this is supposed to be a drama for which it's just too cheesy to be taken serious, a comedy for which it's just not that funny, or something in between for which there are too many surreal moments.

I think the crime though is that the effects are actually not bad, and I just feel offended by it in a way. Like seriously? You had the budget to throw at some no so bad set and ship designs, and you spent it on this crap?

It was no The Expanse, but it's at least on par with Dark Matter or Killjoys, and I watch those, so I'll keep watching this. The only thing I thought particularly dumb was the hugging the donkey bit.

FWIW, I find the Orville a very interesting take on Trek, in that it includes / inserts a LOT of interpersonal interactions. It's kind of like The Office?

The Office in Space would be pretty funny. This wasn't it. Honestly it just comes off as a really bad attempt at a TV version of Galaxy Quest, except Galaxy Quest (the set design and ship even look kind of similar aesthetically) was funny because it spoofed Star Trek and didn't try to do a series of not very funny Family Guy gags in space.

I cracked a smile a few times, but overall it was kinda boring. Hopefully it'll get better.

Was kinda funny that the robot guy sounded like Data from TNG, I thought it was him but IMDB says no.

Ok, let's get this out of the way right away:

 LordofHats wrote:
Watching the show left me completely confused because it was billed as comedy but it struck me as more failed melodrama than anything and then someone pulls some slap stick gag from left feild and sends the tone spiraling into a worm hole.

 LordofHats wrote:
For that kind of time investment I might as well just watch Galaxy Quest and actually enjoy myself

 Thargrim wrote:
The thing is it wasn't quite funny enough to be a real parody.

It is not a comedy. It is not a parody. It is not a spoof. It is not a satire.

Fox, being fox, took every joke from the pilot and made it the trailer which gave a false impression of what the show is.

What is this show then? It's Star Trek: The Next Generation if you replaced all the high minded Prime Directive Utopian altruism with real people. It's an honest and earnest attempt at doing a science fiction show in the style of Sta Trek with a comedic bent and a load of optimism.

This is what MacFarlane has been saying in interviews for a few weeks now, and sadly what Fox didn't do when they made the trailer. It is not fair to criticise people for thinking this was going to be a Galaxy Quest-ish TV show, but at the same time now that we know what the show is it's equally as unfair to criticise it for not being Galaxy Quest because it was never intended that way.

For my part I thought it was just that, TNG with real people, and for that I enjoyed it. I've never been a huge Trek fan (I like Picard, I like some DS9, I like the opening themes to TNG, Voyager and Enterprise... and I like the movies), so this is fine. A solid 6.5-7 out of 10. Maybe it'll get better. Maybe it'll fall into the same plot tropes that Voyager and Enterprise fell into. Who knows?

I'm not ready to write it off after one episode though.

Oh, and I expect Fox to cancel it faster than you can come up with an analogy that finishes this sentence.

 Necros wrote:
Was kinda funny that the robot guy sounded like Data from TNG, I thought it was him but IMDB says no.

I thought the same thing and did the same thing thing. Was surprised that it wasn't.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
What is this show then? It's Star Trek: The Next Generation if you replaced all the high minded Prime Directive Utopian altruism with real people.

If we're talking about "real people" the show is already a failure. One character is a overt bunny ears lawyer and everyone else on the show seems to acknowledge it and there's nothing real about it. Three of them are aliens whose lines/scenes mostly consist of failed attempts to be amusing. There's too much surrealism going on in Orville for me to seriously belief this is supposed to be a show about "real people." EDIT: that said this wouldn't shock me if this was MacFarlane's idea of real people. That guy always seems to me to live in a flanderized world at all times.

It's an honest and earnest attempt at doing a science fiction show in the style of Sta Trek with a comedic bent and a load of optimism.

So it is supposed to be funny?

All I've gathered is that Fox and Seth can't figure out what kind of show its supposed to be either, which would help to explain the mood whiplash. I'm hit and miss on anything involved MacFarlane. I think Family Guy is garbage. Love American dad. His movies are... meh. But I am accustomed to him having a much more concise cut for what he's going for than Orville presents. Me wonders if there's some executive meddling going on. Wouldn't be the first time. "Ruin it and Cancel it" could easily be the channel's slogan.

And oh it'll probably definitely be canceled unless it comes out of season one way better than episode 1. As someone pointed out earlier (and I think Fireflay was bad mind you) there have been better shows on Fox that got cut.

Yeah guess it's the fault of Fox for advertising it that way. And because Seth was involved my mind immediately went to Family Guy and slapstick comedic over the top stuff. I didn't watch any interviews for this. I wasn't invested enough in it to go watching interviews n crap. It'll be funny if this ends up feeling more true to Star Trek than the upcoming Discovery show though. I think that may be an actual possibility tbh.

I found it compelling enough to watch next week's episode.

It suffered from "pilot syndrome".

I expect it to improve with time. I hope they set up a larger arc.

There already seems to be some deeper plotting going on with the XO pulling strings to get the captain assigned to the Orville.

IMO, Fox over-marketed the Orville's comedic side to clearly distinguish it from the deliberately overly-serious and gritty Discovery show coming out. Tonally, I think the Orville is actually more like TOS; where the set design, music and visuals are more TNG-like.

What the heck is a bunny ears lawyer?

Any suggestions as to how I can legally watch this in the UK?

I tend to loathe anything Seth 'not as funny as he is smug' McFarlane does, but willing to give it a whirl, because Sci-Fi.

 AduroT wrote:
What the heck is a bunny ears lawyer?

Seconded.

Same. I actually click on this thread because the preview had the phrase 'Bunny Ears Lawyer'. Disappointed not to know what that is.

AduroT wrote:What the heck is a bunny ears lawyer?

bbb wrote:

 AduroT wrote:
What the heck is a bunny ears lawyer?

Seconded.

ChargerIIC wrote:Same. I actually click on this thread because the preview had the phrase 'Bunny Ears Lawyer'. Disappointed not to know what that is.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BunnyEarsLawyer

I thought it was ok.. not great but not bad either. I do agree though that the advertising was misleading as it made it seem like a heavy handed sitcom parody of trek rather than the more Galaxy Quest mix it ended up being. Either way, here's a pic I found of the ship with the episode mentioned flames down the side and pink unicorn. All it needs now is a sequoia kill marking on the side.

Netflix has The Expanse and Red Dwarf at least (though the later seasons were utter pants). I wonder if anyone has Lexx? The first season, the other ones are fairly cringey.

 Wyrmalla wrote:
Netflix has The Expanse and Red Dwarf at least (though the later seasons were utter pants). I wonder if anyone has Lexx? The first season, the other ones are fairly cringey.

Pretty sure Amazon has Lexx.

 VictorVonTzeentch wrote:


http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BunnyEarsLawyer

Sorry for not explaining that I guess.

To explain my thoughts on it, I find it unrealistic that these characters are anywhere near a chain of command in a universe that someone says is supposed to be about "real people." Real people get fired when every character who knows them agrees that their personality sucks. It's why House wasn't a realistic show, because in reality House would have been fired by Vogel at the end of season one and no one would have batted an eye. Hell Cuddy and Wilson too for covering for him for so long, and still no one would have batted an eye. In the real world, you can be the best at what you do, but if you happen to be an insubordinate drunk (which everyone on The Orville seems to recognize about Greg Malloy the pilot) it's not remotely realistic that anyone would let you fly a space ship.

He's not a drunk.

He had a beer in one scene.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
He's not a drunk.

The admiral guy called him an alcoholic, and the captain (MacFarlane) agreed with him.

 LordofHats wrote:
The Office in Space would be pretty funny.

Like Red Dwarf, then? (Or Hyperdrive, but that wasn't very good).

You take that back about Hyperdrive young man!

Well, it got better.

Hyperdrive needed more exposure.
We liked it, anyway.