The Orville - Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Flat yes, but I'm going to stick with it a few episodes to see if they catch their feet.

 

[DavidJ]

Y'all are not inspiring me to watch my DVR recording.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Flat yes, but I'm going to stick with it a few episodes to see if they catch their feet.

I feel the same way. I wouldn't say it's terrible, it's just not good. There's nothing about it that stands out as being an advancement from its inspirations. It's basically a cruder version of 1990s "Star Trek". And it feels very much like a nineties television show.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Yes — That was my impression as well: A tepid remake of a 90’s era Star Trek series (the only thing missing was the transporter) with some rather lame humor thrown in.

I have to say, though, that I did (somewhat) enjoy the holodeck joke.

The production values are just good enough to encourage me to keep recording it for the next four-to-six eps or so to see if it improves a little.

So far I have to agree with some of the reviewers which stated that this should have been a half hour full on Star Trek spoof instead of a full hour Star Trek homage with some silly jokes thrown in.

 

[Matt Hough]

It held my interest enough to continue watching. Room for great improvement but I didn't find it terrible.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I actually enjoyed it. I'm willing to give them a few episodes to find their footing.

 

[sidburyjr]

Half way through I was ready to turn it off. But my wife and I persisted and by the end of the show, we are hopeful that it will be decent.

 

[DaveF]

I actually enjoyed it. I'm willing to give them a few episodes to find their footing.

I've got too much superb tv to watch* to give milquetoast shows like The Orville more than an episode.

* The Expanse S2 on the TiVo; Luke Cage; The Man in the High Castle S2 As just a tasting of what shows compete against for my time.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I have to say, though, that I did (somewhat) enjoy the holodeck joke.

My favorite gag was the helmsman and the navigator commenting on the dog licking his balls in the background of the communique on the wall screen. It's the kind of thing that would inevitably happen at some point if Star Trek were real.

My favorite character is the security officer. I enjoy the contrast between her being from this super-strong vaguely Klingon-esque warrior race, but she's got the personality of an apple-polishing millennial who is much younger than her rank would suggest and eager for the approval of her captain.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I've got too much superb tv to watch* to give milquetoast shows like The Orville more than an episode.

* The Expanse S2 on the TiVo; Luke Cage; The Man in the High Castle S2 As just a tasting of what shows compete against for my time.

And that totally makes sense. I haven't been watching a ton of new TV lately -- there are almost no shows I'm following -- and for whatever reason, this one just appealed to me. If I had a lot of other stuff on the weekly schedule, I could see it getting dropped, but with there being so little that I watch regularly right now, it's getting a chance it might not have under other circumstances. FWIW, I used to be a huge Family Guy fan but ended up taking that show off my DVR a couple years ago; it started feeling very stale to me. I'm hoping that this show has some fresh energy and gets a little better now that they've dumped a bunch of exposition out of the way.

 

[Greg.K]

I'll try to give it a shot before it's cancelled after 5 episodes.

5 might have been prematurely optimistic. I'm not sure there's enough of an audience for a MacFarlane vanity project like this.

It's mostly just a shoddy Star Trek copy. Sets, acting, story were all pretty tepid. (I think I've seen better Star Trek bridge sets on SNL. Those chairs looked kinda flimsy.) Outer space effects shots were not too bad, certainly not going to win any awards but they'll do. Maybe some additional sound effects (bridge background noises) instead of silence would help when the jokes fall flat.

But I really didn't hate it. I did like some of the gags (the guy with the soda on the bridge, etc) but the humor wasn't consistent. The jabs between MacFarlane's character and his ex wore thin pretty quickly and that whole thing was really only redeemed by the final couple scenes.

I'll watch a bit more, maybe.

 

[TJPC]

I don't expect TV to change my life. I found this show gentle enjoyable fun. TV, to me, is a casual thing to watch in the evening to amuse myself. This fit the bill nicely.
I thought the special effects were well done, and especially enjoyed seeing Earth in the future, which Star Trek shows rarely did.
There has been some criticism that this show has too much of a 90s feel. That is certainly OK by me, since that is when Star Trek was at its height.
I really don't understand this need to have shows that are more "hard edge". What does it say about a society and individuals that they must have more swearing, more sex and must see more gruesome killing to be entertained?

 

[DaveF]

"Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville isn't the spoof Fox advertised. It’s much weirder — and worse. - Vox" (https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/9/8/16267782/the-orville-seth-macfarlane-review-lol-what)

This is the part that will immediately perplex most viewers, who will undoubtedly tune in to The Orville — a heavily advertised show from the creator of Family Guy — expecting a comedy that sends up space show tropes and lets MacFarlane do his dick-joke thing. But The Orville isn’t interested in being that at all, instead swerving between plodding sincerity and sporadic MacFarlane-style snark so aimlessly that the show might as well be walking in drunken circles.

I'm meta-disappointed that this makes it to FOX prime time while the gem Dark Matter dies in the backwaters of SyFy.

I'm annoyed at The Orville for its shameless ripoff of Star Trek TNG. This isn't homage, it's creative bankruptcy.

This is a harmless show. Being it's wholly tepid, FOX will undoubtedly run it for 10 seasons and give it a movie, while FOX runs the next groundbreaking sci-fi show out of order and kills it halfway through.

I should bow out now. Folks enjoy it. And that's what TV is for.

 

[Sam Favate]

The Orville saddens me, since I really thought frat boys and sophomoric humor would be extinct by the 25th century.

 

[jcroy]

Wonder how long this show will last.

 

[jcroy]

The Orville saddens me, since I really thought frat boys and sophomoric humor would be extinct by the 25th century.

(Without getting into politics).

When I was younger, I also use to think frat/sophomoric/toilet humor would be extinct centuries into the future.

Though what really changed my mind on this issue, was after watching Idiocracy.

 

[jcroy]

This is a harmless show. Being it's wholly tepid, FOX will undoubtedly run it for 10 seasons and give it a movie

What would be amusing is if Fox ends up releasing all 10 seasons on bluray and/or 4Kbluray.

 

[spshultz]

I actually enjoyed it. I'm willing to give them a few episodes to find their footing.

Same here. It certainly needs some work but it was the pilot and I'm willing to give it some time to figure itself out.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I refuse to pay any more fees, so CBS All Access is off my list. Won't be watching the new Star Trek series. Supposedly this series is available from other sources so I'll see what I can find. Another one I miss is "The Good Wife" spin-off. Paying $125+ for DISH and a few pay channels, not going to be spending more.


"The Orville" is thankfully on local TV channels, although not looking good. This could be one of those shows cancelled after just a few episodes.

What are the other sources for the Star Trek series?

 

[Malcolm R]

Wonder how long this show will last.

I think its longevity will depend on how much Fox wants to keep Seth happy. Sunday ratings are delayed due to issues with Nielsen's data center in Florida related to the hurricane, but if they're not completely awful I'd expect Fox to be more patient than usual.

I'm not sure the show even would have been picked up for broadcast without that relationship.