Seth McFarlane's "The Orville"

[sueb1863]

Thought the series finale was OK. Last week's episode was a lot better. Not bad, just not exceptional. The planet phasing in and out and the time differential was interesting, shades of 'Brigadoon'.

 

[scifiwolf]

The finale was kind of a retread of Voyager’s Blink of an Eye episode, one of my favorites. It was a neat twist on the premise. I’m going to miss all these characters until next year.

 

[Dave McFly]

^was that the one where the ship was stuck in a planet's gravity and the civilization moved so fast that it went from like caveman types to they had warp tech in a few hours or days and was able to help them escape from the planet with their tech?

 

[carrrnuttt]

^was that the one where the ship was stuck in a planet's gravity and the civilization moved so fast that it went from like caveman types to they had warp tech in a few hours or days and was able to help them escape from the planet with their tech?

Yes.

They sent in the Doctor who somehow managed to have a son.

One of the earliest Daniel Dae Kim performances I remember.

 

[FunkMiller]

This may sound like a strange thing to say, but I’ve just seen a picture of what Halston Sage looks like when she’s not made up as Alara, and I really do have to say I admire the show makers for not using her natural beauty as part of her character. The fact they’ve basically buried all of that gorgeous under several layers of latex, and let her actually base her character on her performance as an actor, rather than what she looks like, is a really great move, I think

 

[Dave McFly]

^ I do like that they ditched having her eyebrows covered up and let her use her real ones.

 

[Dark Raven]

Just finished watching the season finale. It's going to be a long wait until next season. I've enjoyed this show.

Most of the time it's like TNG but the finale definitely felt more like Voyager.

I hope they increase the episode count next year.

I prefer the episodes without Yafet. Those ones her get a bit too silly. I prefer the tone of ones like this or the one where the doctor was stranded on that planet with Isaac and her children. That one was pure Star Trek with almost no difference at all.

The Alara episode was good too.

Oh and that female officer in Gordon's quarters was hot. Her cleavage was really showing under her uniform. I think she's a sports illustrated model.

 

[Dark Raven]

This scene from the pilot of the Orville will all the crew

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reminds me of this scene from Star Trek the motion picture where Kirk is in front of the whole crew:

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I wonder if McFarlane was inspired by that.

 

[KevTravels]

I'm just glad that McFarlane wasn't hogging all the screentime this season. It was great to have glimpses and storylines for everyone. I do hope we see more of the doctor next season.

 

[TheVileOne]

Isaac is my favorite character .

 

[KevTravels]

Isaac is my favorite character .

i hope for a larger role next season.

 

[Dark Raven]

I was just thinking that Adrianne Palicki kind of reminds me of Jeri Ryan. Maybe not entirely in the way she looks (although both are blonde) but more in their personality and the way they speak.

I don't mean Seven of Nine, because she didn't have the same personality that Jeri Ryan has in real life. But Adrianne reminds me of Jeri herself.

 

[Teelie]

I definitely see that resembalance in personality between them. They are somewhat paralleling now too with Adrianne on Orville, albeit not as a Borg-ish character.

 

[Matt]

I recently gave this a shot on Hulu. I am so confused by this show. I don’t know what it’s trying to be. It’s too earnest to be a parody but it is clearly meant to be a Star Trek riff. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy but it’s not dramatic enough to be a drama. It’s a weird in-between.

That said, the further I get, the better it becomes. First few episodes were tough to get through, but I am starting to enjoy it.

 

[Sithborg]

Yeah, it gets better as it goes, as it gets more confident as to what it wants to be. I think the early episodes were that way because that is what the suits were expecting a Seth McFarlane show to be.

 

[Teelie]

And McFarlane has said season two will be less comedic and more straight forward.

 

[KevTravels]

Yeah, it gets better as it goes, as it gets more confident as to what it wants to be. I think the early episodes were that way because that is what the suits were expecting a Seth McFarlane show to be.

I agree. I was not amused about the concept early on, but by episode 7 it won me over. I really like how it's not all about MacFarlane. It's a really ensemble series where everyone is allowed to shine.

 

[DKDetective]

This scene from the pilot of the Orville will all the crew

[YT]0FC7qyK6zDs[/YT]

reminds me of this scene from Star Trek the motion picture where Kirk is in front of the whole crew:

[YT]5DhGMA0lPbA[/YT]

I wonder if McFarlane was inspired by that.

Probably, but I think it was more directly inspired by the similar scene in Encounter at Farpoint or (was it All Good Things) where Picard takes command of the Enterprise before a similar assembly (which was probably inspired by the TMP scene itself).

 

[Matt]

I just finished the episode where Ed goes undercover as Krill. Easily the best episode thus far. Largely because it is the strongest story driven episode to this point. It had the typical McFarlane pop culture jokes, but they took a backseat to the drama.

Further, this is the episode that I feel finally distinguishes this from a Star Trek knockoff (which it becomes when it stops being parody). Trek is idealistic to a fault. On Star Trek, Kirk would've found a common ground through the Krill scripture that talked them out of using the bomb, or come up with some other crafty plan to save the day. That didn't happen here. Instead Mercer had to kill an entire ship. And while he saved children, he was strongly rebuked, being told in no uncertain terms that he simply spared a future generation of enemies.

That's when it hit me. This is a much more nihilistic version of Trek, but the nihilism is balanced out by McFarlane's levity so it doesn't become overbearing to the audience. If that is the voice of the show moving forward, I am very excited about it.

 

[Sithborg]

I like to think of it as Star Trek, but not about Starfleet's finest. These are the common people, those who don't qualify for the flagship.

 

[2kt09]

It's Star Trek if the way we talk and act now just happens to be the ideal future even with more intelligent and capable life forms around.

 

[Dark Raven]

So there was talk that the Orville season 2 might not debut in the Fall of this year, but then McFarlane later clarified that it would still hit in 2018, just not maybe in September.

And he also said that season 2 would be less comedy and more drama and sci-fi. "Into the Fold" was apparently a test of how far they could push the drama aspect. McFarlane will just let the comedy come and go as it fits with the episode and not try to push it.

 

[KevTravels]

So there was talk that the Orville season 2 might not debut in the Fall of this year, but then McFarlane later clarified that it would still hit in 2018, just not maybe in September.

And he also said that season 2 would be less comedy and more drama and sci-fi. "Into the Fold" was apparently a test of how far they could push the drama aspect. McFarlane will just let the comedy come and go as it fits with the episode and not try to push it.

Is he too busy with Family Guy and American Dad? Or something with money?

Wasn't this Fox's biggest hit of the season?

 

[Sithborg]

Or just the general weirdness of Fox's fall schedule.

 

[Dark Raven]

Is he too busy with Family Guy and American Dad? Or something with money?

Wasn't this Fox's biggest hit of the season?

I think it's more to do with that it's an effects heavy show so it needs more time to get everything right. It will apparently be at least 14 episodes for season 2.