Old Wounds

I'm late to the party, watching this for the first time in 2020 and I had tears rolling down my cheeks by the end of the first episode. This is so much better than the grey unwatchable sludge of Discovery and Picard. It looks like real Star Trek, is definitely sounds like real Star Trek with a fantastic evocative score, and the episodic format is like real Star Trek. The humor is great... It's Seth MacFarlane after all. But this is absolutely NOT a parody of Star Trek... it's Star Trek with likeable, funny characters acting in relatable ways. It's so well written, so well made.

It's a genuine crime that so few people have been able to see it, and that critics and networks have unfairly ganged up against it in favor of promoting the abysmal Discovery and Picard. Much love to Seth MacFarlane. Thank you so much for making this. It's one of my favorite shows of all time.

Overall, I actually enjoyed it.

Most of the humor was lame, though. Get an editor to strip out the potty humor, and just leave in the parts that use the situation - joking about the use of a tree as a weapon, or arguing about the divorce to stall - those schticks actually worked for me.

I do like the premise of "enough with the 'dark, and EDGY!!!'" - keep it upbeat. I would like to see the show evolve into an old school comic book kind of style, with both an action plot, but still lighthearted. But they need to work on subtlety.

As for the cheap production values - good! If they keep the budget down, they may be able to use the money to hire/keep some better writers and actually keep the show on for a few seasons, if it earns more than it costs.

Surely grading on a curve considering the new shows I've seen promos for, but The Orville has potential. Sure there were a few bumps in the launch of the pilot, but it is at least watchable. Some of the humor was somewhat unnecessarily coarse and some viewers may find it objectionable. The character introductions were sufficient and set up the interactions to follow for the crew. I'd put the ratio of actual story to comic relief to be about 70/30. By the end of the episode I was interested in the story and satisfied with the conclusion. "Issac set the DVR to record".

Despite being a fan of Star Trek and Galaxy Quest, I didn't have any initial interest in watching the Orville. The trailer just didn't sell me on the show and the low Rotten Tomatoes score also didn't help.

Never-the-less, I decided to give the Orville a chance after some friends surprisingly recommended the show. I'm glad I did because I really like it!

I believe the trailer, which focused on the comedy, was a mistake. I think they were trying to sell the show to fans of Seth McFarlane and Family Guy. Unfortunately, it attracted the wrong crowd.

The show is not purely a comedy. The show deals with ethical dilemmas and sci-fi ideas. It is really a good homage to original Trek. In my opinion, the humor is often its weakest part.

Despite a few flaws, mainly with the comedy, I highly recommend checking out the show.

I enjoyed this episode. I believe The Orville may become an alternative to space shows, which includes irony and certain parody to star trek Although not a fan, I'm prepared to give it a shot.