Plus ça change...

[Scooter]

Sounds a lot like the reaction to every subsequent ST series and movie, which were eventually all embraced by fans:



"An unknown British Shakespearean actor" - Patrick Stewart must have felt so flattered.

[RayThom]

Sounds a lot like the reaction to every subsequent ST series and movie, which were eventually all embraced by fans... "An unknown British Shakespearean actor" - Patrick Stewart must have felt so flattered.

Pfft! Who needs Star Trek? We have this now:



I thought it was a fun show and it may last for a couple of seasons. The visuals are really great. However, they have to dump the ex-wife/husband shtick. It got old in a hurry.

[Lord Jim]

I'll probably check it out, just because I'm such a hardcore campy sci-fi fan, (I was very disappointed to see that Dark Matter wasn't renewed; though the show's creators are apparently in discussions with Netflix to pick it up for season 4)) but I have to say that from the juvenile level of the humor in the promo trailer for The Orville that's been running, it looks to me more like it was created by Seth Rogan than Seth MacFarlane...

They usually try to put some of their strongest material in the promos for a new series, and if a joke about a guy mistaking a marble for a mint , and another joke about "Well, except for killing your father, we mean you know harm", represents some of the better stuff, I'm very apprehensive about what the weak material must be like...

[ex-khobar Andy]

. . . plus c'est la même chose.

Never a Star Trek fan, but I did have this hanging above my desk for years.

[Scooter]

A few weeks ago I ordered one of these that I will be wearing at a red-themed party on my next cruise:

[BoSoxGal]

[MajGenl.Meade]

Relevant to both Andy's and Scooter's posts:

Best. Sci-fi. Movie. Ever.

[Gob]

[datsunaholic]

"The Orville" premiere episode was... OK. Too forced, but it had its moments. I haven't watched a FOX show in a long time, and never any MacFarlane stuff.

I wonder if CBS Paramount is getting their knickers in a twist over this. Especially with Star Trek- Discovery set to launch but online only. FOX not only got to market first (Discovery was SUPPOSED to premiere last Spring) but put it on regular network broadcast. CBS is betting the new Star Trek will be carried by paying customers to the online stream. It might, with the shift away from broadcast, but I'm not sure that was the best idea.

Interestingly, several of the main cast members are Star Trek alum- Penny Johnson was in 15 episodes of DS9, Scott Grimes was (uncredited) in a Next Generation episode, and Seth MacFarlane himself was in 2 episodes of "Enterprise". And the episodes- 3 are directed by major Star Trek alums- Jonathan Frakes, Robert Duncan McNeil, and Brannon Braga. Braga is a producer of "The Orville" and was executive producer of a bunch of Star Trek- TNG, Voyager, and a couple of the TNG movies.

[Lord Jim]

That's some interesting info about all the Star Trek connections, Datsun...

We're probably going to check out the first episode either tonight or tomorrow...

When it comes to campy sci-fi or horror, my standards aren't real high...

(I even watch Wynonna Earp...it's hard to imagine that The Orville could be any sillier than that show...)

[Big RR]

Wynonna Earp? You do love camp; I can't even watch those commercials (a crazy chick with a bun in the oven?). Buffy is about as far as I'd go, and even that was a stretch a lot of the time.

[Lord Jim]

I never watched Buffy...

Back in the 90's I didn't watch anywhere near as much TV as I do now...

Back then, in the BK (Before Kids) days, I had something called a "social life"...

I still have vague recollections of what that was like, but the memories grow dimmer with each passing year...

[Long Run]

Seriously, with you and your kids -- a Buffy CD collection or other viewing might be pretty popular. It is a top-20 all-time show, and goes way beyond the genre in its depth and message.

[datsunaholic]

Well, Buffy was by the same guy that created Firefly.

You HAVE seen Firefly, right?

I actually haven't seen any Buffy episodes. My sister was a huge fan.

[Burning Petard]

I guess I am too much of a geezer stuffed shirt. I thought Orville was lousy. Not so bad it was fun. Just bad. The dialogue hit me as lazy writing. The burlesque/camp was feeble. I just could not accept the complete absence of anything resembling military discipline. And everything about the ship itself was just too big. Too much empty space around everything--hallways, personal quarters, command bridge.

And by the by, just what is 'male' in a single gender species?

snailgate

[Big RR]

I actually saw Buffy mostly in reruns--my daughters loved it and I watched with them. IMHO in the beginning it was the best type of camp, one that usually took itself seriously despite the silliness (of course as the seasons wore on this line became quite blurred). I think many writers would just rather create completely ludicrous situations (sometimes called "high concept" shows), than try to write an apparently "serious" show (well, as serious as vampires can be) with just a tinge of silliness. I've seen it happen with a lot of shows.

[Guinevere]

I watched Orville last night and I thought it was schizophrenic - it could't decide whether it was comedy or drama or something else - and the writing was just plain boring. I fell asleep (before 8PM) about 2/3 of the way in.

[Lord Jim]

I watched Orville last night and I thought it was schizophrenic - it couldn't decide whether it was comedy or drama or something else -

After having watched three episodes, I think that assessment is spot on...

The writers seem to have been unable to decide whether they wanted to create a sci-fi action-adventure drama show with some campy elements, or a straight-up Space Balls type sci-fi spoof...

So they decided to try to do both in the same show...

It really doesn't work...

[datsunaholic]

Even with its off kilter delivery, "The Orville" is still coming across to me as more Star Trek than "Star Trek: Discovery" is. Of course Discovery's first 2 episodes were more a prequel, so seeing what direction it takes- I think it will be more "Action Sci Fi" than what Star Trek (per TOS and TNG) was.

"The Orville"s biggest problem I see is the forced lowbrow comedy (that isn't funny, for the most part). The storylines for the most part would fit right in with the TNG style episodes minus the poor attempts at humor, and could actually BE unproduced TNG ideas that never made it to production (several early TNG episodes were Star Trek Phase II episodes rewritten for TNG characters).

Being on FOX, it's kind of odd considering that TNG and DS9 were shown on our local FOX station back in the day (being syndicated shows).

[Crackpot]

Anyone keep watching this? I’ve been hearing better things about it recently.