The Orville

JP Liz V1 · 15-05-2017 11:14pm #1

Seth MacFarlane's Star Trek spoof

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9sKeCE8V0

Mr E · 16-05-2017 7:12am

Amusing rather than LOL funny.

OU812 · 16-05-2017 7:26am

Crappy title, but I like McFarlane. Will give it a whirl but I can't see it going the distance unfortunately.

pixelburp · 16-05-2017 8:36am

Context: the episodes will be an hour long apparently, so that's gotta double the budget and make the margins of error a bit thinner.

Some of the comedy did make me chuckle, but dear lord I hate McFarlane and his insistence on being the leading man. Im on the fence about his comedy writing but he's an excrutiating performer. It's all a bit Garth Marenghi.

silverharp · 16-05-2017 8:44am

sacrilege

OU812 · 16-05-2017 9:44am

pixelburp wrote: »

Context: the episodes will be an hour long apparently, so that's gotta double the budget and make the margins of error a bit thinner.

Some of the comedy did make me chuckle, but dear lord I hate McFarlane and his insistence on being the leading man. Im on the fence about his comedy writing but he's an excrutiating performer. It's all a bit Garth Marenghi.

OK, so an hour of American TV is 44 minutes. That's way too long for a comedy. I'm with you on the leading man thing, I'd have preferred if he was the sidekick or straight foil to someone in a Zap Brannagin role.

It's basically a serialised "Galaxy Quest". Can't see it lasting beyond a season. Problem is everyone in Hollywood loves him because of Family Guy, American Dad & Ted. Even "Million ways to die" has a cult following & they'll keep letting him try stuff.

It's WIKI says it's a comedy-drama, co maybe it'll have legs as they say.

Frank O. Pinion · 16-05-2017 10:00am

maudgonner · 16-05-2017 12:53pm

"The" Orville

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nvZDOA71UH8/maxresdefault.jpg

On the plus side, it's got Jon Favreau and SpyDaddy.

On the minus...Seth McFarlane.

icdg · 16-05-2017 6:10pm

I'm surprised at the Galaxy Quest comparisons, all missing the central conceit of that movie - that the characters in it are actors in a long-cancelled TV show who meet aliens that don't get that it was just a show. A spoof of Star Trek fandom.

Whereas this is just a spoof of Star Trek.

19-05-2017 11:29am

icdg wrote: »

I'm surprised at the Galaxy Quest comparisons, all missing the central conceit of that movie - that the characters in it are actors in a long-cancelled TV show who meet aliens that don't get that it was just a show. A spoof of Star Trek fandom.

Whereas this is just a spoof of Star Trek.

It's pure Galaxy Quest. It's just taken the sterotypical actors bungling in a real command and replaced it with real bungling officers.

TerrorFirmer · 19-05-2017 1:40pm

I like the trailer actually, few good chuckles in there. While McFarlane tends to flog the comedy horse a little too hard (Million Ways to Die in the West is a prime example) there is always potential when he's involved.

I'd be looking forward to it.

silverharp · 19-05-2017 2:53pm

With his cartoons the humour is spot on and sharp, the delivery of the gags in the trailer was that cringy kind where they walk you through the gags.

pixelburp · 19-05-2017 3:02pm

I think the problem is McFarlane's the worst person to deliver his own jokes: his character just sounds 'in' on the all the humour, and comes across completely detached from the rest of the universe. All the other characters feel natural, while McFarlane giving off airs of the funniest man in the room.

Agent Coulson · 19-05-2017 3:12pm

There seems to be a solid cast around MacFarlane but he could wear thin pretty quickly.

Penn · 19-05-2017 3:36pm

The biggest problem with MacFarlane and his performance is it essentially boils down to him writing something that's weird, then his character pointing out how weird it is, even though in the context of the show it shouldn't be weird.

Like in Million Ways To Die In The West, he just repeatedly points out how crazy some of the things that happen are, but considering that's the environment his character grew up in, he shouldn't find it that weird. This seems like the same, pointing out how weird aliens are and how weird their worlds and lifestyle are etc, but he's literally the captain of a spaceship who works with aliens and travels to other planets. He's not supposed to find it weird. We as the audience are meant to find it weird, and it shouldn't need to be pointed out.

I don't have high hopes for this. He can strike gold occasionally (early seasons of Family Guy, Ted 1), but can churn out incredibly poor stuff (later seasons of Family Guy, Ted 2).

squonk · 19-05-2017 4:36pm

I wasn't bowled over by the trailer for this. On the plus side it looked funnier than expected but on the minus side it has too much Seth McFarlane. Ted works great because it's a character Seth plays, not far removed from Brian in Family Guy. Million Ways To Die is unbearable because Seth plays Seth and it's not good. I liked Million Ways for the first 40 minutes then the humor got old. The big running gag that the west was rough and crazy things happened got flogged to within an inch of its life.

The Family Guy Star Wars shows are great but don't stand multiple viewings. I've a feeling The Orville will lose its appeal 10 episodes in once we all get the joke and the few holdouts are still having Seth shove it down their throats.

Worse still, I've a feeling this might be a better Star Trek show than the new Discivery. I hope that's not the case but I'd consider Galaxy Quest a much better Star Trek movie than JJ's first two.

The_Valeyard · 20-05-2017 2:06am

I'll give this a watch

Agent Coulson · 13-07-2017 10:42pm

Tv Spot.

Mr E · 06-09-2017 12:09pm

By all reports, it looks like it will be a battle between this and The Inhumans for first cancellation this year. It's supposed to be AWFUL.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/78488
http://variety.com/2017/tv/reviews/orville-review-seth-macfarlane-star-trek-fox-1202544522/
https://tvline.com/2017/09/05/the-orville-review-fox-seth-macfarlane-sci-fi-outer-space/

Agent Coulson · 06-09-2017 12:21pm

MacFarlane is great with one joke and them flogging it to death for the next few years before finding another joke to flog to death.

Mr E · 06-09-2017 12:45pm

He hasn't realised that he's the joke.

pixelburp · 06-09-2017 12:51pm

Saw Logan Lucky on Monday evening, and McFarlane is atrociously bad in it; it's a great movie otherwise but his gurning & British accent derailed every scene he was in. Thankfully he wasn't in it that much.

Agent Coulson · 11-09-2017 12:50pm

Ok I tried it and I honestly don't know how I managed to last the full 35 minutes I was ready to turn it off after 5 minutes I deserve a medal for sitting through the whole thing.

Woeful, Horrible, Terrible maybe the worst 30 minutes of tv ever made ever ever!

DavyD_83 · 11-09-2017 12:58pm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Ok I tried it and I honestly don't know how I managed to last the full 35 minutes I was ready to turn it off after 5 minutes I deserve a medal for sitting through the whole thing.

Woeful, Horrible, Terrible maybe the worst 30 minutes of tv ever made ever ever!

I really dislike McFarlane and had no intention of even considering watching this.
But after that review I'm now tempted...

Dammit internet reverse psychology

Agent Coulson · 11-09-2017 1:08pm

DavyD_83 wrote: »

I really dislike McFarlane and had no intention of even considering watching this.
But after that review I'm now tempted...

Dammit internet reverse psychology

It isn't even one of these things that's so bad it good.

When I am on my death bed I will remember wasting 30 minutes of my life watching this.

Yggr of Asgard · 11-09-2017 1:27pm

I have no idea what i just watched.

It's not a spoof, it's not a real star trek, it's not a comedy, it's not a drama, what was this?

pixelburp · 11-09-2017 1:56pm

DavyD_83 wrote: »

I really dislike McFarlane and had no intention of even considering watching this.
But after that review I'm now tempted...

Dammit internet reverse psychology

Oddly, I'm the same; I'm drawn to it, purely as an obvious vanity project. I mean, it couldn't be any worse than 'Powerless', the last SciFi 'comedy' I endured..

silverharp · 11-09-2017 2:00pm

based on the trailer the humor looks like that awkward kind of Ghostbusters humor, they should have had a "Ron Burgunty" or "Zapp Brannigan" ott Captain. Just looks like a cringe fest

DavyD_83 · 11-09-2017 2:00pm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

It isn't even one of these things that's so bad it good.

When I am on my death bed I will remember wasting 30 minutes of my life watching this.

You'll also have it on your conscious that you were instrumental in stealing 30 minutes from the lives of me and many others.
Muahaha
To be fair, I've 2 small kids and I struggle to find the time to watch anything I really like and want to see, so I'm prob not going to waste any of that precious time on this sh1t, and thank you all for making it clear it's not worth watching.

11-09-2017 2:02pm

When you see the effort and work gone into it (even model work!) it's kinda a shame to be honest.

_Kaiser_ · 11-09-2017 2:40pm

Watching it as we speak... the music is very Star Trek (echos of the TMP Enterprise Approach scene among others), and the visuals are very TNG

15 minutes in and so far it's not too bad. It's not quite Trek, it's not quite Family Guy, but for a pilot/first episode it isn't the worst thing I've seen so far.

Venom · 11-09-2017 6:57pm

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

I have no idea what i just watched.

It's not a spoof, it's not a real star trek, it's not a comedy, it's not a drama, what was this?

It's super cheap looking bad TV and not even close to it's so bad it's good TV either

What hit me the most watching this episode, was just how utterly crap the sets looked and overall feel of the show. This looked more like something fans would make for Youtube!

Skerries · 11-09-2017 7:34pm

it's too on the nose for Trek, it needed to have it's own shtick
everything was TNG from the music to the fade aways with only a smattering of the funny
definitely a wasted effort where it could have been it's own thing but has failed

squonk · 11-09-2017 10:04pm

I was a little disappointed. From the trailers I expected a bit more. On the other hand when it wasn’t terrible, it wasnt fantastic either. Very much stealing from Trek and like others have said, the visuals are a little cheap looking.

What kills it for me is the bickering between the captain and his wife. I don’t know, I kind of want to like it but it’s a little hard.

That being said, it’s the pilot So there is plenty of time for it to improve. Given that this is Seth McFarlane, I don’t think it’s wrong to expect very average TV. I do like family guy But all of his other efforts have been lost on me. The biggest problem with it Is that all that CGI Has to be costing money even if it looks fairly cheap. I think they might cut back on that in future episodes. I’m willing to give it a chance. I think it deserves A run. TNG Took the best part of the season to get into its stride.

To put things in perspective, I wrote off scorpion when I saw the pilot. That show has been retooled And developed over time and now it’s one of my favourite guilty pleasure shows. I’m willing to give this a chance. I might decide by episode six whether I’m in or out.

CastorTroy · 11-09-2017 10:52pm

Have it on the hard drive, but probably won't bother with it. Bright side is we may get Bobbi back on Agents of SHIELD.

12-09-2017 7:01am

It actually feels like it would play better without the attempted humour.

The sets are killing it. There is still potential there though, kinda unfair to write it off at pilot

TerrorFirmer · 12-09-2017 9:25am

Thought the same, the actual effects are pretty good but the sets are horrible, but perhaps they're actually going for that tacky 90's vibe intentionally to tap into that 'Star Trek' vein.

I sorta liked the pilot, but it's a weird one - feels more like a normal episode of Star Trek that Seth McFarlene scribbled a few jokes into rather than an actual original comedy modelled on Star Trek. Not what I was expecting but I'd happily watch more all the same.

pixelburp · 12-09-2017 10:36am

Deleted User wrote: »

[...] There is still potential there though, kinda unfair to write it off at pilot

When has that ever stopped the internet?

And not like there aren't people queuing up to dump on Discovery before it has even aired...

I said 'vanity project' earlier & having actually watched the first episode, there's no doubt that's precisely what it was conceived as; and beyond a chance for McFarlane to lead in his own personal Fan Trek from the 90s, I really don't see what the point of the show is, or indeed what the demographic is.

If I want to watch Star Trek - I'll watch Star Trek, not a slavish pastiche or knock-off that obviously doesn't have access to the licenses, but is undaunted in painfully trying to copy every-single-facet of Trek lore on the sly. I mean, charming, they've recreated the TNG era music, and look there's Penny Johnson, but so what? Again, I'd rather be watching Johnson flirt with Captain Sisko than play straight-women to a bunch of whacky goofs.

And it wasn't just the riffs on Trek that was dated, the comedy was too; ho-boy, the comedy stunk. Really insipid sitcom clichés; bickering exes, men-children behaving like idiots, etc. etc., all the while McFarlane trying to be both leading man & comic sidekick at the same time. That man needs a tight leash, but clearly Fox aren't interested in reigning him in...

Unless I read here of a significant uptick, I'd say it's a hard pass & I await a fairly deserved cancellation. The epitome of pointlessness.

OU812 · 12-09-2017 11:43pm

I'll be honest, I kinda liked it.

The bad:
Some of the gags didn't land
Some of the characters dont work (robot type guy)
The bridge set is WAY too big - the Command chair looks lost in it.

The good:
Likeable characters for the most part
Pretty decent sfx
A coherent story

But I think it's biggest problem is it's too long. It should be a half hour show, it'd be much tighter then. That & McFarlane shouldn't have taken the lead role. It would be better if the roles were reversed & he was the XO & she was the captain.

I'll give it another couple of episodes, but I reckon it'll be cancelled as it's probably too expensive to produce for the relitively small numbers it'll pull.

marcbrophy · 13-09-2017 10:16am

I watched it last night and I liked it!
It was exactly as I expected it to be, and I wasn't surprised in anyway. That's both the best and worst thing I can say about it.

I think the critics are being very harsh on this, just my opinion of course.
All I'm saying is, that by season 5 everyone will love it

James Brown · 13-09-2017 2:13pm

I thought it was decent. Not always going for the obvious parody gag. It's a slower pace than the average U.S. sitcom, which is refreshing but might not bode well for the mainstream U.S. market that needs keys jangled in it's face on a consistent basis.

13-09-2017 9:28pm

I'm really not sure about this.

_Kaiser_ · 13-09-2017 9:36pm

As I said in the Trek forum..

Re watched it there and it's actually pretty decent.

Sure some of the jokes don't land but they're pretty well-spaced and even the crew scene in the shuttle bay works if you take it in context of a new, not quite ready Captain trying somewhat awkwardly to bond with his senior officers.

I honestly think it's getting too much of a slating in the "pro" reviews - it's by no means perfect, but it's S01 E01 and it's definitely very watchable I think.

The music is VERY trek as I said before.. when the Krill ship arrives for example is very DS9 during the Dominion War era.

Agent Coulson · 14-09-2017 10:04am

This is considered a Drama!

‘The Orville’ Lands Broadcast’s Top Drama Premiere Since ‘This Is Us’

http://www.thewrap.com/seth-macfarlane-the-orville-premiere-best-drama-ratings-since-this-is-us/

_Kaiser_ · 14-09-2017 6:22pm

It seems to me like the "establishment" in Hollywood/TV critic land have panned it more because they don't like MacFarlane and Family Guy, rather than judging the show itself. The audience reaction on sites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes seems extremely positive

14-09-2017 8:18pm

I watched it again and liked it. Think that the bridge is a mistake, too big and characters get lost in it

jimmycrackcorm · 14-09-2017 10:19pm

I was very disappointed in the pilot. Maybe I had high expectations as I'm a fan of Seth.

I was electing it to be more of a comedic spoof but it appears to be bordering on 80% star trek alternative with a few comedic lines thrown in.

The whole ex wife thing was just totally lame. Some light hearted blue squishy early on followed by the intentional tussle between the personalities of the two exes and finally she is the serious hero who got him the job.

But then when do pilots really work? Case in point: The BBT pilot is atrocious compared to the series now.

Mr E · 16-09-2017 11:07am

The premier had the highest numbers for a new drama on Fox since Empire, with 11.3m viewers.

Any prediction as to how far that falls for Episode 2?

Interesting to see that it's billed as a drama and not comedy too.

http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/888037-the-orville-is-foxs-largest-drama-premiere-since-empire#/slide/1

Yggr of Asgard · 16-09-2017 11:31am

Mr E wrote: »

The premier had the highest numbers for a new drama on Fox since Empire, with 11.3m viewers.

Any prediction as to how far that falls for Episode 2?

Interesting to see that it's billed as a drama and not comedy too.

http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/888037-the-orville-is-foxs-largest-drama-premiere-since-empire#/slide/1

65%

_Kaiser_ · 18-09-2017 1:04pm

Just watched episode 2 and after a bit of a ropey start

with Alara

, it picked up pretty well I thought though

the scene with his parents on the viewscreen went on too long

Title sequence is straight out of Voyager. Reviews seem pretty positive as well.

James Brown · 18-09-2017 3:27pm

Saw the second. It's decent, not great but I'll keep giving it a go.

The Orville

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