The jokes didn't quite land with me yet but I have hopes that they will become better as the season goes on. But overall I loved the whole vibe of the show.
We really needed a light-hearted space show. I mean, really space shows in general. But a light-hearted one like this especially. Hope Star Trek Discovery can deliver as well.
Hmm… Honestly? About the only enjoyable part of this was seeing Brian George. I really liked his work on The Expanse, though he didn't get much to work with here.
I can definitely see the Star Trek influence, which goes well beyond the superficial similarities in uniforms. The dramatic structure of the whole episode feels like an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation or something, albeit rushed. If anything, The Orville's debut proves why it was a good idea for typical Trek pilots to be double-length: There's so much work that has to be done establishing the world of a new show that it just won't fit in a normal-length episode that also tries to include a typical plot. (That said, in my opinion there was also considerable screen time wasted on unfunny jokes, like the "Permission to Pee" scene.)
The biggest issue with the overall plot, for me, was the fact that the Orville never really appears to be in danger. There's something in (good) Star Trek episodes of all eras that makes it seem like our protagonists might fail, even though we know they won't. That's absent here.
In case it's not obvious: No, I'm not a fan of Seth MacFarlane's humor. I would be hard pressed to find even one joke that I found funny in this show. I'll not drop it yet, in hopes that it will improve—the underwhelming pilot is another Star Trek staple, so this all might be intentional. The show deserves more than a single chance. But this won't be something I watch ASAP after the newest episode airs unless it gets drastically better.
This was totally enjoyable. Humor was not over-the-top. Pace, character set-up and dialogues are referentially making a curtsy to STTNG. I really enjoyed Discovery, but somehow Orville feels even closer to classic Star Trek.
There is no Pizza party, I repeat. Hahahaha, I actually like this.
Ed: So ... it's an anti-banana ray.
Kelly: That's really interesting.
Ed: We need no longer fear the banana.
Kelly: Does it work on all fruit?
Ed: What about salads?
It's dumb, it's raunchy, it's from the same guy who brought us Family Guy and American Dad. It's exactly what I expected it to be. If you're a Star Trek TNG fan and enjoy some (often) crude humour, then you may get a kick out of this. I know I do, I'm eager to see more.
Now, if only Seth MacFarlane could bring Patrick Stewart to this show, as well... Hmmmm...
I didn't think I was gonna like this. I'm pleasantly surprised. Not really a huge fan of anything sci fi related normally.
Your own enjoyment of this new show might depend on your own love for 1990s Star Trek, and whether or not you find Seth MacFarlane funny. Fortunately for me, I'm a big fan of both and the first episode of The Orville was delightful fun. It's an homage to The Next Generation's style and storytelling, with an added comedy element (which isn't as overpowering as the trailers made it seem). The jokes were all pretty funny, too, but I'd probably have laughed more if the trailer hadn't spoiled all of them beforehand.
I like pretty much all of the characters, and it seems well cast - at this point we don't really know much about anyone beyond the captain, his ex-wife and his helmsman friend (I'm still learning names!), but I can see a lot of potential.
It looks great - if oddly empty - with some lovely special effects and an attention to visual details (views through windows, engine damage) that was never seen in Star Trek, most likely because the technical capabilities and budget wouldn't really have allowed for it back then.
It's even got the fade-to-black advert breaks at dramatic moments! It feels like years since I've seen that. I'm looking forward to seeing where this is going, and I think it's got a lot of heart. Unfortunately, this is a Fox sci-fi show and I'm completely expecting it to be cancelled.
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the first episode!
[6.8/10] The Orville’s series premiere works just fine as ascended Star Trek: The Next Generation cosplay. For those of us raised on the adventures of Captain Picard, the rhythms here are familiar and pleasant. Captain Ed Mercer flying in on the captain’s shuttle to oversee his new ship, meeting one of his senior officers on the holodeck, and blasting off to a scientific outpost where there’s more going on than meets the eye all fits the meter of the shows this series is clearly aping.
Taken on those terms, it’s perfectly fine. Creator/writer/star Seth MacFarlane basically just reinvents the wheel here, with serial numbers filed off versions of Trek conventions like the Federation (the Union), warp drive (quantum drive), and various rubber mask and forehead aliens to populate the universe. None of it’s particularly inventive, just twists on the familiar, but it’s all a solid enough rendition.
The plot in particular works for an opening episode, with a mundane mission turned dangerous, a secret piece of advanced technology that could work wonders in the right hands and cause mayhem in the wrong ones, and an invading group of belligerent aliens threatening our heroes. I particularly like the setup and payoff of the time-displacing ray and redwood seeds being used to trick the Krill and crack open the enemy ship, the one bit of genuine inventiveness on display here. (Save for the ship designs, which are sleek and eye-catching.)
Likewise, the cast of characters has promise. Scott Grimes has the most charisma as the fratty Lt. Malloy, which makes up for some of the generic writing that supports him, and LaMarr has a good energy, particularly opposite Malloy. But the brutish no-nonsense second officer, the young but super strong security officer, the skeptical doctor, and the human-skeptical robot all have potential as a standard senior officer milieu.
The major problems here are two-fold. The first is the comedy. Maybe I’m just spoiled, having come to The Orville after having watched the first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks. The latter show managed to beautifully meld the sensibilities of Star Trek and Rick and Morty, frankly better than I’d thought possible. I have far more trepidation about MacFarlane and company trying to meld the sensibilities of TNG with those of Family Guy.
That concern bears out there. “Old Wounds” features plenty of jokes about penises, balls, drinking on the job, assorted bodily fluids, and basically all the other juvenalia one expects from MacFarlane’s brand of humor. It’s an awkward fit for a Star Trek-esque world, and the show doesn’t really manage to wring the laughs from the contrast between the typically staid vibe of Starfleet with the cut-up energy that MacFarlane’s comedic voice brings to the table. This may be a long, penis-joke filled season, comedy-wise.
But honestly, I could tolerate the occasional facepalm-worthy testicle-joke if MacFarlane’s other comic trademark worked better here -- the several attempts at casual-but-sarcastic conversations. Lots of the dialogue on the show has that faux attempt at naturalism, where part of the joke is that people are in a fantastical situation but talk like regular dudes just hanging out, cracking wise about whatever they encounter. It doesn’t click here, feeling more phony than real. Worse yet, it’s often a vehicle for MacFarlane’s own attempts at should-be-amusing offhand commentary on whatever’s going on, that don’t land well.
The other side of the coin is that comedy is built on chemistry, and particularly for a new show, it can take time for that to jell. I’m not especially hopeful given MacFarlane’s other comedic efforts and the attendant laziness of a lot of his jokes, but hopefully The Orville manages to hone its comedic voice as it settles in.
The bigger problem for me though is one that stems from having seen MacFarlane’s wannabe star turn in A Million Ways to Die in the West. Namely, MacFarlane has the wrong energy as a performer to play the put-upon guy who's both wronged by beautiful women but also pursued and admired by them. It’s a weird combination of self-pity and self-flattery, and given how badly it came off in MacFarlane’s last star vehicle, I’m very hesitant about how it’s going to go here.
The personal stakes of “Old Wounds” come down to Captain Mercer discovering that, after finally being given a command, the Union assigns him his ex-wife, who cheated on him, as his First Officer. It’s a pretty contrived situation, and while Adrianne Palicki does a good job selling it as Commander Grayson, the two of them don’t really have the chemistry, and the bitter exes banter is hacky as all hell.
The show at least does something to make Grayson less of a one-dimensional cliché by giving her a comprehensible reason for cheating -- Mercer always being away and always prioritizing work over their relationship. But even there, it’s a stock and hoary trope that still feels overly flattering to Mercer and the person who both writes and performs the character. In the early going at least, it seems like The Orville is going to rest a lot on the romantic tension between the two of them, and that is not promising given how things go in this first episode. (Though I like the beat that Grayson secretly stuck her neck out for Mercer to get him a command as a form of atonement.)
Overall, as a spiritual successor to the 1987-2005 era of Star Trek, The Orville works just fine, if not terribly spectacular. All the pieces are there, and it’s neat to see a modern show channeling that energy. But the comedy and romantic/relationship angles that MacFarlane tries to squeeze into that framework only serve to drag the effort down, at least in the opening episode.
I went in with very low expectations, scared off by the scathing reviews and my distaste for Family Guy. This episode blew away those lowered expectations, with Seth MacFarlane showing admirable restraint on his adolescent sense of humor (though there is still plenty of room for improvement), and spending quite a bit of time on excellently reproduced 90's style special effects. While it's not as good as I'd hoped, it still fills the TNG-sized hole in my heart far better than the mindless ST:Discovery.
Ouch. Underwhelming and painfully unfunny.
I really enjoyed this!
It's quite 'in the style' of Star Trek, and the comedy is smart and fun - as a Star Trek fan, I can totally get behind this!
MacFarlane dialed back the juvenile humor to a near-perfect level and the show's fondness for vintage Trek was evident throughout. I was pleasantly surprised and will be back for more.
You can tell pretty quickly that this is a big passion project for Seth McFarlane. I’m not much of a sci-fi guy myself, but the comedy interlaced helps. The sets look fun to be on and, I don’t know what it is, but I really like seeing Seth performing in a live action role; something we don’t get to see that often. For an introductory episode, not bad ^^
There is a saying "funny is, what's unexpected" and this is either the most predictable humour there is or plain stupid. But I had to expect that. Seth MacFarlane and I simply wont ever be on a level in terms of humour.
That being said all the serious elements are actually really good. Captivating and so well produced. I really really like the Star Trek vibe this has. This actually appears to be the better Star Trek when compared to Discovery.
I'm on my second watch of The Orville and I like it even more as the first time. I don't even mind the awkwardness and, at this point, at times rather flat humor. It actually does a good job for a pilot to introduce characters and the universe this is playing in. The sets look cool, as do the costumes and the make-up department did a great job.
[6.8/10] The Orville’s series premiere works just fine as ascended Star Trek: The Next Generation cosplay. For those of us raised on the adventures of Captain Picard, the rhythms here are familiar and pleasant. Captain Ed Mercer flying in on the captain’s shuttle to oversee his new ship, meeting one of his senior officers on the holodeck, and blasting off to a scientific outpost where there’s more going on than meets the eye all fits the meter of the shows this series is clearly aping.
Taken on those terms, it’s perfectly fine. Creator/writer/star Seth MacFarlane basically just reinvents the wheel here, with serial numbers filed off versions of Trek conventions like the Federation (the Union), warp drive (quantum drive), and various rubber mask and forehead aliens to populate the universe. None of it’s particularly inventive, just twists on the familiar, but it’s all a solid enough rendition.
The plot in particular works for an opening episode, with a mundane mission turned dangerous, a secret piece of advanced technology that could work wonders in the right hands and cause mayhem in the wrong ones, and an invading group of belligerent aliens threatening our heroes. I particularly like the setup and payoff of the time-displacing ray and redwood seeds being used to trick the Krill and crack open the enemy ship, the one bit of genuine inventiveness on display here. (Save for the ship designs, which are sleek and eye-catching.)
Likewise, the cast of characters has promise. Scott Grimes has the most charisma as the fratty Lt. Malloy, which makes up for some of the generic writing that supports him, and LaMarr has a good energy, particularly opposite Malloy. But the brutish no-nonsense second officer, the young but super strong security officer, the skeptical doctor, and the human-skeptical robot all have potential as a standard senior officer milieu.
The major problems here are two-fold. The first is the comedy. Maybe I’m just spoiled, having come to The Orville after having watched the first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks. The latter show managed to beautifully meld the sensibilities of Star Trek and Rick and Morty, frankly better than I’d thought possible. I have far more trepidation about MacFarlane and company trying to meld the sensibilities of TNG with those of Family Guy.
That concern bears out there. “Old Wounds” features plenty of jokes about penises, balls, drinking on the job, assorted bodily fluids, and basically all the other juvenalia one expects from MacFarlane’s brand of humor. It’s an awkward fit for a Star Trek-esque world, and the show doesn’t really manage to wring the laughs from the contrast between the typically staid vibe of Starfleet with the cut-up energy that MacFarlane’s comedic voice brings to the table. This may be a long, penis-joke filled season, comedy-wise.
But honestly, I could tolerate the occasional facepalm-worthy testicle-joke if MacFarlane’s other comic trademark worked better here -- the several attempts at casual-but-sarcastic conversations. Lots of the dialogue on the show has that faux attempt at naturalism, where part of the joke is that people are in a fantastical situation but talk like regular dudes just hanging out, cracking wise about whatever they encounter. It doesn’t click here, feeling more phony than real. Worse yet, it’s often a vehicle for MacFarlane’s own attempts at should-be-amusing offhand commentary on whatever’s going on, that don’t land well.
The other side of the coin is that comedy is built on chemistry, and particularly for a new show, it can take time for that to jell. I’m not especially hopeful given MacFarlane’s other comedic efforts and the attendant laziness of a lot of his jokes, but hopefully The Orville manages to hone its comedic voice as it settles in.
The bigger problem for me though is one that stems from having seen MacFarlane’s wannabe star turn in A Million Ways to Die in the West. Namely, MacFarlane has the wrong energy as a performer to play the put-upon guy who's both wronged by beautiful women but also pursued and admired by them. It’s a weird combination of self-pity and self-flattery, and given how badly it came off in MacFarlane’s last star vehicle, I’m very hesitant about how it’s going to go here.
The personal stakes of “Old Wounds” come down to Captain Mercer discovering that, after finally being given a command, the Union assigns him his ex-wife, who cheated on him, as his First Officer. It’s a pretty contrived situation, and while Adrianne Palicki does a good job selling it as Commander Grayson, the two of them don’t really have the chemistry, and the bitter exes banter is hacky as all hell.
The show at least does something to make Grayson less of a one-dimensional cliché by giving her a comprehensible reason for cheating -- Mercer always being away and always prioritizing work over their relationship. But even there, it’s a stock and hoary trope that still feels overly flattering to Mercer and the person who both writes and performs the character. In the early going at least, it seems like The Orville is going to rest a lot on the romantic tension between the two of them, and that is not promising given how things go in this first episode. (Though I like the beat that Grayson secretly stuck her neck out for Mercer to get him a command as a form of atonement.)
Overall, as a spiritual successor to the 1987-2005 era of Star Trek, The Orville works just fine, if not terribly spectacular. All the pieces are there, and it’s neat to see a modern show channeling that energy. But the comedy and romantic/relationship angles that MacFarlane tries to squeeze into that framework only serve to drag the effort down, at least in the opening episode.
That start Star Trek 1 style when they arrive at the ship, well for now, we will continue to see
There is no Pizza party, I repeat. Hahahaha, I actually like this.
I repeat there is no Pizza party, I repeat, lmao!
I repeat, there is no Pizza party. I repeat, lmao
We need no longer fear the banana.
i'm not quite following the ending scene between XO and the admiral.
so it is set up to planted the ex-wife on the ship intentionally, for what?
The pacing of The Orville reminds me a lot of Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West.
Both The Orville and A Million Ways to Die in the West can only be categorized as comedy in that none of the characters take things seriously, even in the face of impending doom. None of the characters go out of their way to be silly or be funny. There's no sense of urgency, and therefore, very little in the way of drama.
What we have left is a set of likable characters in exotic settings that feels oddly familiar. And a plot line that feels derivative of the classics most of us loved, but with enough spin to escape the cliche.
All of this is admittedly an acquired taste, but to me, The Orville is enjoyable in a way sharing beer and pizza with close friends on a Friday night is enjoyable. Ultimately, there are better shows to watch, but the show is so relaxing and pleasant to watch.
This opener is mostly a setup and I only recall a handful of chuckles on my part. But the show looks great, in a manner similar to Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, and characters are likable, even the villains.
The first episode felt like a bad parody of ST-TNG, but I was delightfully surprised after having watched more than half of the episode, it's actually rather fun and interesting actually. CGI is also great.
Live action, "Star Trek" based "Blue Harvest?" Yep....
I'm not sure that this is as funny as they hoped it would be. It was OK
star trek parody and seth macfarlane - what's not to love? I'm looking forward to more episodes
Unfortunately the trailer spoiled quite a lot of the jokes in the first episode. And based on the trailer I would have expected much more comedy that it was.
The cast seems to be quite ok as far as can be said after the first episode.
From the story side I hope that the next episodes will bring more, the first episode was mostly used to introduce the characters.
The visual impression was too sterile (even for a new ship).
For a first episode of a brand new galaxy it was great
Shout by Galileo5BlockedParent2017-09-11T20:51:34Z
Really not that bad. Granted, the special effects look a bit flimsy and it's not exactly exciting storytelling, but it's highly entertaining which is everything I want from this show. Compare this to Mission at Farpoint Station (pilot episode of Star Trek TNG) and this is far better. The banter between McFarlane and Palicki is the engine of this show. And it's so funny to watch. I just hope McFarlane's character can stay angry throughout the show because honestly as soon as they fall in love again the show is doomed. They need to play the ex-wife-cheater game a little while longer. The rest of the bridge crew is equally interesting. Star Trek Discovery starts in a couple of days and it's no coincidence Orville premiered first. It's a refreshing look at the genre. Nothing we have ever seen in a Sci-Fi TV show. That's why I believe both shows can coexist.