"The Orville". A Seth McFarlane Space Adventure on Fox

I really like it alot! It really had the Trek feel, which was a surprize to me. I never thought I'd feel that again, especially with the low expectation I am having with Discovery. It's so obvious that MacFarlane has a deep love and respect for Trek, and was great to see some old Trek faces in the mix, plus I did notice Andre Bormanis and Brannon Braga in the credits...+!

The set designs, costumes and makep, special effects were all excellent. The music was OK, but nothing special. The characters seem fine, but I'm a little 'iffy' on a few of the characters....but I don't want to judge them before they've had a chance to really develop. I think MacFarlane is a brilliant writer and creative thinker, but I'm a little unsure of his acting abilities. He's no 'leading man', if you know what I mean. He doesn't really have the presence that I really think this show may need. He's neither really funny or really dramatic, but he is very likable. He's no William Shatner, or Patrick Stewart, that's for sure. But the guy who plays the pilot, Scott Grimes (Malloy) was really charming right off the bat! He reminded me so much of Wash, from Firefly!

Thumbs up so far for me, anyway.
 
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The person I was responding to claimed TNG abandoned exploration for politics they find distasteful. That was the argument put the rest by showing there was plenty of exploration in TNG...
That was my mistake--I responded strictly to your comment without realizing it was part of an ongoing discussion. My apologies.

...Personally, I like a lot of the known alien-species episodes in Trek. Klingon's in TNG or Ferengi in DS9 for example. And a lot of those non-exploration episodes you get things like "Chain Of Command" or "In The Pale Moonlight". Would you argue Trek is lesser for those non-exploration stories? That they somehow take away from raw exploration of space?
No, I wouldn't. But, again, I was commenting strictly on the amount of exploration performed in each series.

I've mentioned this somewhere here before, but I watched TNG because it was "new Trek" even though I didn't really care for it. With the possible exception of Patrick Stewart, it always felt like a bunch of adults cosplaying with a budget and a camera crew. TOS is certainly "dated" and had it's share of not-so-good episodes, but it somehow felt more real to me than anything from the TNG era. I understand why people like TNG, DS9, and Voyager, I'm just not one of them.
 
That was my mistake--I responded strictly to your comment without realizing it was part of an ongoing discussion. My apologies.

No, I wouldn't. But, again, I was commenting strictly on the amount of exploration performed in each series.

I've mentioned this somewhere here before, but I watched TNG because it was "new Trek" even though I didn't really care for it. With the possible exception of Patrick Stewart, it always felt like a bunch of adults cosplaying with a budget and a camera crew. TOS is certainly "dated" and had it's share of not-so-good episodes, but it somehow felt more real to me than anything from the TNG era. I understand why people like TNG, DS9, and Voyager, I'm just not one of them.

NP

To me TOS always felt like watching theater on stage. You get engaged in the story but you are always aware that you're watching a play. Mostly due to the highly theatrical elements present. Costume and story choices, etc.

TMP readjusted the look and feel of Trek. Made it feel more like a real place. Bigger and better sets help bring the illusion to life. And it ended feeling like watching things on a real-life starship. TNG came right along and got the full benefit of that readjustment. And ended up looking equally real.
 
It isn't a long list of Sci Fi sitcoms........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_science_fiction_sitcoms

I did enjoy recently "Other Space" but it did not last.
It's interesting to me that Lost in Space is included on their list--it was goofy, campy, and often silly, but I've never thought of it as a comedy. It was supposed to be a dramatic "family adventure" series, and it certainly started out that way, but once Jonathan Harris started hamming it up there was no turning back.
 
That was my mistake--I responded strictly to your comment without realizing it was part of an ongoing discussion. My apologies.

It was, but I can't talk politics here without getting the thread shut down, so I just dropped out.

No, I wouldn't. But, again, I was commenting strictly on the amount of exploration performed in each series.

Which is exactly what I was talking about. The amount of exploration over the episodes is far, far less in TNG (and let's not even talk about DS9, to boldly sit here and do nothing).

I've mentioned this somewhere here before, but I watched TNG because it was "new Trek" even though I didn't really care for it. With the possible exception of Patrick Stewart, it always felt like a bunch of adults cosplaying with a budget and a camera crew. TOS is certainly "dated" and had it's share of not-so-good episodes, but it somehow felt more real to me than anything from the TNG era. I understand why people like TNG, DS9, and Voyager, I'm just not one of them.

Same here. I can't stand any of the new series. I've tried every single one and none have ever appealed to me. It was funny, I had a party for a bunch of sci-fi fans for the Voyager premiere. We had it running and about half way through, nobody was watching it anymore. Nobody. I have walked away with less than half a season for every single one of them. I might come back and watch an episode or two now and then, but none have ever appealed to me over the long run. Not one. I don't expect Discovery to be any different.
 
...I can't stand any of the new series. I've tried every single one and none have ever appealed to me. It was funny, I had a party for a bunch of sci-fi fans for the Voyager premiere. We had it running and about half way through, nobody was watching it anymore. Nobody. I have walked away with less than half a season for every single one of them. I might come back and watch an episode or two now and then, but none have ever appealed to me over the long run. Not one...
I wouldn't go so far as to say I can't stand them, but they definitely don't have the same appeal as the Original Series for me; I just don't care for the TNG/DS9/Voyager era. That being said, I'm in the small minority of fans that actually likes Enterprise, so take my opinions for what they're worth.

...I don't expect Discovery to be any different.
I'm on the fence about Discovery. On the one side, I'm curious about what they've done with it. On the other side, I'm not paying for CBS All Abscess so I don't see the point in watching the pilot episode for a series I'll probably never watch.
 
It was the Krell, and it wasn't a Krell attacking the Crew, it was Morbius' own subconscious made manifest by the Krell great Machine.
 
So, I finally sat down and watched the full episode last night and didn't think it was terrible. The biggest complaint in my house was my husband's comment that it can't seem to decide what it wants to be (comedy, sci-fi drama, something in between), and my general disdain for the helmsman character. We'll give it more episodes to see if it finds its feet.
 
Have to agree with you fully, the beginning had me thinking of "Scanner Darkly" meets "Tomorrowland"

Lost me at the blue alien with exploding face at the beginning, then the Holodeck from Star Trek Voyager. Soda on the flight deck was a nice touch "NOT" lol... and the Wright Flyer on the Captains Deck a nice touch, as well as the control panels in the office copied from Voyager too.

I'm going to struggle watching this one... even two of my favourite stars actor/actress are going not going to resurrect this for me. I did like the flight deck outfits and insignia, even though Adrianne's was a cross between her Agent Mockingbird and the Fantastic 4 suit.



Had high hopes... but, I found it to be painfully bad.
 
I wish this would come on some other time than after football. Hard to set a DVR for that, always have to record about at least another hour of stuff just to get it.
 
It was, but I can't talk politics here without getting the thread shut down, so I just dropped out.



Which is exactly what I was talking about. The amount of exploration over the episodes is far, far less in TNG (and let's not even talk about DS9, to boldly sit here and do nothing).



Same here. I can't stand any of the new series. I've tried every single one and none have ever appealed to me. It was funny, I had a party for a bunch of sci-fi fans for the Voyager premiere. We had it running and about half way through, nobody was watching it anymore. Nobody. I have walked away with less than half a season for every single one of them. I might come back and watch an episode or two now and then, but none have ever appealed to me over the long run. Not one. I don't expect Discovery to be any different.

I have to ask then-- why is this even on your radar to come and complain about? It sounds like you know what you like, and know what you don't.
 
I wish this would come on some other time than after football. Hard to set a DVR for that, always have to record about at least another hour of stuff just to get it.

From what I've read this week will be the last time it is on Sunday. It is supposed to switch to Thursdays. That is nothing new for FOX as they always switch shows around. I don't think Bones was ever on the same night 2 seasons in a row and even switched a few times during a season over the years.
 
I wish this would come on some other time than after football. Hard to set a DVR for that, always have to record about at least another hour of stuff just to get it.
Last week it was on after football, but this week it's just part of their "regular" schedule so you shouldn't have that problem.

From what I've read this week will be the last time it is on Sunday. It is supposed to switch to Thursdays...
Yep. Second episode airing on Sunday night, third and subsequent episodes airing on Thursday nights (until they move it again, that is) starting this week.
 

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