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I believe Roddenberry would be pleased with the social relevance of the central plot of the third episode, About a Girl. However, as I write this, I realize the episode's major difference is the lack of a prime directive permits the Union officers to legally get involved with the cultural taboo in question. The result is still the same. 

 

I like this show's potential and I hope it resonates with enough fans in the nerdy Trek community and in the mainstream audience. It's not a comedy, it can be serious and heavy handed, but also doesn't take itself too seriously. 

 

It's got potential to be more than just TNG with dick, sex, and fart jokes. And right now, with its holodeck, forward facing lounge, multiple aliens, and a robot on the bridge who needs explanation about humanity at every turn, it's got a lot of TNG. 

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1 hour ago, Woj said:

And right now, with its holodeck, forward facing lounge, multiple aliens, and a robot on the bridge who needs explanation about humanity at every turn, it's got a lot of TNG

 

But we've already had TNG.

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22 hours ago, Woj said:

I believe Roddenberry would be pleased with the social relevance of the central plot of the third episode, About a Girl. However, as I write this, I realize the episode's major difference is the lack of a prime directive permits the Union officers to legally get involved with the cultural taboo in question. The result is still the same. 

 

I like this show's potential and I hope it resonates with enough fans in the nerdy Trek community and in the mainstream audience. It's not a comedy, it can be serious and heavy handed, but also doesn't take itself too seriously. 

 

It's got potential to be more than just TNG with dick, sex, and fart jokes. And right now, with its holodeck, forward facing lounge, multiple aliens, and a robot on the bridge who needs explanation about humanity at every turn, it's got a lot of TNG. 

 

The way they explained Orville getting involved was that it he was defending the life on a ship under his command.  So that made enough sense that he had to try to defend and protect the life of someone vulnerable.  The episodes so far have been quite good.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got around to watching episode 2.

 

It is, indeed, MUCH better than episode 1!  This could actually be a decent little show.  It really doesn't take itself seriously at all, which is refreshing.
 

It's still not terribly funny, but it is humorous at times and I enjoy the music, special effects, and cast.  I think as it goes on and they figure out what works best and what doesn't it will just get better.  The only problem could be trying to do 22 episodes a year.  13 would be better.

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On 10/2/2017 at 0:08 PM, Yavar Moradi said:

Wait until you see episode 4; it's the best so far and I now officially am a fan of this show. (I didn't hate the pilot exactly but it also didn't really fill me with much confidence for the show to come.)

 

Yavar

 

I agree with this completely. If I was to introduce the show to somebody, this would be the episode I show. Almost everything worked, and I think having the plot mostly streamlined really works in the show's favor instead of multiple unrelated subplots.

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I actually liked episode 4 so much that it went by too fast! I think there was enough material in there for a two parter... :)

 

Be warned that there are some major temp track lifts from Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams, Jay...though Joel McNeely does some lovely original stuff too.

 

Yavar

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45 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

That's good, because I think there's going to be a looooot more of it! The Goldsmith was almost a direct copy from TMP. Worked great though!

 

I told my wife the same thing when we watched it Friday night. The mystery music entering the derelict was straight up homage/knockoff of the mystery Vger music. 

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OK I watched episode 3.

 

It wasn't nearly as good as episode 2.  The problem wasn't the story, which is OK, it was the directing.  The whole episode had a lackadaisical pace, and many scenes went on a bit longer than needed, like the editor kept too much at the head and tail of each shot in.  It was especially noticeable as each commercial break approached, they were awkward pauses to end a scene on a cliffhanger that just sat there for a while before it finally faded to the commercial break.

 

Another problem is tonally.  This week's story was a pretty serious one, and was mostly devoid of humor throughout, so when suddenly you have characters calling each other dicks in the middle of a scene it just doesn't mesh.  I think they haven't found the right way to balance humor and Star Trek yet.  And honestly, I wonder if they wouldn't be better off just ditching the attempts at vulgar comedy and just do what they seem to be able to do best: Make Star Trek episodes.

 

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Viacom has a team of lawyers ready to sue these guys; This show isn't really a parody or homage to Star Trek, it basically IS Star Trek, in all but name.  I wonder how long they'll get away with it.

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I started watching this series the other day and found the first two episodes more rousing and faithful to the feel of Trek than Discovery! I agree with you, Jay, that in places the comedy elements don't always mesh with the rest of the tone the show seems to want to lean to. I think it's a double-edged sword with Orville, where the comedy either comes at the expense of spoofing Trek, or the drama comes at the expense of dropping the comedic tone. Is there a balance that can be found in a long format series? My thoughts are that Orville might have been better executed in a film or two, where the comedy can drive the plot and not have to be so concerned with the trapeze act that it seems to be following...

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Watched episode 4.

 

It was much better than episode 3, for sure.  Probably the best ep yet, but still not GREAT tv or anything.

 

I enjoyed the VGER-esque music for when they approached the derelict ship

 

The dick jokes are still at odds with the genuinely good and serious stories they are telling, they should just abandon that entirely.

 

Good show.

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Yea, its an odd creative choice for sure.

 

Actually, almost all the jokes on the show really fall completely flat.  Take them out, and you basically just have Star Trek TNG

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23 hours ago, Jay said:

no, none of hte characters are like TNG counterparts, its just the same concept

 

Well, the android character is quite Data-like at times, and Bortus in terms of personality seems very Worf-like, even if his race's culture isn't quite a match for Klingons (but they seem a little more Klingon-like than STD's Klingons, IMO!) but aside from those two, I agree that these are very different characters in a TNG-like setting. Glad you liked the fourth episode as much as I did!

 

I had a little trouble with the outright Vger music steal, although it was undeniably effective. I really loved the final cue, which was obviously the result of a temp track from either Insurrection or First Contact, but not a direct copy. This was the McNeely cue McFarlane shared on his Soundcloud in full, BTW.

 

Yavar

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Just watched episode 5, the one with Charlize Theron

 

Probably the best episode yet.  Pretty much everything worked, even the practical joke subplot blended in well and didn't stick out like a sore thumb.  They still have a problem where the lead-in to each commercial break is awkward, its always weird and I dunno why this show has that problem when no other shows do

 

I think I realized a change could could make the show a lot better:  Seth Macfarlane shouldn't have cast himself as the captain.  The captain should have been some kind of unknown actor with a lot of charisma and charm.  Seth could play a secondary character who kinda pops in to do his jokes and stuff but not be the central character every plot.

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You know what running subplot does nothing for me is Norm MacDonald's blob hitting on the doctor or whoever else comes along, pretty empty comedically

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It's just an excuse to make his jello phallus in every episode. Pretty unfunny. 

 

I did like how the chief engineer used a frikkin power drill to defeat future tech. Star Trek rarely embraced twentieth century solutions to their problems.

 

Every time shipwide communications went down on the Enterprise or Voyager, I would hope someone would replicate a pair of walkie-talkies, hook it up to a tricorder, switch to channel 5, and start talking. Nope, nothing. Dummies. 

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