It had potential, and was improving when it was canceled. The time war thing certainly sucked.
Episodic shows can suck. Shows with good actors can suck; you still want good actors, right?
I’d also point out that the first episodes of shows are often weak. But like I said, I’ve never seen Enterprise.
But it had panda bear!
“Can we do decontamination again?”
It also had a cute beagle. I’m still not rewatching it. 
Other than the mirror darkly episode.That was great.
I thought the “Doctor’s Orders” episode was really good.
That episode was out fucking standing.
All hail the Terran Empire! 
All hall Empress Hoshi!
Thats not really an issue though. GUI, voice interfaces etc versus dials and tapes are at the end of the day just output/input methods and don’t really affect the capabilities of the ships computers.
This is what the planet’s best supercomputer looks like. Note the conspicuous lack of GUI and touchscreens.
#/media/File:Summit_(supercomputer).jpg){kind=link}
ST TOS ship designers moved away from touchscreens, voice interfaces, and towards cards and tapes and scopes.
So Strange New Worlds might be like The Mandalorian? A surprisingly decent show that comes at the end of a trail of large scale disappointments?
In all seriousness, the people who are nostalgiac for classic trek (particular TNG) might like The Orville. It is more Star Trek than Discovery or Picard is.
Now - the first season may be a turnoff. It definitely starts with more elements of goofy Seth Macfarlane dialogue/hijinks, as I think he had to sell the show as more of a funny/goofy show. It’s never a parody (the premise was more like - what if instead of watching Star Fleet’s best crew on their flagship, we watched one of their C- crews?), but some of the ridiculous elements (which I still enjoy but I know it turns other people off) are stronger earlier in the season.
But halfway through the second season it really hits its groove and becomes a much more serious show that has some humor. It actually becomes strikingly like TNG during some parts, clearly a loving homage, down to the pacing, the nature of the plots, the sort of conflicts that arise, even the technical stuff like the sound design, camerawork, and scene transitions. I think they even got some of the people involved with the TNG production in the show. The people who make the show clearly love Star Trek and particularly TNG.
It’s not perfect, but I enjoy it, and I think it captures the essence of star trek more than the actual current star trek series do.
I agree.
The Orville is the best Star Trek in a long time. I hope it comes back.
(Like how Mission Impossible movies are the best James Bond movies being made. They’re just not good “MI” movies. 
)