I haven’t read the thread, so forgive me if I repeat. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by The Orville. I expected Family Guy in space, but this was a lot closer to A Million Ways to Die in the West. There was an actual plot, and the ending was…interesting. Not particularly realistic the way it happened, but overall I liked it.
I thought it was fun, but I don’t see it getting a back nine either. Granted it could surprise everyone and turn out to be the 30 Rock to Star Trek: Discovery’s Studio 60.
Missed the edit window:
And Captain Ed’s ex is gorgeous. 
I noticed Larry’s secretary from The Larry Sanders Show, and Geoffrey Tambor shows up in the preview of the next episode (of Transparent fame, as well as Larry Sanders).
I saw quite a few review summaries saying it was awful so I came in with low expectations.
I didn’t find it awful, though I did not find it very funny either.
“Competent but jokey” is done way better on Brooklyn 99
Brian
A lot better than I expected. Partly because I have a very low opinion of Mcfarlane lately, but the clever:stupid ratio was good enough to give it chance for a bit.
Just finished watching it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Comedy aside, it really feels like Star Trek with modern-day CGI and a decent budget.
Saw it and liked it, although I wasn’t blown away by it. Not as consistently funny as, say, Galaxy Quest. The robot sounds a lot like Brent Spiner, but Wiki says it isn’t. Favorite line: “You want to open this jar of pickles for me?” I’ll keep watching.
I liked it enough to keep watching. I agree with every review that said it was warmed over Star Trek but at this point that’s good enough for me.
Oh God, yes! Lots more of her, please! :o
I loosened it for you.
I thought the pilot was pretty enjoyable. It’s definitely going to take them a little while to nail the right comedy:drama ratio, and to figure out what kind of jokes work well in the live-action, sci-fi setting. I thought the drunk shuttle pilot, holodeck ogre, and “anti-banana ray” gags worked brilliantly. OTOH, the bad-guy-awkwardly-framed-on-the-viewscreen joke was a miss. It even sounded like something Brian Griffin would say. Seth needs to be careful to make sure his captain character is actually well defined and does not succumb to jokes of opportunity.
I mentioned this exact comparison to my Trek nerd friends after seeing the (very funny, I thought) trailer for The Orville shortly after the very muddled, WTF-ridden trailer for ST Discovery. I’m still holding out hope, though. Even if it is just another shitty prequel.
Lots of wasted space on board that starship, especially on the bridge. But at least there’s no third chair for a counselor to sit in and look bored.
Or Raj’s father from Big Bang Theory. 
Anybody else pick up on the word “magnanimous”? :dubious:
Havent seen it, but it can’t possibly be worse than “Encounter at Farpoint”…by definition the next eps cant be worse than “The Naked Now” or the planet of the “No caffiene, never had it, never will”
I enjoyed it and will keep watching. I’m glad to not be disappointed. The reviews I read were pretty harsh and they now seem like huge overreactions.
Some of the humor was kind of eye-rolling (the dog licking his balls), but I loved the part about seat belts. 
Yeah, that was Roddenberry at his sappiest. Of course, I’d been so Trek-starved for so long, with a couple of bright flashes (STII and III), that I almost tolerated it. And it did get better.
I hope this one at least gets the chance. MacFarlane has mostly had the Midas touch, at least as far as successful productions are concerned. That might carry enough weight with the suits. Then again, maybe not…
Surprised at the high production values. Wasn’t nearly so funny as trailers suggested. A few non-family-friendly words (not any deal for me, YMMV). I was kind of sickened by the “joke” about drunk driving. Who thought that was funny?
I’m not a fan of Seth’s other work (family guy mostly) and when I finally saw Million Ways to Die in the West, I was surprised on two fronts. One, overall it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. It didn’t devolve into the humor I don’t like. Two, while many of the best jokes were in trailers, it still had some other good things in it that I enjoyed.
And that sums up The Orville for me. Lots of potential that I hope gets realized.
The background music is very reminiscent of ST:NG. I will have to check online for the connections, and what else the music people did. That sort of thing feels like home.
There are cheezy bits. Hopefully, people see it as not taking itself too seriously, and like that sort of thing. Compare other shows that poke their finger at the fourth-wall. You either like that or you don’t.
The CGI for the ship battle was very impressive. The sort of thing Next Gen could only afford once and a while, was sustained for a long time. I do hope Discovery has that sort of thing in its budget, or else they’re going to be the ones who look derivative.
No transporters. Thankfully. Shuttle scenes were historically prohibitively expensive (hey, that killed V back in the '80’s.) Seems like the shuttle use is going to be pretty seamless if they have to reuse footage to save money.
I had fun. And remember: The series is done and in the tins. If FOX keeps it on the air for all episodes, I can be entertained. Next Gen took a couple of seasons to hit its stride. We’ll see if this one has its staying power.
I liked it. I hope it does well.