Toth Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 8 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said: I thought it captured the best of the classic eposodes where Trek went all anachronistic...the Gangsters episode of TOS, the Voyager twonparter where they go back to 1996...all really good. Ah, you are right, the atmosphere was indeed comparable to the Voyager episode. Including the rather amused reaction of the Trek crew to the clothing. I still remember Tuvok's "It appears we could have worn our uniforms and it wouldn't have seemed out of place" line. The people were clothed just as colourful. 8 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said: It will be interesting how the humor continues to he used, as it does seem to be falling by the wayside, or being used as more of an aside... Given how cringe-worthy much of the humor so far was, I'd be glad if they continue with this semi-serious atmosphere that was so prevalent in this episode or the one with the colony ship. This way it's just... laid-back Star Trek and I'm totally fine with it! Heck, the scene where an embarrassed Mercer had to explain to the admiralty that one of his officers got into legal trouble for humping a statue immediately reminded me of Archer getting into trouble for taking his dog for a walk in a sacred grove... obviously even Star Trek characters aren't immune to this kind of idiocy, so it fits perfectly into either universe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 That the humor isn't meant to be at the fore front really does help. I think it's obvious that McFarlane wants to do his own Trek version, but could only sell it to the network with his comedy being part of it, though I don't think he really wanted that as the driving force. It's going to continue to wane in it's level if use until It's simply a aspect of the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 Renewed for Season 2. Apparently it's not been the smash that Fox wanted, but it has done pretty well (given audience figures are down across the board). Interestingly, they're not ordering a back nine; Season 1 finishes with 13 episodes and Season 2 airs next year. They're still figuring out how many episodes, but it might be that Fox sees greater potential (and less expense) with shorter seasons for this show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 25 minutes ago, Werthead said: Renewed for Season 2. Apparently it's not been the smash that Fox wanted, but it has done pretty well (given audience figures are down across the board). Interestingly, they're not ordering a back nine; Season 1 finishes with 13 episodes and Season 2 airs next year. They're still figuring out how many episodes, but it might be that Fox sees greater potential (and less expense) with shorter seasons for this show. I've always liked shows with shorter seasons. Long seasons tend to prompt filler episodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 2 hours ago, Werthead said: Renewed for Season 2. Apparently it's not been the smash that Fox wanted, but it has done pretty well (given audience figures are down across the board). Interestingly, they're not ordering a back nine; Season 1 finishes with 13 episodes and Season 2 airs next year. They're still figuring out how many episodes, but it might be that Fox sees greater potential (and less expense) with shorter seasons for this show. https://media.giphy.com/media/msKNSs8rmJ5m/giphy.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 5 minutes ago, Toth said: https://media.giphy.com/media/msKNSs8rmJ5m/giphy.gif Seconded. This show has only gotten better and better as the season has stretched on. Looking forward to more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 25 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said: Seconded. This show has only gotten better and better as the season has stretched on. Looking forward to more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 Great news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 And the show keeps giving out the TNG feels. The most recent episode yesterday was pretty cool as well. With Dr. Finn and Isaac in the focus, none of the stupid humor appeared, instead it was a very entertaining shuttle crash episode as if straight from any given Trek series. I want to especially point out the child actors portraying Dr. Finn's kids: Their acting was absolutely amazing! It's a bit odd how they were retroactively added as if they were always on the ship, but they come into the ship dynamics so natural there is no room for complaining. Only thing that I found really terrible was handing the phaser to the kid. Sure, it's just a stunning weapon, but it really should have been Dr. Finn out there fighting the cannibals. It was funny when Isaac gave him the gun because he didn't understand how bad that could have ended, but when the doctor relented to her son's insistence that she should stay back and nurse his brother, I was left startled. From what I can gather there was barely anything she could do for him anyway, so it would have been far easier to just instruct the older brother and then join the fight herself, especially assuming that she has actual combat training and is more likely to hit anything. But that's essentially my only complaint and the bonding of the four more than made up for that little tidbit of jarringness. I also liked how horrified Dr. Finn was about having to kill her redneck Walking Dead survivalist captor and how they then after the smoke was cleared came back to give their attackers the antidote she developed. From what Kelly said apparently there is a Prime Directive in place, but with clearance from above the Orville crew seems to have authority to intervene in cultures that are endagered. Sounds reasonable enough to me. Funnily enough: The episode was written by Brannon Braga and Andre Bormanis. So of course it feels like Trek through and through! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSumm Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I'm a week behind, so I've only just watched the 'social media' one ... wow, I thought it was really bad. I'm slightly worried that the show has always been this bad but I've been being generous, except this week's episode was exactly the same as an infinitely superior Black Mirror episode that I could compare it to. Seriously, if you found the topic remotely interesting, watch 'Nosedive'. So, so much better. The Orville's take had all the subtlety of Tasha and Wesley's drug conversation, it was basically rock up to the planet, clumsily tell the audience how bad direct democracy is and get out of there. There didn't seem to be any Star Trek style difficulty in tackling it (it made me realise that the Prime Directive is as much a handy writing tool as it is a wise in-universe policy), just pointing out how much better they are than these people. This seemed to cascade in my head and suddenly the dialogue, the acting, everything seemed really sub par. Is it me or did the actor playing John LaMarr really struggle with this episode? I'll watch this week's, maybe things will improve. I've been giving it the benefit of the doubt up until now, hopefully this is just an aberration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 7 hours ago, DaveSumm said: I'm a week behind, so I've only just watched the 'social media' one ... wow, I thought it was really bad. I'm slightly worried that the show has always been this bad but I've been being generous, except this week's episode was exactly the same as an infinitely superior Black Mirror episode that I could compare it to. Seriously, if you found the topic remotely interesting, watch 'Nosedive'. So, so much better. The Orville's take had all the subtlety of Tasha and Wesley's drug conversation, it was basically rock up to the planet, clumsily tell the audience how bad direct democracy is and get out of there. There didn't seem to be any Star Trek style difficulty in tackling it (it made me realise that the Prime Directive is as much a handy writing tool as it is a wise in-universe policy), just pointing out how much better they are than these people. This seemed to cascade in my head and suddenly the dialogue, the acting, everything seemed really sub par. Is it me or did the actor playing John LaMarr really struggle with this episode? I'll watch this week's, maybe things will improve. I've been giving it the benefit of the doubt up until now, hopefully this is just an aberration. I think you're kind of looking at it through the wrong lens here. To expect it to be as good or better than Star Trek in a general sense is not really a realistic expectation, methinks. Of course you're going to prefer the original episodes that they are riffing off of. I think the idea is to put a slightly more comedic spin or angle on the idea that is being explored in the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macklunkey Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I must say...............I'm really enjoying this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 The way that the navigator (John? James?) said "I'm a Spaceman!" had me rolling. It reminded me of whenever Tracey would say Dr. Spaceman's name in 30 Rock. They don't sound anything alike, but I think it's some combination of the inflection (they both said it like Space Man) and the fact that nobody says Spaceman so it's very attention grabbing. I wasn't crazy about the last episode, but it was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 You know, there is another reason why I am so happy about that season 2 renewal: With it the likelihood of Patrick Steward having a cameo rises drastically. We all know that Steward is friends with MacFarlane and how he appeared in American Dad as an obvious Picard parody. Now think about what he could do in The Orville! Sure, I'm afraid he could play a crass parody of Picard instead of just being the actual Picard, but I was also afraid The Orville would turn into a crass parody of Star Trek and yet it turned out to be actual light-hearted Star Trek. Therefore the chances stand good that if MacFarlane convinces Steward to don a uniform and take a seat on the Captain's chair, it would turn out to be as the genuine thing minus anything that would get them sued. Imagine such a story: Patrick Steward plays a venerable old admiral whom Captain Mercer is hero-whorshipping, who is recalled from retirement to deal with a tricky diplomatic mission with an old foe only he is familiar with. Therefore his characters temporarily takes command of the Orville, but proves with his stern and straight-laced leadership to be at constant odds with Mercer's laid-back crew. Mercer himself struggles with the idea that his big idol turns out to be an authoritarian jerk, but during the course of the mission both Mercer's bond with his crew and Steward's characters' know-how prove vital for success. In the end Patrick Steward's character gives encouraging praise to all of the Orville's officers and Mercer's faith in his leadership grows after they say their farewells. Really, I believe any plot even remotely similar to this would be amazing when they actually pull it off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knight of Flours Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 On 11/4/2017 at 4:56 AM, Toth said: Only thing that I found really terrible was handing the phaser to the kid. I thought it was a 'coming of age' moment since he matured after the crash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 30 minutes ago, The Knight of Flours said: I thought it was a 'coming of age' moment since he matured after the crash. And I'm fairly certain that this was exactly what they were going for. But you must see that from a non-American perspective, highlighting that 'coming of age' moment through taking up a gun really strikes as jarring. Especially when considering two things: First, the earlier scene in which Isaac gave him the gun was clearly portrayed as humourous, as in Isaac seeing nothing wrong with handing it to a child because he genuinely doesn't consider that this could end up badly. Second, Dr. Finn's entire capture and actual killing of two natives was portrayed as a horrifying experience and the show proved itself to handle the subject mature. While it therefore makes sense for Dr. Finn to point out that their guns are set on stun because they value life, their attackers still came with the intention to kill them and her sending her teenage son into a nightly firefight in which he was only able to hit shit through the magic of plot really really doesn't come as a logical choice for a character who has never shown anything other than contempt towards violence. They just should have shown his 'coming of age' by him caring for and nursing his brother while his mother goes out and protects them. Then I would have no reason to complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddler Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 I enjoyed last nights episode quite a bit. Starting with the Kaoroke (even though still singing 80's tunes, lol) on through the doctor covered in goo. It all worked for me. Not to mention Rob Lowe's cameo was great. Love the guest stars they are getting for quick parts. Show has quickly moved up my list of shows that doesn't sit on my DVR very long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 1 hour ago, Fiddler said: I enjoyed last nights episode quite a bit. Starting with the Kaoroke (even though still singing 80's tunes, lol) on through the doctor covered in goo. It all worked for me. Not to mention Rob Lowe's cameo was great. Love the guest stars they are getting for quick parts. Show has quickly moved up my list of shows that doesn't sit on my DVR very long. Clearly a humor driven episode. Not quite sure where they were going with it. At first I thought they would compare the dispute between Mercer and Grayson to the dispute between the two alien races... then they went with the "sex pheramone" thing to explain everyone's behavior. Not my favorite episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddler Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: Clearly a humor driven episode. Not quite sure where they were going with it. At first I thought they would compare the dispute between Mercer and Grayson to the dispute between the two alien races... then they went with the "sex pheramone" thing to explain everyone's behavior. Not my favorite episode. Honestly I thought that at first also. I still wonder if there will be repercussions due to basically date raping the two ambassadors, even if they share an ancestor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 On 11/4/2017 at 4:28 PM, Toth said: Imagine such a story: Patrick Steward plays a venerable old admiral whom Captain Mercer is hero-whorshipping, who is recalled from retirement to deal with a tricky diplomatic mission with an old foe only he is familiar with. Therefore his characters temporarily takes command of the Orville, but proves with his stern and straight-laced leadership to be at constant odds with Mercer's laid-back crew. Mercer himself struggles with the idea that his big idol turns out to be an authoritarian jerk, but during the course of the mission both Mercer's bond with his crew and Steward's characters' know-how prove vital for success. In the end Patrick Steward's character gives encouraging praise to all of the Orville's officers and Mercer's faith in his leadership grows after they say their farewells. Really, I believe any plot even remotely similar to this would be amazing when they actually pull it off! Stewart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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