Friday, October 06, 2017

The Orville: My thoughts (Part 1 of 2)

The Orville
Make no mistake about it, this is a Star Trek series. Wel, in the spirit it is. It is under the guise of a comedy/parody of the Trek universe. However, it's more of a drama with some light-heart comedy thrown in. This is NOT a straight comedy as the Fox ads try to convey. The drama elements work with some of the humor portions working from time to time.

It is a spiritual sequel to the TNG with its hopeful view od the future and its brand of bright storytelling. However, it wants to discuss serious issues through the brand of TNG's storytelling.
After Ted2, I wasn't looking for to Seth MacFarlane live action stuff. However, I find myself really enjoying this show. And, the writing has gotten progressively better as the show gone on.
The Orville actually handles things much better than Voyager as far as character development and sci-fi stories go. It feels, sounds and looks like a direct sequel to TNG. If you didn't know already, Seth MacFarlane is a huge Star Trek fan. He really loved TNG DS9 and TOS. He has put in numerous trek callbacks into Family Guy and the Enterprise plays a big part in Ted 2.
The worst thing I can say about the series that Seth decided to go with VOY and ENT creator Brannon Braga as one of the creative driving forces behind the show. Braga is one of the reasons ENT and Voy failed in my opinion.
However, a lot of trek alum show up for the series. Jonathan Frakes Robert Duncan McNeill and James L. Conway are directing episodes just to give it that TNG smell. Plus, Penny Johnson Jerald from DS9 is a member of the main cast.
So, I watched the first three episodes of this series. To my surprise, the series has some really good elements. The first episode is more interested in personal problems that befall Seth's character. It is the moving point for the first episode. We've all had personal issues set us back professionally. I even like the way they resolved the personal issue.


No comments:

Post a Comment