What it comes down to is this:
With very few changes, “The Orville” could easily be “Star Trek.”
By contrast, with very few changes, “Star Trek: Discovery” could easily not be “Star Trek.”
My full Cowboy Pete review is over on my Patreon page if you want to hear my full thoughts on ST:D, along with “Gotham,” “Kingsman,” and “The Orville.” You can find it here.
PAD
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I didn’t watch STD.
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Nothing I saw from the promotional materials made me want to see it, and the idea of seeing a pilot (often one of the weakest of the first few shows in any series) for a show I wasn’t paying the money to see on the streaming service had very little appeal for me. After reading your Patreon piece, I’m more than happy with choosing to do other things with my time. Maybe once one of my diehard Trekkie family members buys the Blu-Ray set…
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In the meantime, I’m more than happy with The Orville and the creative direction it’s been taking since the pilot.
Another difference between the two is that I can watch THE ORVILLE on TV or online for free, while for ST:D I’d have to subscribe to their streaming service to watch it. I’ll wait to see if it’s released on DVD.
I think the problem with the humour is that a lot of it is based on references to current day pop culture that will become dated very quickly.
Actually, I thought the latest episode “About A Girl” was one of the best Trek episodes I’ve seen in a while. I especially like that even though they set up an easy happy ending (very much like they would in Trek), they didn’t actually went with the difficult resolution.
So, I’ve watched every available episode of both shows. And despite my reservations about ST:D, I can honestly say I enjoyed both Orville and Discovery.
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THAT SAID . . . .
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PAD’s assessment is RIGHT on the money. Orville is pretty much ST:TNG with the name and serial numbers filed off. Almost literally, as in “call the ship ‘USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F’ and it would be a TNG successor.” Hëll, you wouldn’t even have to redesign the ship, just say it’s the new “subspace-safe” warp drive design or something. The latest episode, “About a Girl” was so TNG, I thought I’d actually seen it before. And it turns out, I did! (S05E17 “The Outcast,” nearly identical premise, complete with downer ending)
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Meanwhile, Discovery (thus far) is more Battlestar Galactica ’03 than any Trek series. War, betrayal, political intrigue among an enemy force comprised of six models/twelve houses, a gruff and unorthodox male commander (we haven’t met him yet in ST:D, but he’s coming), a troubled and troublesome female underling, and the humans getting their @$$es kicked by the enemy in the prologue to the series proper. More action, less optimism, darker and grimmer, and the little comedy that can be found typically born of cynicism rather than gleefully embracing the wonder of the universe (and pop culture) as found in Orville.
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Two sides of a coin, perhaps. And I legitimately like both. But ÐÃMN, is it night and day with these two!
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As a side note (that I personally find hilarious): I feel like these two shows are in a race to see who gets cancelled first. Discovery has the franchise with the clout, the name recognition, the history, and maybe the more popular (cynical) tone with audiences (or at least critics), but Orville has Seth MacFarlane’s not inconsiderable clout, and is apparently getting excellent viewership numbers and positivity from Trek fans. On the flip side, Discovery is basically inaccessible, and Trek fans are railing against the tone, look, and aforementioned inaccessibility, while Orville is getting TRASHED by critics, and it’s on FOX . . . and really, I don’t need to explain what typically happens to sci-fi on FOX. So right now, it’s anyone’s game, and it’ll be fun taking odds on who bites it first.
Interesting disconnect on Rotten tomatoes:
STAR TREK STD– Critics 84% Viewers 65%
THE ORVILLE— Critics 20% Viewers 89% (!)
A a lot more viewer ratings for Orville than trek, which I did not expect, even given the fact it’s been on longer.
Simple answer: NO ONE wants to get CBS All Access
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This isn’t a guess or assumption, either. Almost anywhere you see someone bring up the new Trek, the first dozen comments at LEAST are complaining about “money grubbing, greedy” CBS insisting you pay for their exclusive streaming service. ESPECIALLY because it’s on Netflix in every other territory.
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CBS is LOATHED for that move, right now. Small wonder that it has no viewer base.
Consider the following scenes of a hypothetical Board of Inquiry. Which show would you expect the scenes to be from?
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– Warning: Spoilers Ahead –
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“So you initially encountered an unknown object in the middle of an area that defied sensors.”
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“Yes sir.”
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“Did you attempt to compensate?”
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“No sir.”
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“Did you launch a probe?”
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“No sir.”
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“Did you send a shuttle?”
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“No sir.”
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“Then what did you do?”
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“We pointed the First Officer at it and blasted her out an airlock armed with nothing but an EVA suit and happy thoughts.”
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———
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“So the object had its own defense system.”
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“Yes sir.”
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“Did it have a force field?”
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“No sir.”
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“Did it fire energy weapons?”
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“No sir.”
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“Missiles?”
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“No sir.”
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“Defensive drones?”
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“No sir.”
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“Then how was it defended?”
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“It had someone walking along the outside its hull armed with a sword.”
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———
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“So a prisoner escaped from the brig after the battle.”
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“Yes sir.”
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“Did the brig’s force fields fail?”
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“No sir.”
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“Did the prisoner bypass the force fields?”
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“No sir.”
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“Did someone rescue the prisoner?”
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“No sir.”
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“Did the prisoner overpower the guards?”
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“No sir.”
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“Then how did the prisoner escape?”
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“She talked the computer into dropping the force fields without triggering an alert.”
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———
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Note: Have not read Mr. David’s posts on Patreon.
Ok, to be fair, the brig thing was an extreme scenario, and it made logical sense. Starfleet would ABSOLUTELY design their ships’ computers to prioritize saving a life to keeping a prisoner secure.
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Totally with you on the rest of it.
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Also, I love how they’re all “She’ll die if she’s out there in the radiation longer than 19 minutes,” and then later (after PROLONGED exposure to radiation), they’re all “Oh, that radiation? Yeah, we can heal that right up. She’ll be fine.”
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Ok, so . . . WHY were we freaking out about the radiation in the first place?
Wasn’t sure where it would be appropriate, but congrats(?) on the dubious honor of ‘Oblivion’ getting the Rifftrax treatment