October 26th, 2017 - /r/TheOrville: Two "Star Trek" shows came out this year, and this one's the best

Submitted by SROTDroid

####/r/TheOrville

13,402 happy little trees for 5 months!

Family Guy in space this is not. Set 400 years from the present day, The Orville is Seth MacFarlane's love letter to Star Trek. It's pretty clear that the guy has always been a trekkie, from his multiple Family Guy episodes featuring cast members, to his cameo in Enterprise, to the fact that he's always said he's a big fan.

MacFarlane said that he misses "the aspirational place Star Trek used to occupy," noting that it's gone in a different direction. JJ-Trek is all action-y with little substance, and Discovery is almost dystopian in its feel, and follows the path of a single character whereas all previous Star Trek television shows have been about humanity's better angels. In Discovery, the demons seem to be shouting them down, for the most part of what has been shown.

[SPOILERS LIE AHEAD]

By the time of this writing, we've seen seven episodes of The Orville. So far the show has taken a Trekian approach to many subjects. In the interests of keeping this short, I'll use only the topic of religion as an example. Much like in Star Trek, ^1, ^2 the universe of The Orville has seen religion become obsolete as civilizations become more advanced, and where it does exist it has a corrupting and devastating influence. Like the Triannons (and Earth religious throughout history), we discover that the warlike species, the Krill, commit atrocities in the name of their religion without remorse.

Perhaps the episode that I am most impressed with is "About a Girl," which addresses issues of sexuality more directly than Star Trek had in the past, though they've come up, ^1, ^2 the franchise has been criticized for not being direct in their message. The episode deals with homosexuality, transgender, feminism, and male superiority, all without being offensive. It's not only a brilliant piece of science fiction, but of social commentary.

Obviously, The Orville is meant to be funny too. It achieves this by incorporating pop-culture and modern-day ideas in to the show. For example, it never made sense to me that holo-novels, concerts, and plays are a thing in the world of Star Trek but movies and television no longer are. The crew of the Orville watches shows on the bridge and in one episode uses reality TV to save members of the crew from slavery. Also, there are sex jokes, pot brownies, and booze.

The show is good. It gives and uplifting, hopeful view of humanity's future, and provides sharp rhetorical criticism of the world we live in today. If you watch it, you should check out the sub. You're missing out on great (and accurate) shitposts, behind the scenes images, geek boners, arts and crafts, and pretty good conversation.

Also, there's a cast AMA going on today.

If you don't watch the show, then give it a try. New episode tonight on FOX!

Here's what /u/2th had to say to us.

#The show feels like it's already established a legacy as the Star Trek of 2017, despite the fact that Discovery also came out this year. Years from now, what do you see Oriville's legacy being?

It's really hard to predict the Orville's legacy at the point. Given how Fox has treated scifi shows in the past. I'm really just hoping we don't end up canceled after one season like Firefly. If that does happen, I'd love for the show to be remembered just as fondly. If we get a second season or more, I can see people really enjoying the show and remembering it for quality scifi and snarky humor.

#How do you respond to people who say they aren't interested in the show because of Seth's work on Family Guy or TED? To me, the show is something totally different.

Sure Seth created Family Guy and Ted, but remember the old saying, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice." Family Guy and Ted were basically just practice to get to making a show with as solid a quality as the Orville.

#It's a Fox scifi. How good do you think our chances are of getting a second season?

Hush your mouth. I choose to believe a season 2 will happen.

Editors Note: Seth has since publicly stated he is confident that there will be a second season, and that the numbers are on his side.

#What got you into the show? Why did you start watching it?

Previews seemed visually solid and the writing was funny but not completely in your face. I've been wanting a new scifi/Star Trek show for years and figured this might scratch that itch. It definitely has done that.

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Happy Arbor Day!