I'm surprised people often citing the orville would be too focused on it's comedy. But in my opinion it really isn't. It's episodes have the same general flow as classic TNG episodes, the only thing they really tried to do is make the banter more "real" with people acting like present day people, not "future people" who stopped having a pop culture. The humour can't always be a hit of course. It's humour and thus highly subjective. However comparing it to a sitcom (of which there are also different types) I personally can't understand.
The show's biggest weakness is the restriction to network TV episodes, having to make a hard cut to save time. That has more than once struck episodes decisively. Farlane should try to get a streaming partner as soon as possible.
working under restrictions can sometimes benefit the quality, since it forces the writers and showrunners to cut away lower-quality material. An example would be Babylon 5's first four years, versus the last year (when Turner gave them a huge budget, but they'd already done the awesome story).
working under a deadline with a tight budget made JMS work harder to get the best material out, rahter than tossing in every idea he hadn't thought all the way through.
Except, JMS didn't actually write the episode scripts, and not very episode script was actually part of his grand vision for the storyline.
I'm excited for Season 2. Though still kind of in shock that a Seth McFarlane parody/homage feels more like Star Trek than anything CBS or Paramount has produced in the last decade.
Discovery seemed more like the later seasons of DS9 without as good storytelling. There was never any time to establish the setting before a major war was started. After all, it has been 100 years after Enterprise. Personally, I felt that the Series Premiere should have been the mid-Season Finale.
The Orville seems to be what TOS would have been like if it aired now instead of 50 years ago.
Or Season 5 of Babylon 5 or every season of Heroes after the first one. It seems to be the problem of writers not knowing how long the series is going to last for especially if there is signs that the show will be cancelled earlier than it was. Certain TV shows are given an early resolution and then they have to come up with a new story that is almost always lacklustre compared to previous seasons.
Or Season 5 of Babylon 5 or every season of Heroes after the first one. It seems to be the problem of writers not knowing how long the series is going to last for especially if there is signs that the show will be cancelled earlier than it was. Certain TV shows are given an early resolution and then they have to come up with a new story that is almost always lacklustre compared to previous seasons.
This is the major issue with the narrative style show. It either ends in the middle of the story due to cancellation, or it has nowhere to go after it successfully concludes its narrative.
I'm a fan of episodic storytelling. First, because Sci Fi gets bounced around the schedule and one can never see it all in order, and second, because the gamble is not so much if it will be good, but if it will be completed.
Good Sci Fi gets canceled all the time. Space: Above And Beyond comes to mind. Just when you get attached to the characters and the story, your show gets canned because the networks don't know how to sell hair-care products with Sci Fi. (Advertise the blue hair color, network execs...)
Or Season 5 of Babylon 5 or every season of Heroes after the first one. It seems to be the problem of writers not knowing how long the series is going to last for especially if there is signs that the show will be cancelled earlier than it was. Certain TV shows are given an early resolution and then they have to come up with a new story that is almost always lacklustre compared to previous seasons.
Good Sci Fi gets canceled all the time. Space: Above And Beyond comes to mind. Just when you get attached to the characters and the story, your show gets canned because the networks don't know how to sell hair-care products with Sci Fi. (Advertise the blue hair color, network execs...)
The most notable example is Firefly. It has been 16 years since it was cancelled and I am still irritated by the cancellation.
Downside of Episodic: you can't really establish a consistent setting, and inconsistencies will pile on, viewers are less invested because they know the main cast will always make it out of whatever jam you put them in (unless someone's contract is up and they were fired), there's no in-depth narrative and generally people will treat it as popcorn-at-the-most.
This format works extremely wells for shows like The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone. My first initial impression of Discovery when I saw the first ad was that the crew and ship would change every episode or two. So we might have a couple of episodes 10 years before TOS, 20 years after the Federation was first created, 30 years before TNG, 20 years after Voyager, etc.
That's the S1 final right? I remember they cut S1 short and decided to air the final in the begimming of S2 instead.
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
Wasn't that the case with TOS? A bunch of light hearted episodes mixed with a bunch of serious episodes. Far better than Discovery Season 1's only light hearted episode where they destroy the Discovery in as many ways as they can in one episode.
"Pria": Charlize Theron guest-stars as a miner the crew rescues, who gets close to Ed while causing mischief.
"Krill": Ed and Gordon infiltrate a Krill warship to swipe a copy of their scriptures.
"Majority Rule": LaMarr decides it's a bright idea to dry-hump a statue while undercover on a pre-FTL planet. Hilarity ensues.
"Into the Fold": Dr. Finn crash-lands with Isaac and her sons on a post-apocalyptic planet.
"Firestorm": Alara fails to save a redshirt and then weird s**t starts happening to her.
He did the pilot months ago, in case anyone's wondering. "Cupid's Dagger" is also apparently in the pipeline (I made a donation to see him shred that piece of s**t to scraps ).
Weird episode. I think it handled itself a lot better than most of season 1, though: I can finally seriously believe Ed Mercer as a captain, and there was some nice social commentary. Nice job updating old tropes for modern times, too.
Still... HOLODECK MALFUNCTION, TAKE A DRINK!
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Wasn't that the case with TOS? A bunch of light hearted episodes mixed with a bunch of serious episodes.
You must have been watching some different program named TOS.
There are widely varying levels of drama, but it had light hearted moments mixed into otherwise serious episodes rather than fully non-serious episodes.
There are widely varying levels of drama, but it had light hearted moments mixed into otherwise serious episodes rather than fully non-serious episodes.
There is a difference between what I consider "light-hearted" humor and what the Orville is (toilet humor). I don't recall Kirk ever needing to attend to a ritual peeing....
I recall Archer threatening it at one point, though.
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Lets put this thread back into the mix. I'm saddened somewhat to see Sage leaving the show, but her character has always seemed to be underused like her character was similar to Worf from TNG Season 1, a pretty statue in the corner with a few episodes of note, but otherwise just standing there in the corner not really contributing.
I wonder what Szohr can bring to the Orville. I just hope her character has greater ability to be more apart of the show than a statue in the corner.
So to the first few episodes: the ritual of needing to go to the bathroom off the ledge of a cliff and having friends and family watch. I didn't find it all that interesting honestly.
The second episode is about the feuding family of Bortus and Klyden. Who knew the ever emotionless statue of Bortus has such virulity and drive! It was okay for an episode, but too much mid-life crisis type of thing.
the third episode i liked, Alara's ignorantly stubbornly proud father has to learn to accept that his views aren't all they appear and neither do they work outside an ideal world of his own making. Alara has to carry her family on her weakened back and Billingsley plays a delightfully heinous villain for the episode.
The fourth episode has too much swapping around of tag between Mercer and Teleya to really keep track of whats going on, later on it starts to calm down and those pig like soldiers are really something. an ominous threat going forward for the Orville universe.
i don't really like episode 5, it reeks of nonsense too much to enjoy. Astrology and cultral ignorance which is made the more ironic by leaders who are more violent than those born to a certain astrological event for their entire lives.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
i don't really like episode 5, it reeks of nonsense too much to enjoy. Astrology and cultral ignorance which is made the more ironic by leaders who are more violent than those born to a certain astrological event for their entire lives.
Yeah, that part of it I didn't mind so much: people are prone to looking for scapegoats for bad things happening to them, and probably whatever inciting incident coincided with the formation of the black hole has simply been forgotten. This is really a variant of a caste system and it wouldn't surprise if the Prefect just happened to be a "Wasanda". IOW, it's the same old story where the status quo benefits those in power, so they maintain it (whether or not they personally believe it: the Prefect seemed to, but he was the only free Regorian who got more than about two lines).
What bugged me was that nobody on the crew thought of pointing out that constellations don't even look the same from other star systems, or that stars drift noticeably over those timescales: the Egyptians aligned the Giza pyramids using Thuban (Alpha Draconis) as their north star, and it was only there for a couple of centuries. Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris) was always pretty close to north, but didn't get directly over the pole until roughly the Middle Ages (its common name was coined in the Renaissance).
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Episode 5 was fine except for the whole idea that Astrology would be a universal concept. It would be interesting to have an interstellar war between two alien races that believe in astrology. The Krill is not as bad, but they conquered a world because their religion dictated that world orbited a star depicted in their religion.
Episode 5 was fine except for the whole idea that Astrology would be a universal concept. It would be interesting to have an interstellar war between two alien races that believe in astrology. The Krill is not as bad, but they conquered a world because their religion dictated that world orbited a star depicted in their religion.
I don't remember it being that specific; the Krill pretty much cite divine right as their justification for everything they do. They just finally pulled that stunt on a species even nastier than they are.
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Episode 5 was fine except for the whole idea that Astrology would be a universal concept. It would be interesting to have an interstellar war between two alien races that believe in astrology. The Krill is not as bad, but they conquered a world because their religion dictated that world orbited a star depicted in their religion.
I don't remember it being that specific; the Krill pretty much cite divine right as their justification for everything they do. They just finally pulled that stunt on a species even nastier than they are.
..and got that backsides handed to them in the process.
It seems the Krill are more like your typical arrogant villian, you appeal to his desire to show off and he reveals his plan and then quotes scripture, line and verse. These pig like people clearly revel in warfare, they are pretty good at it and made the Krill look utterly foolish to the point that even the Krill looked like they feared these aliens.
It'll be interesting to see how the Krill react to these aliens, because they look like they found their match if not more so.
I just hope these other aliens aren't going to cite "Hallowed are the Ori" in almost an exact copy from Stargate SG1.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Had mixed feelings about tonight's (14 Feb) episode. While it was a interesting homage to ST:TNG - The Outcast, did it REALLY have to come on Valentine's Day?
~Shia~
Member - Houseclan t'Charvon (STO)
Shiarrael e'Tal'Aura t'Charvon, LvL 65, Rom Sci
S'aana ir'Virinat t'Charvon, Lvl 65, Rom Eng
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Comments
My character Tsin'xing
Problem with season 5 is that the network treated it like a sitcom in syndication and didn't care if they broadcast the episodes in the right order.
My character Tsin'xing
The Orville seems to be what TOS would have been like if it aired now instead of 50 years ago.
This is the major issue with the narrative style show. It either ends in the middle of the story due to cancellation, or it has nowhere to go after it successfully concludes its narrative.
I'm a fan of episodic storytelling. First, because Sci Fi gets bounced around the schedule and one can never see it all in order, and second, because the gamble is not so much if it will be good, but if it will be completed.
Good Sci Fi gets canceled all the time. Space: Above And Beyond comes to mind. Just when you get attached to the characters and the story, your show gets canned because the networks don't know how to sell hair-care products with Sci Fi. (Advertise the blue hair color, network execs...)
The most notable example is Firefly. It has been 16 years since it was cancelled and I am still irritated by the cancellation.
This format works extremely wells for shows like The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone. My first initial impression of Discovery when I saw the first ad was that the crew and ship would change every episode or two. So we might have a couple of episodes 10 years before TOS, 20 years after the Federation was first created, 30 years before TNG, 20 years after Voyager, etc.
Writers: Seth MacFarlane (created by), Seth MacFarlane
Air Date : 30 December 2018
Synopsis; S02E01 - Ja'loja
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Writers: Seth MacFarlane (created by), Wellesley Wild
Air Date : 3 January 2019
Synopsis; S02E02 - Primal Urges
Episodes covered:
He did the pilot months ago, in case anyone's wondering. "Cupid's Dagger" is also apparently in the pipeline (I made a donation to see him shred that piece of s**t to scraps
Weird episode. I think it handled itself a lot better than most of season 1, though: I can finally seriously believe Ed Mercer as a captain, and there was some nice social commentary. Nice job updating old tropes for modern times, too.
Still... HOLODECK MALFUNCTION, TAKE A DRINK!
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
My character Tsin'xing
I recall Archer threatening it at one point, though.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
I wonder what Szohr can bring to the Orville. I just hope her character has greater ability to be more apart of the show than a statue in the corner.
So to the first few episodes: the ritual of needing to go to the bathroom off the ledge of a cliff and having friends and family watch. I didn't find it all that interesting honestly.
The second episode is about the feuding family of Bortus and Klyden. Who knew the ever emotionless statue of Bortus has such virulity and drive! It was okay for an episode, but too much mid-life crisis type of thing.
the third episode i liked, Alara's ignorantly stubbornly proud father has to learn to accept that his views aren't all they appear and neither do they work outside an ideal world of his own making. Alara has to carry her family on her weakened back and Billingsley plays a delightfully heinous villain for the episode.
The fourth episode has too much swapping around of tag between Mercer and Teleya to really keep track of whats going on, later on it starts to calm down and those pig like soldiers are really something. an ominous threat going forward for the Orville universe.
i don't really like episode 5, it reeks of nonsense too much to enjoy. Astrology and cultral ignorance which is made the more ironic by leaders who are more violent than those born to a certain astrological event for their entire lives.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
What bugged me was that nobody on the crew thought of pointing out that constellations don't even look the same from other star systems, or that stars drift noticeably over those timescales: the Egyptians aligned the Giza pyramids using Thuban (Alpha Draconis) as their north star, and it was only there for a couple of centuries. Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris) was always pretty close to north, but didn't get directly over the pole until roughly the Middle Ages (its common name was coined in the Renaissance).
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
I don't remember it being that specific; the Krill pretty much cite divine right as their justification for everything they do. They just finally pulled that stunt on a species even nastier than they are.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
..and got that backsides handed to them in the process.
It seems the Krill are more like your typical arrogant villian, you appeal to his desire to show off and he reveals his plan and then quotes scripture, line and verse. These pig like people clearly revel in warfare, they are pretty good at it and made the Krill look utterly foolish to the point that even the Krill looked like they feared these aliens.
It'll be interesting to see how the Krill react to these aliens, because they look like they found their match if not more so.
I just hope these other aliens aren't going to cite "Hallowed are the Ori" in almost an exact copy from Stargate SG1.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Why not have both?
Member - Houseclan t'Charvon (STO)
Shiarrael e'Tal'Aura t'Charvon, LvL 65, Rom Sci
S'aana ir'Virinat t'Charvon, Lvl 65, Rom Eng
T'Lyra, LvL 65, Fed, Vul Sci
Ta'el, Lvl 63, Rom Tac
Sukima, Lvl 65, Fed Vul Sci
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Shizlee Miliskeera, Lvl 70 DC - Divine Oracle (Right.)/Anointed Champion (Faith.)
Finithey Miliskeera, Lvl 70 HR - Stormwarden (Combat)/Pathfinder (Trapper)
Maya Sik-Miliskeera, Lvl 70 CW - Spellstorm
Irae Sik-Miliskeera, Lvl 70 TR - Master Inflitrator