Orville Update: Headed To SDCC, Season 2 Will Have Fewer Commercials And Maybe Less Halston Sage

Render by Marc Bell

| June 26, 2018 | By: Matt Wright 121 comments so far

It’s time again to check in on our adopted show, The Orville with a new update as the series has returned to production following a brief hiatus. Let’s open up this pickle jar, and see what news items we have inside.

The Orville at Comic-Con

Just like last year, The Orville will be one of the Fox TV San Diego Comic-Con panels.

Saturday July 21 4-4:50 PM: Indigo Ballroom – U.S.S. Orville crew members Seth MacFarlane, Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes and Executive Producers David A. Goodman, Brannon Braga and Jon Cassar provide exclusive look at Season 2.

While not mentioned in the official announcement, actor J. Lee (LaMarr) has also confirmed he will also attend the panel. And TrekMovie will be there to cover the panel next month.

The cast and crew of The Orville at Comic-Con 2017

Season 2 episodes to have fewer commercials

As announced at their network upfront event in May, Fox is trying something new for 2019 with fewer commercials on select shows. The Orville is expected to be one such show, giving a precious few minutes back to the run time of the hour long show.

US TV show runtimes have been eroding since the ’80s, where an hour long drama went from 50 minutes to 46 minutes by the early ’90s, and today the typical hour long TV show is a lean 42 minutes. As a way to keep viewers (and maybe get a few back) watching network TV, Fox is one of a few broadcasters experimenting with changing how commercial breaks work.

The Orville cast at Fox Upfront 2018 party

Filming of season 2 resumes with a 2-part episode

After a planned production hiatus in late May, The Orville cast and crew are back at work cranking out episodes starting with episode 8 in early June. Some of the cast have been sharing as they work on social media, including Scott Grimes revealing that they were doing a two-parter, which would be a first for the series.

Frakes returns to direct (and golf)

As we reported yesterday, Jonathan Frakes will be returning to direct an episode of season two. The former TNG star isn’t the only Trek alumnus behind the camera for season two, as Voyager’s Robert Duncan McNeill helmed an episode in April. In addition to prepping for his upcoming episode, Frakes joined members of The Orville cast and crew at a charity golf tournament over the weekend.

Halston Sage cast in Netflix romcom, shooting concurrently with The Orville

One person who has not been spotted recently on set in Los Angeles is actress Halston Sage, who played Alara in the first season of The Orville. She did show up for the PaleyFest panel in March and at the Fox upfronts in May, along with other members of The Orville cast. However, earlier this month it was announced she had joined the cast of the Netflix romantic comedy film The Last Summer, which has been in production in the Midwest over the last month.

At PaleyFest Sage did talk about shooting for season two, so she will appear in at least some episodes. And we know that Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Picardo returned for the second episode of season two, again playing Alara’s father. However, clearly Sage cannot be in two places at once, shooting The Orville and The Last Summer in two different cities. So, it may be that her character will not appear for the entire second season. This may also be one of the reasons why Jessica Szohr joined the cast for the second season, playing a Xelayan security officer, like Sage’s Alara Katan.

Halston Sage at Fox Upfront event in NYC in May

MacFarlane reveals inspiration for Yaphit’s name

Yaphit is the gelatinous crew-member (voiced by Norm MacDonald), and his name always seemed familiar, so familiar in fact that we here at TrekMovie have had to correct the spelling of his name from “Yaphet” to “Yaphit” more than a few times. MacFarlane, ever the kidder, replied to a fan on Twitter saying he was watching the 1971 James Bond movie Live and Let Die, which starred Yaphet Koto as the villain, while writing The Orville.

The Orville did a little Emmy consideration campaigning too

Unlike the full-scale barrage that CBS launched at Emmy voters for Star Trek: Discovery, Fox and The Orville have taken a more relaxed approach. There were screeners for The Orville sent out by Fox and some outdoor advertising in Los Angeles. There have also been a few bits of FYC promotion on social media, as well as a handful of interviews. We have gathered a few highlights of the campaign.

Social media promotion:

Here is a little BTS of the amazing Garrett Immel, master of the Moclans, applying his makeup for Bortus on the great Peter Macon. The success of a makeup is 50% the makeup designers and artist and the other 50% is the actor and Peter brings Bortus to life every time. Thank you everyone on THE ORVILLE and Seth MacFarlane for giving us the opportunity to be a part of the universe you have created @theorville @garrett_immel @tamilynnlane @gnicotero @knbefx #johnwheaton @michaelbroomart @proutyfx @toddmcintoshmakeup @davidgrasso66 @andy_bergholtz @theschoneberg #mikeross #derekkrout #stevefrakes #joegiles @vtorres9700 @reginaelaine @jacendaburkett #tonig @suzydiazmakeup @cnelsonfx @maxhair706 @cali_stina79 #careyjones #makeup #makeupeffects #aliens #normancabrera @peterjerrodmacon @macfarlaneseth

A post shared by Howard Berger (@hoops511) on

VFX reel

Interviews/profiles:

Variety: Emmys 2018: The Orchestral Arms Race of TV’s Sci-Fi.

Art Directors Guild Magazine: A Chance To Design The Future.

Post Perspective: The Orville VFX supervisor on mixing practical and visual effects.

Revered Podcast: Interview with Makeup artist Howard Berger.

Fans 3D renders of the USS Orville

Chris Kuhn, who also released a Star Trek: Discovery USS Enterprise recently, created a 3D model of the USS Orville and set it free into the world to be rendered.

Artist Keiku on DeviantArt has used Kuhn’s 3D models plus Photoshop to bring the USS Orville and the Star Trek: Discovery version of the USS Enterprise together.

 

Members of the 3D Sci-Fi Renders group on Facebook have naturally played around with the Orville model too. Here’s a few of the fun shots.

Marc Bell

Christopher Cardwell

More fun from the set

Here are a couple more fun bits from The Orville set.

Back at the donut shop #TheOrvilleSeason2Hoooo

A post shared by peemay (@peterjerrodmacon) on

The Orville will return in late 2018 for season two.

Keep up with all our coverage of The Orville at TrekMovie.

SHARE TWEET PIN SHARE

Related Articles

121 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

LIterally zero people care about this show. People who say they do are liars, including everyone who replies to me.

It must by fun to hate something so much you need to try to ruin it for others. You strike me as a person who is not all happy and quite likely very miserable, but keep on trucking friend, being a troll will surely brighten your day.

I care about the show. I also care deeply about what you think.

warning for trolling.

Thread closed.

Sounds exciting!! Can’t wait to hear more.

error in art director article, crediting Probert with the E-c instead of the E-d.

Kmart,

He was responsible for both.

I thought Sternbach did the heavy lifting on the -C, derived from an early Probert sketch.

I love this show so much! I’m very excited to see what Season 2 brings.

I’m sorry to hear we may not have as much of Alara (Halston Sage) this season though. Although she was annoying at the beginning of season 1, her character really grew on me later.

Wasn’t Yaphet Koto under consideration to be the captain on TNG? Am I making that up?

Kotto said that, yeah. I seem to recall Steven Macht was also under consideration, and I’d’ve been cool with that (he does a wicked funny southern accent in GRAVEYARD SHIFT.)

Love love LOVE this show. Funny, adventure-filled, thoughtful, heartfelt and most importantly optimistic! I used to watch Star Trek for escapism, even DS9 (my fav) which played with darker themes still gave us a hopeful vision of the future, a federation of planets I would of given my right arm to belong to… now with Discovery, I feel like an abuse victim after trying to follow an episode. Dingey, dimly lit, angry and depressing. The Orville gives me life! So happy they have a second season, I really hope we get many, many more seasons. I’m excited and proud of their work. Seth has got it right.

Wow Martin; that’s exactly how I feel. No one smiles on Discovery. Watch early TNG and see how much Riker smiles. It’s a different world. Disco kinda sucks, but Orville is where it’s at now.

I guess you missed pretty much every scene with Tilly. And that’s just for starters.

No. I’m sure somebody else smiled once, but basically Tilly is the only character with any lightness.

I guess he missed a lot of Burnham’s smiles, too, especially when she and Tilly sent the Tardigrade back to its native element. That was beautiful.

The fact that those moments were missed, to me at least, says a great deal about how memorable the show was and what is taken away from it after viewing it. The feeling that it was dark and unhappy nearly the entire time. The tone was so strong that small moments like that are completely forgotten.

The smile here and there have no power to change a depressing battlestar galactica tone of the doscovery. Don’t get me wrong: it has it’s place, why not. Just more in alternate universe from late movies, and not from the trek we grown with and liked. Many non cannon parts(spore drive/klingons comes first to mind) adds to this feeling. I’m excited with arrival of the enterprise in closing of a season, but as I said, that’s more like some DC universe batman mood. Orwille is the bright awe inspiring place we all know from startrek before reboots. So I guess, both has its place, just keep them coming!

It is funny one of the early complaints about TNG was that everyone always acted so serious and didn’t know how to have fun. Compared to everyone on DIS it feels like a day at Disneyland on the Enterprise D.

That said I have a feeling they will lighten them up a little. Hopefully sooner than later.

Well, let’s be honest, if, like Doscovery, a disguised alternate Picard from Mirror universe had been in helm of the first TNG season, who knows how many wars he’d been responsible for :) But it’s not the lack of jokes that sets apart a discovery from the rest of trek series: It’s non episodic, cliffhanger storytelling never used in trek series (apart from season finales double features now and then), abusing of other species (f.i. tardigrade), non cannon, design of ships, interiors and camera work, war after war, revolving of everything around only one actress, and the list goes on. None of that Orwille had in plan and execution, although they could have more free hands to do it easy in “modern” series way. For one, McFarlaine actually started with too much slapstick and inside jokes, and toned it down(tastefully).

Unfortunately, the “Three’s Company” level of toilet and bedroom humor on The Orville ruins the entire effort for me. No one farts for laughs or interjects “ex-spouse sex comedy” on DSC. It’s real science fiction, not sitcom science fiction.

Three’s Company? More like Married with Children. TC really didn’t have toilet and fart jokes.

“Real science fiction?” Man, any mild respect for you presenting well-articulated viewpoints I find wrongheaded just went out the airlock with that one.

And I suppose Alan Dean Foster having Kirk burp during a log entry in the first TAS book invalidates all that work too, since it is too sit-comy?

I’m just going to have to proceed like there is an ignore button on this site and go right past your stuff from now on, which is what I probably should have done earlier.

Perhaps I did not explain my point very well. When you carbon copy another sf show and then add sitcom elements, I see that as very weak science fiction, and certainly not the kind of sf I would care to watch. But yes, I stand corrected — technically The Orville is still sf, as piss-poor a representation of sf as it is.

I will continue to read and respect your views even though we seldom agree on anything.

PS: The ADF Log books are not canon

Yeah… right, but where did you read it is “carbon copy of another sf show” ? For one – that would get them sued. McFarlaine started Orwille too cartoony, true. But that was toned down pretty fast from the pilot episodes onward since they realised it won’t work well, and they could actually explore a respectful sf universe, once they’we got signal there would be no suing over design, premise, or copyright.

“The Orville’ should be retitled ‘Star Trek: Rip-off’” – The Salt Lake Tribune

“How Seth MacFarlane could save his terminally bland Star Trek clone The Orville” – The Verge

“Seth MacFarlane’s ‘The Orville’ Is The ‘Star Trek’ Show Fans Have Been Waiting For” – Forbes

“Seth MacFarlane’s ‘The Orville’ Is a Shameless, Humorless ‘Star Trek’ Rip-Off” – The Verge

“Seth MacFarlane’s ‘Star Trek’ Rip-Off is Creatively, Morally, and Ethically Bankrupt.” – Indiewire

“Real science fiction..” Totally disagree. Maybe real “mediocre” science fiction..

Yes, good point. Please see my response to Kmart. I did not convey very well my point in that post.

Ah. Well taken, thanks.

BorgKlingon,

Re: “It’s real science fiction, not sitcom science fiction.”

I think you need to flesh this concept out a bit more for me and others. At first, I thought you were building on a genre concept many in my generation came up with to describe what Allen did to Melchior’s LOST IN SPACE concept – but outside of its MAD MAGAZINE parody, which is something apart but I suppose serves to remind us of the Robinson family’s comic book origins a la BATMAN, it doesn’t have any of the particular offensive humor elements that you specifically cite?

Where do you see GALAXY QUEST’s place in this concept? It seems to have developed its SF well, but it definitely is imitative and veers off in the gross type of humor that appeals to 13yo boys and definitely THREE’S COMPANY at times?

Interestingly enough, the only thing that came to my mind as you tried to further explain your concept to kmart was SPACEBALLS which I don’t believe I’ve ever regarded as any kind of SF whereas I’m willing and have entertained the notion for ORVILLE and the others that I’ve mentioned.

I totally agree Martin. Star Trek was supposed to be about a better world. Not only is STD not a better world, but it’s worse than what even have now. For the first time on a Trek show,I would gladly choose my own life over having to live on Discovery. Most people I know are much kinder than those characters.

Totally agree, Martin. It’s some much needed, thoughtful levity in these times, when we could surely use some.

I can just see the Emmy Awards, with Alex Peters and Vic Mignogna in tux’s up on stage, announcing the award for….

“And the Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Stealing Intellectual Property goes to”…drum roll…(envelope is opened)…”Seth MaFarland and Brannon Braga — The Orville”…(the orchestra then makes and error and accidentally plays John Williams Star Trek main theme as MacFarlane and Braga go up to the stage)

;-)

correction: Jerry Goldsmith, of course

More power to them. As much as I like Discovery, there is room for an old-fashioned Trek as well — and the Orville fits that bill very well.

ADeweyan, completelly agreed. If Discovery dit the real Trek show, than maybe would be a place for hate comments from BorgKlingon, but since we have nothing new to feed on, why would average trekkie be hostile toward a choice of two shows to choose instead of just one ?

That’s like saying that since we can’t have a new president for 2.5 more years, we should just try to accept and love the current disaster-in-chief because there are currently no other available options.

Not a fan of the juvenile humor of the show or the writing. Not impressed with Seth’s “acting” either. But Halston Sage was the best thing about the show. I really enjoyed her performance last season. She was a stand out next to Seth’s horrible acting. Too bad she won’t be in many of the episodes this season.

Yeah, while as a concept her character was extremely “gimmicky”, she didn’t act it in a gimmicky fashion and that was very refreshing. Gonna miss her.

Forced to agree about Sage. She was a bright spot in the cast. Doing for Orville what I think Tilly was supposed to do for Discovery. Alura was a breath of fresh air while Tilly was just irritating. Again, I pin that squarely on the STD writers. Not the actress.

I disagree. I love Tilly. I always looked forward to her scenes. And will continue to do so. But I won’t be returning for season 2 of Family Guy in space.

I WISH it was Family Guy in space. The show works better when it leans more to the comedy. Although it’s not terrible when they lean more dramedy. I think the comedy sets it apart and they should embrace that side more.

The comedy just doesn’t work. They are trying to be witty and funny like Galaxy Quest but the sloppy writing and juvenile humor is horrible. The show doesn’t really know what it wants to be.

We just have a difference of opinion when it comes to the comedy. I found that more often than not the jokes worked. And that they do know exactly what they want to be. I found them to be pretty successful at their goals. And I still wish the went more for the laughs than they do.

Shifting gears a bit, I think I might ought to check out Galaxy Quest again. I only saw it the one time ages ago and remember it as being kinda clever but not all that memorable. In fact, there was but one joke I can recall that I thought was hilarious. The one that ended with the line, “Those poor people..” haha. It’s still funny even today.

Orville desperately wants to be Galaxy Quest and it fails miserably. The reason I find they don’t know what they want to be is because they have drastic shifts from drama to trying to be family guy type of comedy and quite often in the same episode. They try too hard to be funny but it falls flat. And Seth is just horrible with trying to do humor… He knows juvenile comedy very well. But he doesn’t do subtle humor well at all.
Do yourself a favor and rewatch Galaxy Quest. Now if Orville did THAT, I’d be watching.

“Do yourself a favor and rewatch Galaxy Quest. Now if Orville did THAT, I’d be watching.”

Agree 100%. Galaxy Quest actually somehow works as comedy/parody, in contrast to The Orville, which just feels and looks cheap and juvenile. MacFarlane can’t act, and his writing is stunted and contains a lot of awkward bathroom/bedroom humor moments that just don’t work. Galaxy Quest’s humor is so much more fun.

To be fair, MacFarlane doesn’t have actors of Alan Rickman’s caliber either.

Agreed!

But also to be fair Galaxy Quest has Tim Allen in a larger role so that brings the acting level back down MacFarlane’s level.

Marja… That’s for sure. Rickman’s performance was incredible. Played the part perfectly.

I guess I’ll check it out. Worse case scenario is I lose some 100 minutes of my life. lol.

Regarding what Orville wants to be, I think what you described is exactly what they want to be. The concept was pretty much pioneered with MASH. They want to be able to shift from serious to jokes seamlessly. For me, not all the jokes work but most do. So kudos for them for that. I will give you that Seth is not that great of an actor. But then, he’s no worse than Frakes or Sirtis.

Quite frankly, I personally to NOT want to see them do Galaxy Quest like stuff. I do not see the concept working on a weekly show at all. Seth knows comedy and what Orville does now is fine. I just personally with they would lean more towards the laughs and I would rate it that much higher than I do.

So you are saying they don’t want to be anything except a mess? Then they achieved it. They are a mess.
Seth can do impressions well. He can’t act himself out of a paper bag. He doesn’t know how to do comedy. He knows how to do toilet humor.

“So you are saying they don’t want to be anything except a mess?”

No. I am saying that they seem to WANT to have shifts from comedy to drama. Just like MASH did. You were the one who editorialized with the word “mess”. Not me.

I said I agreed with you regarding Seth’s acting chops. He’s about on Frakes’ level. Usually when people complain of “toilet humor” it is because they want to come across as smugly superior. But I will go ahead and give you the benefit of the doubt here that is not what you are intending. So I will give you that that low brow kind of stuff is a bit more dangerous because when it fails, it’s just “toilet humor”. But when it succeeds, it’s just a funny joke. Now to me, funny is funny whether it’s a dick joke of some obscure Dennis Miller reference. If Seth wants to make a fart joke and it works (as they often do) then more power to him. I don’t mind one or two falling flat. But if they mostly fall flat, as they seem to with you, then it just comes across as low class “toilet humor” as you put it. I don’t know about you, but if I thought the jokes just weren’t working I would abandon the show. I think they do work and as such, look forward to season 2 late this year.

ML… It is juvenile humor that kids use. Fart fart fart giggle giggle giggle. He said poop snicker snicker. Sorry, it was funny when I was a young teen. Maybe that is who his show is for. But as a 40 something guy, I don’t find it funny. I roll my eyes at it. Sorry, just not funny.

Captain, Context is everything. Just a fart (giggle) is funny to an 8 year old. (Case in point, there was an establishing scene of Jabba’s palace at night in the beginning of Return of the Jedi where some SW creature shot it’s sticky tongue at a smaller one and swallowed it. It followed that with a big belch. Bad joke, yes. Kids laughed like crazy.) In fact, it is actually riskier to go the “dick joke” route as the fallout of failure is far greater. (Just look at your own reaction to the jokes you didn’t find funny. It turned you completely off to the show.) But put in the right time and place and context then yes, a fart can be funny. Note, I said CAN. Not IS. Again, funny is funny. It could be “high brow” or “low brow”. GOOD high minded jokes make me laugh just as much as a GOOD dick joke does. One is not “superior” to the other. No matter what some might say that make them sleep better at night, when one condemns “toilet humor” as something mature adults have grown past, it just comes across as something they say just to make themselves feel superior to other people for having the gall to to have a different opinion. You can’t get past the fart part of a fart joke. That’s fine. No one is saying “You must laugh at that joke”. But just because you cannot get past it doesn’t mean the show is aimed and ignorant young teenagers.

ML… Forget I said toilet humor because you seem to be stuck on that. The humor is juvenile and not funny unless you are a child or teenager. Sorry, but the dick and fart jokes made me laugh when I was a kid but prefer something a little more funny than what McFarlane is attempting and failing at. He is trying too hard and basically throwing it at your face.
Oh, and Tim Allen in Galaxy Quest is Sir Lawrence Olivier compared to Seth McFarlane. Seth McFarlane is an impressionist. A very good one. But as an actor… He stinks.

Captain, I’m not stuck on it. I’m responding to your comments on it. You brought it up. You keep it going. This very post you mentioned ” Forget I said toilet humor “. And then two sentences later you said, ” Sorry, but the dick and fart jokes made me laugh when I was a kid but prefer something a little more funny than what McFarlane is attempting and failing at.” Running right back to your toilet humor complaint. It seems to be very important to you that Orville NOT resort to what you deem to be low end humor. Which again, fine. I will not argue that. It’s subjective. I’m just saying that a great many people will laugh at a funny joke, be it juvenile or otherwise. Sometimes the fact that it IS juvenile is what made it funny to begin with if the context is right. It just doesn’t work for you.

I will say that Tim Allen and Seth MacFarlane are pretty much on the same level acting wise. And I will say I find Seth FAR more funny than Allen ever was. Neither have made a really good funny movie (I’m including Galaxy Quest as not that good because that was my impression when I first saw it and am willing to revisit that opinion when I see it a 2nd time at some future date) but Seth’s TV work has been WAY better than anything Tim Allen as done.

ML… Forget it ML. You seem too thick headed and stuck on the phase “toilet humor”. Other people in this thread get exactly what I am saying. You can go back to enjoying your juvenile unfunny Seth McFarlane “comedy”.

Wow… You seem to forget that YOU were the one who was hung up on “toilet humor”. You can’t get past it. You say you want to forget about it and then you go right back to it. Don’t blame me for that. I guess giving you the benefit of the doubt regarding your use of “toilet humor” and “juvenile” comedy was a mistake. The way you cannot get past it strongly suspects that you use the term as a way to make yourself feel smug and superior to others. Congrats.

No ML… You don’t seem to understand what I am saying. I don’t regret saying it, you just understand what I am trying to convey because of whatever conception you have of what toilet humor is. That is why I changed the phrasing to juvenile humor. It is childish humor that is not funny. It is the kind of humor kids enjoy. Sorry, it is just not funny. But hey, if juvenile humor is your thing. More power to you buddy. Enjoy your fart jokes.

Another mistake, Captain. I never claimed you regretted saying it. I just pointed out you could not let it go. You obviously still can’t. And I think we both have a firm grasp on what “toilet humor” encompasses. To-may-to to-mah-to. Toilet humor or juvenile humor. It is just plain arrogance on your part. Congrats on being so smug. And I will continue to enjoy any funny joke, thank you. Be it fart or “high class”. As long as it’s funny I’m on board.

Well it ain’t funny and that was the whole point. It is just not funny. I do not laugh. It is juvenile and all it does is make my eyes roll and wonder what idiot finds it funny. Well, you’ve answered that question.

Fine. You don’t like any joke done in that vein. You like what you like. Not a problem. No need to be smug about it, however. I won’t say that I like or prefer any genre of joke. To me, funny is funny and will not automatically tune out of a joke just because of subject matter. I have a more open mind than that. But hey… Keep putting down people who don’t care where the funny comes from so long as its funny.

It. Isn’t. Funny. Orville is not for my demographic. It’s for 18 year olds that find the low brow humor funny. I just don’t find MacFarlane to be funny at all. Not a fan of family guy either. MacFarlane is a good impressionist, I’ll give him that. But as an actor and a comedy writer, he fails. They should find a way to kill off his character and that would make the show better. Let him just be a producer and that would be the best thing yet.

I’ll give you that he isn’t a good actor. As I said, he’s about at Tim Allen level. Not very good but he sure is funnier than Allen. As a comedy guy he succeeds not only for me but for a decent number of people. BTW… I don’t find any genre of comedy to be universally funny. Not EVERY fart joke will be funny. In fact, most won’t. But they CAN be funny. Again, I do not claim any type of joke as “unfunny”. ANY joke has the potential to be funny. You subscribe to the absolute that ALL low class (or juvenile or toilet humor) is not funny. Fair enough. But that does not mean that The Orville is aimed at the under 18 crowd. That’s just arrogance. It probably aims more for the 18 – 45 crowd I would guess. But then, that is what MOST shows aim for.

Not arrogance, it’s the truth. Look at what it’s demographic is. By the way, the demo is 18-30… not 18-45.
By the way, shows you haven’t watched Galaxy Guest. Tim Allen was great in it. He would have done a better job in Orville than MacFarlane. Go watch galaxy quest and you’ll see.

Not truth. Opinion. There is a huge difference. It’s arrogance to think your opinion = truth. They still prefer the under 45 crowd, btw. And even with the 18-30 crowd as you just said means the show is NOT aimed at teenagers, as you suggested it was.

I have indeed seen Galaxy Quest. Just because my opinion differs from yours does not mean I haven’t seen it. Again, the height of arrogance. I felt Allen was merely OK in it. Rickman and Weaver were both WAY better than Allen ever was. Rickman in particular. Another, better comic actor would have been better than Tim. I’ve also seen him in his two TV shows. He’s either just not very funny or he hasn’t had good material to work with. But I have seen his old stand up stuff. Which was better than any TV show or movie he EVER made. I guess he’s just not an actor.

Don’t forget how subtle Shaloub was. I think that Sam Rockwell would have been a better Captain than Allen, though I do love that movie dearly.

Shaloub was brilliant.

Kmart… Sam Rockwell would be interesting as Captain. He’s such an underrated actor. Rickman and Shaloub were definite standouts for me.

🤦

ML… 🤦

“Go watch galaxy quest and you’ll see [that it’s good].”

Right back at you. Go watch The Orville again and you’ll see how funny it is. Or, more likely, you’ll see how nonsensical your above statement is.

“It. Isn’t. Funny.”

To. You.

“Orville is not for my demographic.”

If your demographic is self-righteous 40-somethings who need to have their opinions validated by others. As a 50-something who grew up watching Star Trek before it became what it is now, I find The Orville quite entertaining.

“It is just not funny.”

…to you.

“I do not laugh.”

Exactly. Humor is totally subjective. That’s why no one is telling you you should believe otherwise. Tastes vary. But for some inexplicable reason it is vitally important to you that no one else should find it funny, as though you are so tenuous in your perspective that you need it validated by others, and seek to denigrate anyone who doesn’t see it your way. Case in point…

“It is juvenile and all it does is make my eyes roll and wonder what idiot finds it funny.”

I do. Please come to my home and call me an idiot to my face in front of my family and friends.

“Exactly. Humor is totally subjective. That’s why no one is telling you you should believe otherwise. Tastes vary. But for some inexplicable reason it is vitally important to you that no one else should find it funny,”

Very good assessment, Arielle. I’ve never told the Captain what he should find funny. What I’ve been on him about is holding his opinion as THE opinion for everyone. That since he thinks the humor is juvenile therefore the show MUST be aimed at children. Which is patently absurd.

“Sorry, it is just not funny.”

…to *you*.

Your continuing to neglect that part is why your whole point doesn’t hold up.

“Other people in this thread get exactly what I am saying.”

Yes I do. And I disagree with you and find your tone to be arrogant.

“But as a 40 something guy, I don’t find it funny.”

The second part of your statement is fine and you should have stopped there. The part about being a 40 something guy Is entirely irrelevant.

“Seth can do impressions well. He can’t act himself out of a paper bag. He doesn’t know how to do comedy. He knows how to do toilet humor.”

Well said. Note that usually when some people defend “toilet humor,” they react by claiming the the person saying it is elitist, because they are simply embarrassed that they enjoy the juvenile level of humor that most of us adults have moved past on.

The rest of us adults know that “toilet humor” simply means tasteless toilet/bedroom humor suitable for Middle School boys. It’s not that complicated, and no, adult people are not elitists for finding that stuff weak, lame and tasteless, especially when provided to us out of context like in a sf tv series.

I loved Tim Allen’s “Captain Kirk tuck-n-roll”

Me too!

Marja… Completely forgot about that! lol I think he out Shatnered Shatner with the tuck-n-roll!

Yea, the bathroom/bedroom “Married With Children-like” comedy completely takes me out of the show. It insults my intelligence, and makes an already weak show nearly unwatchable for me.

I like some of the humor but the really crude humor can take a dive out the airlock as far as I’m concerned. (Yaphit hassling Claire all the time; the navigator messing with a respected statue — don’t these people have any idea of how to behave?)

Good humor: Isaac tossing the kids’ game away when they were fighting over it. The captain going to Bortus’s house and playing a game, only to be really surprised by it. There are some other examples, but they’re mostly character-oriented.

Agreed. Tilly is one of my favorite characters on DSC. Great acting and decent writing for the character…what’s not to like?

I love Tilly.
Actually, I love the whole cast of Discovery, I think Trek often does a fantastic job of casting.

I’m sorry. Tilly just is irritating and I find myself wishing someone would punch her in every scene she is in. Haven’t felt like that about any Trek character since Wesley Crusher. It seems obvious to me that Alura is the similar fresh face youngin’ for the Orville but that character is done a billion times better than the folks at STD did with Tilly. Perhaps it’s because Orville is not nearly as serious a show. But there it is.

“I love Tilly. Actually, I love the whole cast of Discovery, I think Trek often does a fantastic job of casting.”

Marja, I agree. This ensemble cast has been excellent, and Tilly is one of the best secondary characters in Trek history – that actress is fantastic!

“Not a fan of the juvenile humor of the show or the writing. Not impressed with Seth’s “acting” either”

Good post — I could not agree more.

I think Bortus is pretty darn good, too. I liked Alara’s “phobia” show near the end of the first season, Sage did a really good job in that.

Love getting the Orville updates :) I enjoyed s1 a lot and am looking forward to s2. I know a lot of Trek alumni work on Orville but I still see it more in the same light as Red Dwarf than Star Trek. But the fact that DSC exists doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the Orville and vice versa.

LOOK AT THAT DOG!

I need to read up on that “fewer commercials” experiment. In the worst case it would depend on how much advertisers believe in such a model.
As for The Orville, I definitely hope that things keep going smoothly. While a lot of the show’s humor didn’t exactly click with me (even though there were some exceptions), I nevertheless enjoyed S1 quite a lot.

I do like the “less commercials” concept. But since I DVR everything now days the only advantage it will have for me is the show overall will run a little longer and I don’t have to hit the “advance” button nearly as much.

Less commercials means they need to get ad revenue elsewhere. My prediction… Product placement in the show. You heard it here first folks! Mark my words. They have to make money somehow.

I’d rather see product placement than commercial breaks.

I bailed on this series after the tired re-hash of the old sci-fi cliche “OMG… this is a zoo….and (wait for it)…….WE’RE the exhibit!!!”

Add to that bad writing, the cliched characters…poorly constructed juvenile humor…rip-off aesthetics of, the already “bland” evenly-lit TNG and the intentional rip-off of TOS movie musical scores… and it’s barely worth the time it takes to even think about not watching it. But I did like the ship design. Having said that, I hear it improved as the season went on. With that in mind, I’ll give it another look when it starts the 2nd season. For better or worse.

Me too, although I tried out a couple later eps and they were just as bad.

Maybe the need MORE COMMERCIALS and lest of the show? Lol

That makes sense. It’s the same reason I’ve never understood why everyone thought Next Generation was so “great.” I watched at first, barely made it through the tired rehash of the “everyone goes crazy” cliche, but gave up when I got to the one with the hideous African stereotypes. Gawdawful! People said give it another chance, so I did. There was a terrible episode about an all-women planet and a real piece of shit with a bunch of blond people running around in bikinis and the kid getting arrested. Garbage! I knew after that many stinkers there was no way the show could ever possibly get better. Anyone who says it did is a liar!

You won’t catch me saying it…I thought TNG, from top to bottom, with the exception of 4 or 5 episodes, was dreadfully dull and poorly written.

I wouldn’t go quite that far, but generally, I agree with your assessment. TNG is pretty overrated, though I did think that Season 4 finally was pretty decent, then is dropped down again in the latter seasons.

Compared to Voyager and Enterprise though, TNG looks better than it really is.

Yay for fewer commercials! But I hope that doesn’t mean product placement… I can see Gordon opening up a can of Pepsi Zero on the bridge and spilling it all over his console. Issac’s prepared though with Bounty: The quicker picker-upper!

Boo for less of Alara though. I hope she’s not leaving the show for good. We want to see *more* of Alara Kitten, if you know what I’m saying…

Looking forward to Season 2. Fewer commercials is good news.

I really hope they make Yaphit funny in Season 2. They’re wasting Norm MacDonald’s talent, and I don’t understand why. He’s one of the funniest guys on the planet, and yet somehow they’ve managed to make his character totally unfunny. Maybe they should ask him to write his own jokes.

Also, that callback they had last season with Rob Lowe’s character was brilliant. I totally didn’t notice that it was him in the pilot episode, until I went back to check after the callback in “Cupid’s Dagger,” which is a hilarious episode. I wouldn’t mind seeing Lowe return as Darulio, if they can think of a fresh angle for him to show up.

I don’t remember if you guys covered this, but I’m a bit curious as to why Season 2 is set to premier on December 30. That seems like an odd day to premiere the new season of a TV show. Do Americans tend to watch much TV around that time, with all of the traveling and visiting with family and so forth?

Season two is starting late because FOX has picked up the Thursday night NFL from CBS. So the Thursday shows will start later.

Also, I think “Cupid’s Dagger” was one of the two best episodes from last season. The reason? It played mostly as straight up comedy. Which is where I think Orville succeeds best. IMHO. they should lean more towards the light and funny than the meaningful and serious. Of course, STD is trying to be funny too but failing. How else would you explain the main guy is really just an evil twin unless they were TRYING to go for the yuks?

“Cupid’s Dagger” was a really good entry, but the Yaphit/Claire bit was pretty damn awkward to watch.

ML31

I think “Cupid’s Dagger” was one of the two best episodes from last season.

I agree. It was a cohesively written story, from start to finish, and all of the humor arose out of the characterizations and plot.

Which other episode do you think is in the top two?

“Krill” was the other episode I found to be superior. I think it was the most successful at being a “dramedy” of all the episodes. A lot of good laughs and they fleshed out the main alien villains a little bit.

ML31

I liked that one a lot, too. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the bit where Mercer and Malloy become buffoons while on the alien ship, which took me out of the story. But, apart from that, it was good at fleshing out the Krill as a culture and setting up a good, recurring theme (their religious devotion). I found it a compelling watch right up until the ominous ending.

I think that The Orville can do meaningful and serious, but that stuff needs to be kept separate from the comedy in the structure of the narrative. The weakest episodes tended to be the ones where the comedy arose out of characters (usually Mercer and Malloy) being so stupid and ill-qualified for their jobs that it broke the logic of the show’s premise. They definitely need to scrap that approach to comedy, and I hope that they have done so in Season 2. Having episodes that are mostly or entirely comedic alternating with episodes that are mostly serious could be a winning formula. And the serious episodes could still have a couple of jokes at the beginning, which they’ve done effectively. But, once the serious story gets underway, they can’t have Mercer and Malloy acting like complete buffoons in the middle of life-and-death situations. That just takes the audience right out of the story and totally kills suspension of disbelief.

“(usually Mercer and Malloy) being so stupid and ill-qualified for their jobs that it broke the logic of the show’s premise. ”

That can work for me IF the show played out more as a comedy. I am forced to agree that if they go for more serious and thought provoking then the jokes cannot be born from buffoonery. It might be funny but it undercuts the narrative in that context. Which is why I would prefer they lean to the silly more often than they seem to be wanting to.

That can work for me IF the show played out more as a comedy.

Well, if we look at GALAXY QUEST, for example, our protagonists are ill-equipped for their jobs aboard the spaceship, but there is a good reason for it: they’re just actors who, in a case of mistaken identity, have been thrown into those jobs. The humor arises out of them simultaneously being fish out of water and in over their heads. In The Orville, Mercer and Malloy have been chosen for their jobs based on their skill, competence and knowledge. Granted, Mercer had some help from Kelly’s influence, but it’s still understood that he would not have gotten the job were he not also well qualified for it, whatever his personal foibles might be. So, when Mercer and Malloy suddenly become Shag and Scooby for a laugh in the middle of a life-or-death situation, it makes no sense and, for some amount of time, destroys the entire premise of the show and story. Even if The Orville were only a comedy, without an in-story reason for their incompetence, the Mercer and Malloy buffoonery gags would be akin to Three-Stooges-style humor, where there’s a very loose sense of reality that crumbles every time there’s a gag. I suppose that style of humor works for some people, but I think it’s funnier and holds up better over time when the humor arises out of the story.

cont… And it’s not difficult to give Mercer and Malloy reasons to be incompetent on occasion—they unwittingly come under the influence of some drug, or of someone with mind powers who interferes with their mental abilities, or better yet, they meet some culture that has very counter-intuitive customs for some reason, and it takes Mercer and Malloy a while to figure out what’s going on. Mercer and Malloy can be fish out of water every now and again, but they need a reason to be that way. I think that going for random, reasonless slapstick gags on a regular basis would kill the show sooner rather than later.

Well… OK then. I’m of the opinion that you can get away with characters acting stupid if the overall tone of the show is just plain silly. Regardless of anything else. I am forced to agree. There are too many instances where Orville officers act just way too stupid for the situation. But, for me at least, when you look at this as a very light show that does not take itself too seriously then I can handle that aspect better. And why I think the show works better when it leans more towards comedy. In a comedy, Mercer CAN be bonehead and it doesn’t matter how he got there or even what his competency level is.

Keep up the good work guys. Keep me laughing. I’ll miss Alara, but I missed Jadzia too…until little Ezri came along, and it was “Jad who?”

Very much looking forward to season 2, and in 2018, bonus! And as far as commercials go, I don’t watch them anymore (streaming). Such a waste of time.

Looking forward so much to another year of this.

Also, more Lost In Space and most particularly, eventually, season 3 of Westworld.

Do not give a fuck if Star Trek Discovery ever comes back.

Are any Discovery people going to SDCC? If not, it seems like a wasted opportunity.

I was a TNG addict and this show does a very good job filling that void the show left. I hope it goes on for years.

I’m also pretty sure that Molly Hagan who played Alara’s mother along with Robert Picardo is back, too. I was chatting with her about her old Herman’s Head show, and mentioned Orville. She hinted that she’s back, but didn’t fully admit it. Conversation is available here: https://twitter.com/JoeSiegler/status/975888164203253760

Thanks for the info about Star Trek: Orville! LOVED season 1, can`t wait for season 2! Thanks again!