The Orville - 1.02: Command Performance

[REBerg]

1.02 Command Performance

​

I do believe that The Orville just might have enough dilithium crystals to warp the distance -- lighting its triple propulsion burners one at a time before putting the pedal to the metal. The show still needs to fine tune its humorous element, but this mixture was an improvement over its first offering.

Spoiler

Swapping the captain and executive officer for a reality television archive was laugh-out-loud funny. I have no doubt that the Kaylons would be among those who publicly claim that they NEVER watch TV.

 

[ctg]

I am getting troubled by the normal banter and a bit miffed of them talking civil matters over official channels. It is as if they want to step over every protocol with some sort of joke. So on serious side I'm deeply troubled and it hampers my ability to relax and laugh on the jokes.

The visuals and scenes are very real, breath-taking even. And they are the best thing in this series. What is surprising is the feeling that they're really out there, far far away. This is truly classical scifi with funny things hidden in it. I suspect people want to keep watching it for that reason.

 

[ctg]

Spoiler

Swapping the captain and executive officer for a reality television archive was laugh-out-loud funny. I have no doubt that the Kaylons would be among those who publicly claim that they NEVER watch TV.

ROFL, we thought it was the egg.

 

[REBerg]

Spoiler

ROFL, we thought it was the egg.

I was relieved that it wasn't.

 

[BAYLOR]

Based on current empirical evidence that is plainly false. Family Guy and American Dad are still .

Episode 2 was better and jokes aside he's playing the character Ed Mercer more strait up then comical.

 

[Cli-Fi]

Spoiler

ROFL, we thought it was the egg.

I was wondering how they were going to get out of that mess.

Spoiler

I kept looking around for missing crew members, wondering who in the main cast was getting cut. Brilliant solution.

 

[Cli-Fi]

Looks like the Orville has got about an 8 million viewer cushion. Should be a lock for a second season:

The second spot on Sunday was claimed by FOX that saw a delayed Cowboys and Denver Broncos game spill over 90 minutes (6.5/24) into primetime and push Week 2 of The Orville (2.6/9) to an 8:30 PM start. Currently in those non-adjusted numbers, the Seth MacFarlane created and starring sci-fi drama is down a tenth from its final numbers of September 10 and up 13% from last week’s fast affiliates.

Emmy Awards Match All-Time Low Of 2016 With 11.4M Viewers; Hits Demo Low

Then again, this is Fox we are talking about. Will their relationship with Seth Macfarlane pay off?

 

[Vince W]

I saw the second episode and while the story wasn't too bad, the humour was abysmal once more except for one joke.

Spoiler

WOOF!

 

[BAYLOR]

Looks like the Orville has got about an 8 million viewer cushion. Should be a lock for a second season:



Emmy Awards Match All-Time Low Of 2016 With 11.4M Viewers; Hits Demo Low

Then again, this is Fox we are talking about. Will their relationship with Seth Macfarlane pay off?

I think Orville will get a second season.

 

[Cli-Fi]

I came up with this fan theory this morning:
The Orville is not an exploratory vessel. Every, species that they have encountered is already part of the Union, or in the Union database.

Mercer was not sent out on a mission to explore strange new worlds, he is being used as a pawn. The useful idiot captain for the Union. Sent out by the Union, to destroy long-held relationships from orders of Union President and with advice from XO Grayson in an effort to streamline the system and an eventual return to isolationism.

The last two episodes and their encounters with other alien cultures shows a subtle hint at the evil genius behind this plan with the likely destruction of both the Moclan civilization and the Calivon. Though, I think the Moclan's could hold up better over time since they are still holding traditions after an encounter with Mercer.

If this isn't true, it would make a damn good Mirror Universe arc.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Back after a week with the computer hard disk dying.

Epp 3 tonight. Epp 2 was a definite improvement. But the show still has the same basic flaw for me. I can't work out whether it's meant to be a comedy farce, or an action adventure with humor. I mean I was happy with the show almost to the end. But then they solved the problem with farce. I mean I get that they're trying to make some point comedically - that reality tv sucks on a galactic scale - but if we're supposed to be taking this show at all seriously you can't solve your problems with stupid jokes that don't make any sense within the plot. It just makes a farce of the whole thing.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Dave]

Might make me watch Fox again, but it will be very easy to mess this up and start making fun of sci-fi fans.

It's not funny enough for a comedy and it's not serious enough to be a drama.

The Family Guy Star Wars spoof episodes were funnier.

I've just watched the first three episodes and I like it. I take back what I said.

They aren't making fun of Sci-Fi fans. This is not Spaced. Nor is it Red Dwarf. This is less of a spoof faux-Star Trek, and a more serious real show with a few jokes. However, Seth MacFarlane really gets Star Trek, and I wish he was writing the movies rather than Simon Pegg. I see he also thinks Star Trek could do better: Seth MacFarlane: ‘The Orville’ VS ‘Star Trek’

Ep 2... was a definite improvement. But the show still has the same basic flaw for me... It just makes a farce of the whole thing.

I'm not so sure on the point you make. Aren't David Attenborough's naturalist TV programmes much more interesting, exciting and educational than watching caged animals with mental health problems walk in circles? Well, surely Reality TV shows are similarly better for watching real human interaction than watching a caged husband and wife have a tiff? Or maybe not, maybe they are all staged and scripted?

As for Ep. 3 being similar to Star Trek:TNG The Offspring. You are going to be saying that for every single episode. There was imprisonment in a zoo in Star Trek: The Animated Series The Eye of the Beholder. You just can't do this kind of spaceship exploration SciFi without it being similar to something else. There is now over 551 hours of Star Trek broadcast and still going so it will be hard to find an angle that hasn't been covered yet.

 

[Jeffbert]

After reading 4 pages of the 11, I have a feel for the general attitude about this show. Not too good, it seems. I watched the 1st 2 episodes last night on HULU. I do not know if #1 was a pilot. Anyway, it seems strange that in reference to #2, nobody has yet mentioned that line from Roddy McDowell's character in that TTZ episode, in fact, I think it is the episode's title. People are Alike all Over.

My own impression, so far, is that while I agree that much of the humor falls flat, my interest in the series has little to do with it. It is an interesting Scifi show. The various types of humanoid species is interesting, but I could live without them. The props, sfx, etc., also adds to the attraction, but the stories are most interesting to me. I expect to finish s1 on HULU sometime next week. Don't even know what day the show airs. Might wait for s2 on HULU. After abandoning Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda midway into its 5th season, I hope this one will be more to my liking.