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The Orville

#81
The "Why?" post disappeared as I was replying. ;)

I just like it. Same as I like TNC.

Seth MacFarlane's pee pee brand of humor does not amuse me in the least. Well maybe sometimes I laugh, inside. I suspect his Ted movies are an abomination that I wouldn't watch if you paid me (haven't seen them and probably never will).

But as stated in the first post in the thread, he loves Star Trek. He's having a little fun with it. As I said, I like it.
 
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#83
I think the references to other sci-fi plots is very intentional. I immediately thought of the 1960 "Twilight Zone" episode in which astronaut Roddy McDowell is put in a cage in a zoo on Mars.

Considering that the Syfy channel has cancelled my two favorite sci-fi shows (12 Monkeys and Dark Matter,) I intend to watch whatever sci-fi I can find on TV now. "The Orville" is turning out to be slightly better than I expected. I've barely paid attention through the years to who Seth MacFarlane even is and whether people like him or not is irrelevant to me. I just like science fiction.
 
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#85
Alkali Ike said:
I said "The Cage" when I might have meant "The Menagerie". They blur together.

The references to other Treks are very intentional. Bortus is Worf. Isaac is Data. And so on and such like. :D
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See that's fine. Those characters are archetypes. The warrior. The scientist. But Kermit is a great leader is stolen from Babylon 5. It's just a stolen joke....which now that I think about it makes sense. MacFarlane doesn't do jokes. It's all references. So I guess as far as he's concerned it's all fair game. I was shocked that he bothered calling his ships propulsion system quantum drive instead of warp.
 
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#86
Alkali Ike said:
I said "The Cage" when I might have meant "The Menagerie". They blur together.

The references to other Treks are very intentional. Bortus is Worf. Isaac is Data. And so on and such like. :D
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In the case of Isaac, I might have preferred a voice a little different. Something like the android's voice on "Dark Matter" might have been more interesting. But it isn't a well-known show (although great) and has nothing much to do with Star Trek.
 
#88
Anyone still watching after they moved it to Thursday?

Ep 3 was good, kind of in a sitcom-serious "Very Special Episode" way. No new ground, a mashup of familiar heavy themes, very Star Trek-ish.

Strange show. But I still definitely like it.
 
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#94
Downunderwonder said:
Superstrength humanoids from higher gravity worlds is at least as old as Superman.
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Just wait until they get to a Romeo and Juliet homage as every show in every genre in history has done.:smug: I am in. many of the pop culture references seem to much of our era pop. Is it better or worse than the TNG crew only using public domain references or LT Paris of Star Trek Voyager using a fake Buck Rogers instead of saying Buck Rogers? YMMV.
 
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#95
I finally got around to watching a episode that was on the other night. Now I am sure it was not the pilot or first episode, but I just did not think it was that great. It had a few moments but overall pretty much did not have me wanting to go back and start from the start or need to mark on my calendar each week for the new episodes. Perhaps I'll give it another try if it happens to just be on again but again I have better things to do.
 
#96
Gorn said:
I watched the first twenty minutes of episode two this morning. The blatant theft is ridiculous. His Kermit the frog doll and explaining to his alien crewman that Kermit was a great leader on Earth is directly ripped off from Babylon 5 and Garibaldi's Sylvester poster. The ship masquerading as a different ship is from Enterprise. The girl having super strength because she's from a planet with higher gravity is partially stolen from a DS9 episode but mingled with elements from similar plot lines in other episodes I can't recall right now. I turned it off right as he woke up in what was clearly a simulation designed to manipulate him in some way, stolen from Enterprise, Voyager and TNG.

Is it a comedy? A drama? Straight up sci fi? He thinks it can be all of that and it's not.
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It's a parody.

Stealing swaths of material from other shows to present it in a comedic new way is the very definition of parody.
 
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#97
hbarcat said:
It's a parody.

Stealing swaths of material from other shows to present it in a comedic new way is the very definition of parody.
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I'd agree but he's not going for just parody. He's being greedy and trying to present parody, drama and scifi all at once. He's trying to give the show heart. Rushing character development and expecting the audience to act as if it's all working and maybe it is. But I don't buy it.
 
#98
Gorn said:
I'd agree but he's not going for just parody. He's being greedy and trying to present parody, drama and scifi all at once. He's trying to give the show heart. Rushing character development and expecting the audience to act as if it's all working and maybe it is. But I don't buy it.
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Fair enough.

Over the years, I've noticed something common to all parody - it's very difficult to get the hardcore fans of the subject of the parody to like it. In fact, it's these fans who tend to hate it the most even if it's done well. I think it's because the dedicated fans perceive it as a bit disrespectful or maybe seeing the parodist as something like an opportunistic parasite, cashing in on cheap laughs while doing no real work. Just steal material from the original, sprinkle on a few fart jokes and that's it.

Many people, including myself, consider "Space Balls" to be a brilliant parody of "Star Wars" and "Galaxy Quest" to be a brilliant parody of "Star Trek". No one is going to mistake "The Orville for anything brilliant. But I can see people watch it because it's just decent entertainment
 
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