FOX & MacFarlane's The Orville
 

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I'll be surprised if that catches on. Looks kinda funny but people either love or hate Mcfarlane.

****, this looks amazing. McFarlane's Star Trek jokes were always on point in Family Guy. Now we get a whole show about them. IN!

I was just going to post this - popped up on my Facebook feed a few minutes ago.

Holy shit, this looks great! Galaxy Quest - the series! :thumb:

Plus, the ex-wife is Ms. Perkins from John Wick, so she should be able to kick some serious ass!

I might actually watch a show on Fox for the first time since I fell asleep during the premier of the X-Files reboot.

Brooklyn 99 and Bob's Burgers are solid shows on Fox.

A little McFarland goes a long way. I don't see any way this catches on.

When he can hide behind his animated characters and it's just his voice, the fact that he has the world's most punchable face is forgotten. But that guy would have a smug look on his face if he were getting anally raped by a football team. It's just the way he constantly looks.

I just don't think he works in live-action.

Bland enough, and I'm sure there will be occasional laughs, but not a trace of originality in sight.

Like a t-shirt for an OK concert, only you've already washed it 100x and left it laying on the pool deck for weeks on end.

Same thing I was thinking. Definitely have to watch this. Cast looks pretty good too.

I actually think that this is why it'll work.

Galaxy Quest featured Tim Allen as a smug, asshole captain of a Starship and he was emoting Shatner, who was always smug and condescending as Captain/Admiral Kirk.

I'm really looking forward to it. It's got a big budget, great cast and a real opportunity to fill the massive void of a SciFi/Space Exploration program.

That looks terrible.

Jon Heder has the world's much punchable face.

I hope this series kicks ass.

Along with the reboot of Lost In Space for Netflix, high budget SciFi could make a very welcome comeback.

Looks pretty good to me. And I'm not much of a McFarlane fan.

Ehhh. Not impressed with the trailer. I like MacFarlane's stuff. I like Star Trek. But this looks weird. Trailer didn't really do anything for me.

still pissed at FOX over Arrested Development.

I wouldn't have even known who he was had the trailer not displayed his name.

Yeah, I just feel like Tim Allen doesn't play smug prick but rather the likeable jackass role that Bill Murray seems to be born to play. Robert Downey Jr. also does that extremely well.

I don't know, but for whatever reason I get the feeling that guys like Allen, Murray, RDJ, etc... are guys that are playing characters that think they're better than the characters they're in a role with. MacFarlane, OTOH, gives off a vibe of an actor that thinks he's better than the audience he's deigning to cater to. Cumberbatch occasionally falls into that realm as well. He's a comedic version of Sean Penn, IMO.

I just have a visceral dislike of the guy anytime I see him on screen.

3-4 episodes in, you'll hate the guy.

Not his character, but Seth MacFarlane himself.

Then I guess I'll be rooting for Ms. Perkins to kick his ass every week. :D

Me too...I think it'll be funnier for star trek type fans or this type of genre.

Didn't know that was coming. Cool

This looks pretty good. Really liked Galaxy Quest, hope Orville is at least as good or better.

Toby Stephens from Black Sails plays John Robinson but in a twist (of course, because everything has to have gender flipping these days), Parker Posey plays Dr. Smith.

Personally, I think she's a great choice because she plays the conniving, condescending bitch so well. From my understanding, this version will remain dark, like the original season and not be all "campy" like the following seasons of the 60's series.

So we won't see a dopey Dr. Smith and silly interactions with Will and the Robot.

Hopefully, it works.

Sepinwall unimpressed

http://uproxx.com/sepinwall/the-orvi...th-macfarlane/

Parker Posey is great in almost everything she's done.

Sounds like Sepinwall just doesn't appreciate the lower brow forms of entertainment. Not everything can be Sopranos, you know.

Parker Posey? Yummy.

It's getting hammered by reviewers.

First off, it's supposedly not a comedy, despite the first trailers. It's serious, with "Bro Humor" thrown in as an afterthought. It's basically a homage to Star Trek but it's also a homage to The Twilight Zone (?).

Every review I've read said that the VFX and sets are phenomenal but the show just doesn't know what it wasn't be and that it's very confusing.

We'll know soon enough.

I feel disappoint lurking.

Indeed.

:(

I will still watch this and hope that as the season progresses they find themselves. So much potential here to be an awesome show.

It will be a major curve ball if Discovery ends up being better than Orville......

Most of the early episodes of Next Generation were pretty lame as well. Hopefully it'll last long enough to find its legs.

This premise was already done by Galaxy Quest to perfection

ROFL

This cannot be said enough.

The only non-animated movie where Seth excels is Ted, and it's only because it's live-action, and you don't see Seth's face.

He was in a kinda-Western, I think, but the only thing I remember is a dead Sheriff being dragged away by wolves while a self-aware Seth monologues while it happens.

I thought it was cringeworthy, but workable if Mac plays the straight character. When he is the jokester it comes off snobby. Family Guy is on point most of the time tho

It definitely took a while to find its footing but once it did, it was great.

The interesting thing is that Brannon Braga, who produced ST:TNG and other Star Trek properties, is a producer on The Orville.

Theoretically, this show should have avoided those pitfall, although it look 4 seasons for Enterprise to finally become a quality addition, then it was cancelled.

Well, it was a little different premise.

That said, the Galaxy Quest TV series is back in production at Amazon.

Just saw the first episode. I really don't understand why the critics blasted this show so badly. I mean, its not going to be the greatest show ever made on TV, but its a solid, entertaining show. How the hell did it get 11% on rotten tomatoes?

Probably because Seth MacFarlane is not that funny and the idea is lame imo. Give me South Park over Family Guy or any of Seth's cringeworthy projects any day of the week please. So glad South Park took shots at Family Guy years ago. Great episode.

16 years on air but it's "not that good".

I won't say it's not good, but it is often lazy. And South Park absolutely pinpointed why.

Many many of their jokes weren't so much jokes as 'hey, remember when this happened. . . .'

'Geez, I'm more nervous than when that pedophile tried to give Arnold ice cream' - cut to 5 minute cartoon re-enactment of an episode of Diff'rent Strokes.

'Geez, I'm more mad when the Duke Boys thwarted Boss Hogg' - cut to 5 minute re-enactment of an episode of Dukes of Hazzard.

Rinse, repeat.

It's not all that different from Talk Soup or Tosh.0 in that regard. More commenting on how weird the rest of TV is, than making new TV.

Non-OTA-network shows don't have the same FCC restrictions, so it really isn't a fair fight.

No surprise Seth would be in a Star Trek ripoff (not homage).

Watch one of the Family Guy Star Wars episodes and tell me it's not just a reskinned version with Family Guy characters and a few references disguised as jokes.

If FOX wanted to do a true Star Trek spoof, they should've called the Robot Chicken people.

I agree with the reviews. It doesn't know what it wants to be. Probably about 5 times in the first 20 minutes, I was expecting "here comes a MacFarlane joke!" followed by... nothing. Not even good plot-advancing dialogue. Just conversation. It was weird.

Also it's just... it's Seth trying to be cast in Star Trek. He loves it, and that's cool, but it seems to me like he's just living his fantasy by creating his own Star Trek. You've got the Remans from ST: Nemesis cast as the Klingon baddies. You've got Cassidy Yates from DS9. You've got Bashir's dad from DS9. I'm pretty sure the guy who played the stern one-gender con officer alien also once played a Jem Hadar from DS9. This show basically IS Star Trek with MacFarlane jokes, and sadly, not enough of them to make the premise sing the way he wants it to.

Sci-fi comedy isn't a popular genre for a reason. At least Red Dwarf never takes itself too seriously. This show teeters on being a legit drama half the time and nothing but Family Guy jokes the next.

Don't generate arguments on my behalf, thanks. . .

I didn't say South Park was better because it was raunchier. I said Family Guy was often lazy in it's structure.

It's popular, and often funny, because it picked a structure that is amusing in a light, fluffy, way. If you want to credit 16 years of longevity to that structural decision, go ahead, but it's reference machine, like the Manatees with beach balls lampooned.

The point was that FG is often more limited with its content and humor as opposed to cable shows.

It's a very small sandbox, so it stands to reason that it can't replicate shows with less restrictions.

You want to see how few restrictions there are, watch Rick and Morty. They make a lot of hay out the freedom on Adult Swim, but even without that freedom, it has way more creativity than just about anything out there, animated or no.

Nothing about network mandates FG's structure. If it did, it wouldn't be the only network show that has it.

I've never seen it but I've only heard nothing but raves about it

Damn I forgot to record this and wasn't home. :banghead:

Fox is streaming it. Your cable/sat credentials should give you access.

I'll watch it when I get home tomorrow.

Damn.

I'm not even going to watch now

How disappointing.

It was ok. Reviews seem about right, maybe a little harsh.

I think that's to be expected. Seth is a talented guy who rubs critics the wrong way by making stuff that's not always that great in quality, but still is popular. And this is clearly an indulgence/reward of his ego for the money he's made the network.

Approach it like you're living in a present-day society where StarTrek never existed, and you might enjoy it a lot more.

I thought the Jem Hadar actor/character was funny.

Everything else... meh.

It DOES look pretty, though. I'll say that much.

It's exactly what I expect from anything with Seth MacFarlane in it.

Family Guy humor, with Brian Griffin's voice, heavy on references, and extremely formulaic.

Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it's definitely a predictable, mediocre thing.

I will try it again next week, but meh.

I will definitely agree that it seems a bit lost. but I enjoyed it. Felt like Star Trek populated with normal Joes from down the street and some humor thrown in. Hopefully it gets a chance to find itself. I have certainly watched worse.

rather boring to be honest.

That was my feeling. It's not "must see tv", but I enjoyed it and had several laughs. I'll give it some more episodes, but it also has to improve to hook me longer.

Speaking of which, last night's RICK AND MORTY . . . . Holy Shit.
On one hand, I wouldn't recommend it for a first-time watcher, just on the basis of dropping into the narrative.
But as an example of how creative 21 minutes can be . . . Again, HOLY SHIT. You could spend a good 2+ hours just explaining the interconnection of references, tropes, allegories, philosophies, etc. that were contained therein.
And it didn't even feel overstuffed. It gave you just enough of a reference to get the narrative, in the only setting where it all made sense together.

There are things to quibble, but the quibbling is part of the experience as well. Talented Mother****ers, that lot.

I enjoyed it for what it was. Had me chuckling the whole time with the blatantly stolen Star Trek bits. Will watch again next week.

WTF did I watch last night?

All I have to say is that it was just okay. I was expecting a more Galaxy Quest style of show however it really is just Star Trek with Seth and company. Too much concentration on the two main characters failed relationship.

The first season or two of Next Generation was pretty meh as well. At least we don't have the super wiz kid saving the day each week.

I like the idea of a bright future instead of the bleak one that the reboot and DS9 had. Maybe it will get better, maybe someone will actually punch Seth in the face a few times.

I'd like it if they could go a little more Farscape...

My Man!

Will give one more week to this suckfest.

Thank you! You said it better than I could. Family Guy is flat out lazy comedy.

Just watched it on the DVR. It was okay. I chuckled a few times, but I have to admit, I was expecting more funny.

It will be interesting to see if it can hang around long enough to get into a groove.

I mean, it was the pilot episode. The timing isn't there yet with the actors, nor is the writing. It was entertaining enough for me to go back and see where it goes. I wasn't expecting Yesterday's Enterprise level of good or anything.

Didn't think it was as bad as some are saying. Yes, it's a bit more of a serious take than expected. But, honestly, "Galaxy Quest" has already been done so they have to do more than make it "Ted or Family Guy in Space". The effects are honestly better than anything from the Trek TV universe, Adrianne Palicki was really good in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", the woman playing the doctor was good as the last police captain on "Castle"... it probably won't last with it's strange mix of serious and lowball humor but, as was said, I do like its take of "regular joes in space". As much as I loved the Trek TV shows, they were just so serious and full of themselves for the most part.

Just finished watching it. I really enjoyed it. Wasn't perfect, but it was fun.

I want Seth to find his footing because of what Paramount is doing to Trek's actual franchise.

I'm gonna wait and see with this one.

Its interesting you thought of Castle. I always associate her with 24.

I always associate her with the Larry Sanders Show.

I never thought there would be a more boring show than Star Trek Next Generation - the Orville as set a new bar.