The Orville - Pilot (and More )

[kham]

Holy shit

They just did an episode that is EASILY the equal of anything TNG did when S3 was hitting it's stride; in the league with DS9's Early gems
And this is supposed to be a PARODY?

9/10 using SF Debris scale

[Boggy Man]

And this is supposed to be a PARODY?

It was rather funny when the "blob" crewman tried to prove he was compatible with the female doctor by extending a part of himself to mimic a penis!

[kham]

Yeah, but he IS a blob; unlike a changeling, there's no replicating

It amusing though, that these guys did a better take on this than TNG tried in S5 in ham-fisted fashion. And used the entire cast for plenty of character-building stuff.

Myn: last week , or Ep 2 as you will was directed by Robert Duncan Macneill aka Tom Paris - which makes the reality TV Mcguffin appropriate since Tommy-boy was the big fan of all that stuff

[DangerGirl]

At first, I wasn't sure what to think of the show, since it wasn't funny and off-color all the time as I expected. And then I realized that the show is as much a love letter to science fiction TV, that addresses its tropes and foibles, as it is a parody. At its heart, last night's episode was very serious and thoughtful about a real issue that's emerging in our society, exactly the kind of thing TOS would have tackled, and the humor (which was also well-done, particularly the dance-challenge bit) was kept to the periphery. It was smart stuff.

I'm hoping they can keep up the quality of the writing and storytelling.

[kham]

Seth MacFarlane has written the first 3 episodes. And god help us, would you believe Brannon Bragga directed last night's? The man who helped oversee the demise of trek; the man I would step on his throat if he was drowning in the bathtub, the... you get the idea
But, I'm man enough to admit he did a fine job here. James Conway is up next, then Frakes the week after. Then it's directors I not familiar with.

[kham]

*DG, that bit, and in the Pilot, have not only made fun of the holodeck, but they ALSO made their version look FUN. I mean, who wouldn't want to screw around with things some

[Mynock]

So.....the ship has a cutting beam powerful enough to chop up an asteroid the size of a city, in a couple of seconds, but nobody thought that would be a better idea than hugging the donkey?

[kham]

To be fair, the asteroid does not have deflector shields

[kham]

Parody huh?
We get an episode which is mix of several old TOS ideas and concepts (The World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky, Landru, and teased with even V'Ger -- loved the music as they first went in, very TMP-flypast )
And up to date, with Alara getting shot , only reason lived is she's a high-g worlder. The scumbag leader using torture on Kelly. And a very Jim Kirk-like rescue. Nice to see them not fuck around playing diplomat from that point, and Captain Mercer just shooting the asshole without a blink. I actually thought he was going to kill the fucker, since he had made a bit about 'set for stun'. This asshole needed not-stunned The B-plot wasn't annoying, with Orville called to aid a Union ship being shot at by the Krill. And getting to see some teeth, Orville's not just something to beat -up. The Krill ship was her size, maybe equal in firepower, so some smarts and torpedoes in the right spot and we get her first real KILL. Only annoying bit was LaMarr and his boombitch stuff

And getting Liam Neeson for cameo as the long-dead captain who ended up being used as the "God" of the worldship was nice
Also, clearly, the Union has no idiotic "Prime Directive" , at least beyond using common sense. PEEEEKARD would have had a stroke over opening the roof. I would have told Issac to shoot him

[Mynock]

Interesting premise. It's like an Eco-Sphere only on a human scale. When the technology failed they just forgot they were living in a bubble.