The Orville Pilot

So I haven't done a pilot review in a while and I don't have a lot of time at the moment to watch full movies and write reviews that I'm proud of on account of work. This came at a great time though because Seth Macfarlane's new show, The Orville just aired and if you're a fan of the blog or follow me on Twitter, you can probably deduce that I am a fan of Seth MacFarlane and used to be a bigger one.

 In my opinion there is a lot to love about Seth MacFarlane. I agree that there are a lot of things to dislike about him but in a way I admire the guy because of his humble beginnings, his very unique take on comedy, and the heights that he has climbed to point to a very prominent career in Hollywood.

And up until about 2014 he did it all with the power of animation and his voice. It is something actually pretty impressive. He even released Jazz albums and they are actually pretty good. I have some of his songs and I actually really enjoy his voice.

However in 2014 and probably before that, MacFarlane started branching out and trying to do things a little bit different. No longer was he relying on his voices and animation alone, he decided he was going to try out his live action acting chops in his comedy, A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Although I personally like aspects about that film, the general consensus is that it did not go well.

On top of that, in past years Family Guy and his animation empire at Fox has seemed to leave a lot to be desired. While I'll still throw on Family Guy for something to watch in the background, it definitely doesn't have the laugh out loud moments it used to have and it has definitely suffered. And my theory is that MacFarlane is burnt out on Family Guy and wants to do something different.

Enter The Orville.

Now when I saw this trailer, I can't say I was overly excited for it. The effects and CGI environments didn't look that great and the humor didn't totally land. However, I've come to give MacFarlane the benefit of the doubt when I probably shouldn't so I thought I would give it a shot.

What I got was not totally what I was expecting.

The Orville is legitimately Seth MacFarlane recreating Star Trek. I'm not saying he's doing a parody of Star Trek or that he created something similar to Star Trek but gave it a fresh new take... No he made Star Trek as if it would be made in 2017 by Seth MacFarlane.

Now MacFarlane is a self proclaimed nerd and it's not surprise that he wanted to branch into something to pay homage to Star Trek. And in many ways, that's what The Orville is.

It takes a lot of the classic Star Trek tropes, I imagine it's going to take a lot of the same stories and conflicts but all the while there are some MacFarlane-isms inserted into the show for some comic relief. However, this is not a comedy or at least not a straight up comedy.

I think what people really liked about Family Guy, especially in the early days were the parodies of 80s nostalgia and really absurdist raunchy humor. The Orville has neither of those things. While it is trying to recreate Star Trek, it's not parodying it to point out the nostalgia for the show and make you laugh and it is actually a pretty tame comedy-wise. They're not going to be making people grabbing for their pearls that same way Family Guy did.

Now I want to be fair. There is no reason that Seth MacFarlane needs to stick to same old schtick he has been sticking to for the past two decades. This doesn't need to be a raunchy parody. If he wants to delve into science fiction I have no problem with him doing that. There are actually some elements of this pilot episode that had some promise. He's not bad at writing science fiction.

But the part that is weird for me and I think for a lot of audiences was that the trailer and the entire feel of the show feels like this is a parody. The Orville looks a lot like The Enterprise but it has a goofy name. All the cast members are wearing really generic looking Star Trek uniforms and you're expecting there to be a joke about it the same way MacFarlane joked about cowboys in A Million Ways to Die in the West. MacFarlane is the Captain of the ship but he's the loser who has to share the bridge with his ex wife (played by Adrianne Palicki). At best it sounds like a sitcom premise, at worst it sounds like a satire. And yet the entire episode takes itself just a tad too seriously and its trying to be this space epic like Star Trek.

I give credit to MacFarlane for trying to blend comedy and science fiction but he's had a history of writing comedy, not writing Star Trek. I can feel the humor in this show really holding back because MacFarlane was probably holding himself back from putting in a lot of raunchy cut aways. But in the process you just get a really weird Star Trek fan fiction written by MacFarlane where he put himself in the Captain's Chair.

I won't talk about his acting because... it really hasn't gotten any better but hey it's prime time television, I have actually seen worse. The cast is fine. It's the pilot episode so everyone feels pretty fresh out of the box and underdeveloped but I'm sure that's going to be the focus of future episodes. I didn't hate the pilot and I felt like there were some things to like about it. Overall though it just felt weird and generic.

Star Trek was famous because it leaned into the science fiction and the cheesiness of everything. William Shatner and Leonard Nemoy and everyone in that show took the concept so seriously that it worked. The Orville doesn't really lean into the science fiction part of it enough so I don't feel like they're taking it seriously so why should I? On top of that, it feels like MacFarlane wasn't leaning into the comedy elements of it, which is definitely his stronger genre, so it doesn't feel funny or entertain the audience in that way.

I want to give The Orville another shot. I know a lot of shows need a couple episodes to get on their feet so I really hope that MacFarlane is able to find his footing with this because this could be a really funny show. I guess I never did a review of the Tim Allen movie Galaxy Quest but I feel like this show could be in the same vein as that movie and that would not be a bad thing. Galaxy Quest is hilarious! It doesn't have to be a full on parody like Galaxy Quest was, but it feels like MacFarlane was trying to make the fake TV show from Galaxy Quest, not something new or original or even properly pay homage to Star Trek.

But those are my thoughts on The Orville pilot. Did you watch it? What did you think? Are you going to continue to watch the show? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. In case you all forgot, there is already a new Star Trek coming out this year. It just seems odd to launch two Star Trek shows when one isn't even Star Trek. Enjoy!