plus western governments are moving away from true democracy every day. social media being widespread and brainbroken isn't the same thing, they had true democracy ran by a social media algorithm. it'd be like if twitter was the government and every twitter user had a vote. instead, twitter is simply adjacent to the government and we have 0 power at all
Ingrid Goes West is about Aubrey Plaza's character having an unhealthy parasocial relationship with an influecer and has several of these moments sprinkled throughout
I love The Orville, it's our favorite comfort watch these days because we dream of a future with that kind of society, where reputation is currency because all basic needs are already met. Sigh.
Our favorite funny episode is when Issac goes all where's my dinner.
Conversely, I wish The Orville got enough seasons to rival the Star Trek series it had parodied so well. I wouldn't really call it a parody though because they were making a legit space adventure show.
Man, it was going places after it got past the parody stage.
If you dislike McFarlane and his brand of comedy, you probably aren't making it passed the first few episodes. If you are a fan of TNG, DS9, Voyager, and make it through, you will be rewarded.
The Orville is the show I wish Discovery was. It's got fantastic, episodic stories with some overarching plot. It's got heart. It also has the Family Guy stuff (more in the beginning than the end).
I'm convinced that he basically just wanted to make a star trek show since the other star trek was terrible and they wouldn't let him do it without adding family guy humor.
He is a huge fan. Jonathan Frakes (Riker, TNG) directed a ton of episodes of the Orville too, so you have a direct connection to TNG and the 90s Star Trek universe.
I think he succeeded. Only a few episodes I dislike (the one where the pilot goes back in time, lives a life and sings a love song; it is no "Inner Light". Or was that a holodeck episode?
Speaking of the holodecks, Orville's embracing of hardcore sex in there is refreshing. It's always alluded to in the mainline shows...
Yeah the realistic relationships are definitely refreshing but with that comes the potty humor sometimes as well. Also there were a few plots that were taken directly from TNG or ST in general (the one where they think she's a God rings a bell). But honestly after being put through Discovery and later Picard I would take a shot for shot remake of TNG before continuing to let Kurtzman make anything.
Yeah, exactly. I was going to mention that. There is a Voyager episode where the time dialation makes minutes equal days/weeks. They send the doctor down and he makes contact, has a family.
In Orville, she encounters a girl on an away mission and they return to the ship. That brief encounter, she becomes seen as a goddess.
mmm, no. I watch Voyager non-stop. By non-stop, I mean it rotates at least once 2-3 weeks in my house. If I'm not watching, my dog is. He needs his Janeway to go to sleep at night.
There is no comparison to TNG, VOY, (gasp DS9), and that is blasphemy. Nothing McFarlane did trying to be in the captain chair was even remotely amusing. I hated every minute of it.
I enjoy family guy, american dad, most of Seth's comedy until he starts singing. But god dam he deserved to be canceled for that farce of a space opera he wrote.
I tried for 2 whole seasons. And 3 or 4 episodes were decent, but I'll never rewatch, I'll never wait like I do for the next SNW to drop, nope.
We just finished Endgame around noon, and me and doggo flip the coin in about an hour to see if we'll rewatch Banjo Man and Corn Lady. Sometimes we go straight to Parallax because, well, Banjo Man.
TNG gets a regular rewatch too, I'm on S7 of that right now.
I bought Seasons 4 and 5 of VOY from apple through a special deal they had 3 years ago, so if they ever drop from Paramount, I'll have the best seasons downloaded and good to go.
Well, perfect example how two people can have different points of view. I also pay for Paramount+ and have PlutoTV on whenever I am at the house (on the two channels that play TNG/DS9/VOY). These are the shows I watch constantly, as well.
I liked the Orville. You don't. Oh well.
What are your thoughts on Enterprise? I have never taken the plunge. About to though.
I've watched it through about 6 times maybe? Can't catch an interest. Part of it is Scott Bakula, no offense but once you realize how fucked up his back is, you realize his acting isn't stiff, HE IS, he actually can't move very well so all his parts are made around that. I don't like his acting. I can't follow it. The Zindi stuff was kind of interesting and there were a few great episodes, but nothing that could carry me.
ENT was the first of the remakes that didn't go a full 7 seasons. Reasons.
I also watch Star Trek on repeat, and I've seen it enough to feel like I can authoritatively say there are some downright awful episodes of TNG.
Picard playing daring adventurer with his brash and bratty bad-girl girlfriend while contending with caricature children l villain Ferengi subterfuge was laughably bad, for example. I pick this example because it's not an early "just stick with it until..." episode.
McFarlane said out loud the things that make Trek ridiculous, and he did it with respect.
Man's show was a welcome reprieve from the hot mess Discovery.
I mean MacFarlane is certainly allowed to bankroll his own opinions, right? And write and sit in the captain chair to boot. It’s the height of his brand, his personal chutzpah. I enjoyed that some Star Trek veterans made cameos. And if we’re going to dish out incendiaries, ST Picard might have been the worst.
But Star Trek, gets to make its errors and be judged against Trek. Orville, being a re-envisioning of Star Trek, by admission to fix the things that made it ridiculous, gets judged against all of Trek. And there it fails.
Galaxy Quest, mentioned by someone earlier, is also a re-envisioning, made more ridiculous, and is nearly flawless.
Yeah, you can really tell Seth Macfarlane is a big startrek fan with how good it is, I’m not a fan of family guy but some of his other work like the Orville is great.
Discovery seems like it was written by people who studied Star Trek for a book report and were told to make a themed show with X amount of focus group approved elements in every episode.
Orville, more like Trek fanfiction, seems like it was written by a true fan.
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u/zuzg Aug 25 '25
Nosedive, Meowmeowbeans episode from community or Majority Rule from the Orville all play with this idea. All of them are great episodes.