Possibly unpopular fannish opinion

[rivkat]

The Orville is going so much harder at doing what TOS did than SNW is. The Orville is, with all its 2020s workplace dramedy sensibility, posing much harder and more salient political and ethical questions, albeit solving them in TV ways (like TOS). SNW is having fun, no question, and I frankly would prefer to like it more than I like The Orville, but I guess I like my nostalgia with a bit of a cutting edge.

Comments

[serrico]

You are not the first person to say The Orville's the best Trek I'm not watching. I guess I need to get serious about tracking it down and giving it a shot!

[rivkat]

I think it's actually quite good Trek, though not in a way that any other Trek is. Lower Decks is more pure sitcom; Discovery is more angsty; Picard is specifically about the part of real life that is growing old, not other axes of realism. I find it a worthy addition to the genre.

[nestra]

Isn't it, though. It got so much better when it stopped trying to do wacky humor.

[rivkat]

I've given this some thought, and here's my take: I went into this with preconceptions because of Macfarlane, and it took me a while to lose those. I am not sure they've stopped trying to do wacky humor--the sexcapades are still going strong, for example--so much as I think they might always have been going for "what if people talked like 2020s workers but also, as some of us do, totally believed in the mission of the Federation"? The difference between sitcom logic and the TOS logic that lets difficult problems be resolved by good fortune and good faith is pretty thin. And I think I finally accepted that, for all that the sitcom parts still make me uncomfortable.

[nestra]

For me, they stepped back on whatever character extremes made me think they wouldn't be competent. Like, Gordon was so useless as a human that I didn't care how fabulous a pilot he was. But it's so clear that Macfarlane is a huge Trek fan and is trying, as you say, to really explore contemporary issues. I appreciate that even their victories are complex.

[amalthia]

The Orville feels more like Star Trek than the Star Trek shows in my opinion. They are also tackling issues in a way that doesn't feel preachy so I'm enjoying it.