Science Fiction

It took me a few episodes. But now I think it’s entertaining and wholesome!

It’s my utopia of what humans could become in the future

When The Orville came out, I hadn't watched much Star Trek. Growing up, TNG was the one television show that my parents would break the "no TV at the dinner table" rule for, though it happened rarely enough that I really have no memory of it.

About 20 years ago I watched several episodes of TOS and liked it well enough.

I always wanted to like Star Trek, so ~10 years ago I tried season 1 of TNG, which I now realize is rather universally considered an error; and as a result, I didn't much care for TNG. But I still wanted to like it, and Star Trek in general! So when I saw The Orville, I decided to give it a shot. And while I agree that the early mix of comedy with more serious material was a bit off-putting, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. This was what TNG was trying to be (I mean, that's not really fair, but it was my initial sense).

Which then led me to season 3 of TNG, which I started watching last year. And I absolutely love it, and find it overall better than The Orville (which I still really like); but The Orville was basically my gateway to actually enjoying Star Trek.

So maybe I'm coming inside-out from most viewers, but I really like The Orville, and as a bonus, it got me "back" into Star Trek proper.

Cheesy but a different kind of cheesy than Star Trek.

I loved The Orville when it was coming out, it scratched an itch that nothing else at the time did, but while it's been on hiatus/canceled we have gotten Star Trek Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks. One does the firm sci-fi with a relatable crew better, and the other does the comedy Star Trek better. I wouldn't be opposed to more episodes of the Orville, but I don't think that it is as needed as it was when it was coming out.

Wanted to like it more than I did. Just didn't think it was all that funny.

Now I thought Avenue 5 (HBO) was absolutely hilarious. It's the funny I expected from Orville. Too bad it ended after 2 seasons.

While I don't regret watching it—and I'd probably even throw on a new season if it gets one—I felt like it was missing any true classic episodes. I also kept having this strange sense of familiarity with episodes, as if it was just repurposing or rehashing older Star Trek plots.

I kept thinking, "Wasn't there a TNG/DS9/Whatever episode that explored this same general concept/idea, but better?". It felt like it was maybe borrowing just a bit too much from it's inspiration.

Absolutely LOVE it. I've lost count of how many times I've watched the series and I am currently on another go thru of it. It's definitely a joke in the beginning and some jokes miss, but I love how they get into some good topics halfway through.

I did it backwards and started watching Star Trek shows because I love The Orville so much! Hoping it gets renewed for another season soon.

Season 3 was not good; it was heavy-handed writing and wasn't all that good drama.

I loved it and it's definitely on the list of shows that I'll rewatch sometime sooner or later

I wished I could have gotten past the awkward comedy you mention. Couldn’t get into it because of that.

Blatant self insert early TNG fanfic. If you liked (or even wrote) that kind of thing in the 90s, you'll like Orville.

The Orville is to Star Trek as Spaceballs was to Star Wars. A humorous parody, but I can appreciate the effort that they put in to have the show take itself a bit more seriously during dramatic scenes. I enjoyed it, although I only saw two seasons.

I stopped after watching a few episodes. I guess it just wasn’t for me. Most people I know like it though.

Actually I think much like Strange New Worlds, I think that it showed me how much of the recent issues I have with Star Trek is that it takes itself too seriously. (In fact also as for Star Wars, as blasphemous it is to mention here)

I thought it would be a parody show at first but its good casual sci-fi entertainment. I liked the first two seasons better than S3.

It strikes me as a show that was only meant to be 1-2 series but due to popularity has kept going and now its trying to find the balance between comedy and seriousness.

It was surprisingly good. I enjoyed it a lot. Didn't think I would but it's much better than Picard, such a boring show.

I like it, want more seasons to come out. Now that I finished the Orville, I need to go back and finish Farscape