SERIES PREMIERE: This new Fox series is a split-personality conundrum. It’s created by, and stars, Seth MacFarlane, and is a sci-fi comedy modeled after the classic
Star Trek universe of TV shows. Because MacFarlane also created
Family Guy, the reasonable expectation would be for
The Orville to be an all-out, perhaps even crude spoof – a less respectful
Spaceballs, perhaps. But MacFarlane also was one of the executive producers of Fox’s very good reboot of
Cosmos, as was one of his collaborators here, veteran genre writer-producer Brannon Braga, whose production credits include
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and
Star Trek: Enterprise. So while tonight’s premiere indeed has a few broad laughs, by the arrival of the third episode,
The Orville plays like it wants to be – and should be – a straight sci-fi series in the old
Star Trek mold. For one thing,
The Orville looks better, special effects-wise, than any of the shows it’s spoofing. For another, the plots are so steeped in standard
Star Trek lore (MacFarlane’s Captain Ed Mercer is even captured, at one point, for an alien zoo) that they’re kind of charming. The humor doesn’t work that well, but the universe created here is so complete, and so reverently realized, that I’m rooting for
The Orville, in these first missions, to find the tone and balance it needs to survive. Standout co-stars include Adrianne Palicki as the captain’s ex-wife and First Officer, and Halston Sage as the Orville’s security officer. They get to play some strong scenes in the first few episodes – but for starters,
The Orville is no
Galaxy Quest. But it has some promise… For full reviews, see
Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes and
David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.