I too am enjoying the unique brand of awkwardness of the dialogue in The Orville, which is distinct from TNG’s unique brand of awkwardness.

Orville is actively inviting the TNG comparisons, so it is impossible for me to fault all of the reviewers who are using them. But I will say this: I would have been ecstatic if this was the quality that Next Generation started out with.

SuperNerd here: TOS did it in “For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.” But the concept goes back farther than that — see Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky, for one.

I hear Deep Space 9 is the best Trek, but I only ever really watched TNG, and so far Orville is parsing as “TNG, but with people instead of chess pieces” to me. I think being better than TNG straight out of the gate is a pretty solid performance, and we’ve still yet to see whether Orville is going to Grow The Beard…

Since you asked:

The number of them saying makes me wonder if it’s just a talking point they were handed by Lucasfilm after the reaction to TFA.

Accomplishes no laughs? Disagree - oh sure, Blob Guy isnt working for me, but the Orville sailing through space over a bed of the Sound of Music and exchanges like “Ma’am, we’re very sorry. Your husband is going to be okay. He’s only stunned. You didn’t kill him, right?” had me chuckling.

Mediocre? I thought yesterday’s episode was actually pretty strong with a plot that, with 50 years of Star Trek, that I’m shocked we’ve never seen done before*. There’s still a couple of things that are not yet working (Blob Guy, for example. Guys, that joke just isn’t working), but they didnt lean too heavy on the…

Fair, but it is just starting and has potential. And it blows away first season Next Gen.

Because they want star trek with lens flares and war crimes and a total disregard for continuity.

Oh of course Fox is STILL fucking with shows by putting chronological episodes out of order.

There were a few scenes that made me wonder if it were supposed to air earlier. The scene of the Doctor and the blob guy seems like it was supposed to come before the one a week ago where he was hitting on her, like this was the episode he first gets a crush on her. But Bortus and Klyden had a baby bed so they must…

For a first season, post-TOS Star Trek series, it’s actually doing pretty well.Definitely better than TNG’s first season, probably on par with the other three shows. DS9 didn’t get good until Duet, remember.

I keep seeing people making the Star Trek: The Next Generation comparison, and obviously it’s an influence. But it sure looks and feels like Seth’s trying to make something far less earnest or serious even if it still has dramatic elements. The dialogue, tone, and overall production values remind me a lot more of…

Most people agree that the first series of TNG was pretty bad. We have to give this series time. It’s bringing us something that we all want and if you sit back and enjoy the ride it’s quite good. I think the humor will ramp down and it will find itself if people give it the time to do so. In a lot of ways this show…

I’d beg to differ on how good the Orville is - this is damn fine TV. It has it’s own style of comedy, where it deliberately lingers on jokes a bit too long, and that extra beat is part of the joke.

But it’s not Trek, that’s for sure. It’s different, and arguably better.

The Orville is a deconstruction playing things…

Despite some VERY familiar plot elements (indeed, I identified the basic overall plot the moment the episode title appeared, without even needing to see the inside of the ship), I felt this was solidly done. No points for innovation of course, but the storytelling was there. My only real issues are the jokes, which…

Apparently this was meant to be the 2nd episode but was moved after it didn’t test well which explains all the weird narrative backtracking.

What exactly do people want out of this show? Obviously it’s nowhere near being Star Trek level good, but TNG was even further away from being Star Trek level good in its first season. Most of the comedy misses rather than hits, but at this point I don’t care because The Orville is clearly a sci-fi drama, not a sci-fi…

I don’t understand all the reviewer negativity for Orville. As star trek lite isn’t this pretty much exactly what you’d want or expect?