If you’re a Seth MacFarlane fan then you might have already taken a look at The Orville and either loved it or hated it depending on how much you like the creator. But one thing seems kind of hard to get around, and that’s the idea that the show will last past season 2. Some people might scoff at this and others might be warming up their fingers for a quick rebuttal, but the belief that this show can last into a third season is something that’s a bit iffy for a few reasons, which I’ll gladly expand upon in just a moment. But first let’s just say it does, there might be a lot of material that Seth could possibly look at and really count as worthy of taking on as his own idea, in some way, but in terms of creating a new and engaging space exploration show he’s so far shown that he’s not exactly Mr. Originality when it comes to this type of program. That alone might be why The Orville is kind of doomed to falter whether it succeeds or not.
Here are a couple of reasons why we might not see a season 3.
It’s an old idea in a new package.
If you don’t choose to see that the idea of the Orville is Star Trek being played out in a new and different way then you’re purposefully deluding yourself and want to see the positives, which is not a bad thing, instead of being realistic. You can bring on the facts about how many shows have copied one another throughout the years and you’d be correct, but that’s what makes a lot of shows unappealing to the public since despite the idea that the memory of the audience is measured in microseconds, the greats tend to stay with the audience for quite some time considering that they became an integral part of pop culture and were widely accepted by so many. The unfortunate fact is that those greats also inspired a legion of copycats that have been trying as hard as they can to create their own pop culture icons and have done little to nothing to make anything else stick. Right now the Orville seems to be gaining some ground as there is already talk of a third season being approved. But if it is or isn’t the stark truth seems to be that people are starting to get tired of the continual comparisons that can be made to Star Trek, especially given that the show is just one similarity after another that many fans can notice without any trouble.
Seth MacFarlane isn’t all that great at live-acting.
Now this is a matter of opinion of course, but Seth is not a live-action man no matter how badly people want to say that he is while straining their voices because they’re trying to convince themselves of the fact as well. He’s great when he’s doing voices on Family Guy, and on a bloopers reel he’s not that bad, but actually acting in a live show he’s not really that great. His acting will no doubt improve with time if he’s allowed to stick around, but otherwise he falls back on too many jokes, one-liners, and the goofy mannerisms that have made him so great when it comes to Family Guy. Given time he might be a good actor, but if this is his staging ground where he intends to practice then it might not last too much longer.
The content just doesn’t fit the time allotted.
You might wonder what I mean by that, and I’ll gladly tell you. In a half-hour long show such as Family Guy the quick jokes and one-liners are easily absorbed since there’s only a finite amount of time to hear them and process each one. But in an hour-long show such as the Orville those quick jokes become fleeting things that kind of hang in the air for a moment before finally coming back down to the ground and leaving a great deal of empty space for the show to try and fill. In other words Seth and the rest of the cast have to find a way to fill in the gaps that makes the most sense and keeps the story going in a way that will allow it to entertain the audience and somehow still maintain some continuity so it’s not just a bunch of jokes that are lined up end to end being told over the course of sixty minutes with some action thrown in for variety. Right now the show feels like a toddler that’s trying on their parents’ clothing and finding that they don’t have enough mass to fill up a t-shirt.
If the show gets approved for a third season it might only increase the height of the flames it will eventually go down in. But it will be interesting if it does get approved.
UPDATE: Season 3 has been confirmed.Seth MacFarlane
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Foster just doesn’t get it, like the majority of professional/semi-pro reviewers don’t get it. Yes, Orville is Star Trek, but Star Trek for 2018 onward. The original ST was a space opera, not true sci-fi. We cared more about the characters than the plots. After a point, what’s the difference in the “sci-fi” content of TOS, Next Gen, and DS9. Not much. Viewers cared about the characters. Orville is a little different beast from all the STs with its use of Seth type humor. But we’re talking about 2019 not the mid 1960’s. Is the stuff humorous? Yes. Is the show enjoyable and the characters likeable? Yes. So what’s the problem?
It won’t get Season 3 because it stopped being funny already in Season 2.
People don’t watch Seth for serious drama, and that’s what he’s trying to do with it now. It *could* be *both*, but he’s deliberately dropped the constant funny lines and gags, just leaving drab preachy drama, which none of his fans are interested in.
They kept saying The Big Bang Theory wouldn’t last, but it did until Jim Parsons called it quits.
All good points to be honest. If it lasts then so be it. If it doesn’t, then so be it as well. Blee the one thing I would point out is the lack of originality no matter that the show does have its own characters. The toy companies have done the same thing with various character molds. You can paint them differently but they still look the same. But once again, good points all around, and thanks for the feedback.
A big difference is it doesnt come of as true scifi. My wife would never watch any Star Trek but loves Orville and ive read many articles where that is the case.
Science fiction is still pretty fluid despite having a very set amount of guidelines, but I hear you and kind of agree. Thanks for the comment.
Sounds like a sad Trekkie who can’t handle the truth; Orville is the fun, endearing sci-fi, while the aptly-acronym’ed STD is an online-only niche flop.
This article doesn’t even make sense.
“That alone might be why The Orville is kind of doomed to falter whether it succeeds or not”. If it succeeds, that means it didn’t falter.
“But first let’s just say it does, there might be a lot of material that Seth could possibly look at and really count as worthy of taking on as his own idea, in some way, but in terms of creating a new and engaging space exploration show he’s so far shown that he’s not exactly Mr. Originality when it comes to this type of program. ” That is quite a long sentence and doesn’t even make sense.
Well, let me allay any concerns and state that I’m not a Trekkie. This is an opinion-based article and it’s always interesting to see opposing views. Also, cnardell, I do understand I have bad habit for run-on sentences so thanks for pointing that out. However, a show can falter if it succeeds, as it can mean there’s simply nothing better that people want to watch, which is sad but true in some cases. However, the second sentence, long as it is, aims at the fact that MacFarlane is a very funny guy, but doesn’t always seem to swing for the fences when it comes to originality, preferring to keep it low and very much inside the box. I do apologize if you have trouble keeping up with the wording. Thanks for the comments though, they’re appreciated.
Tom, I agree with you so much about ‘The Orville’ that I’m posting here instead of my Facebook page (I like to write reviews there, but I don’t think enough people would see, or care). The show’s a vanity project for Seth Macfarlane. Without ‘Family Guy’ he never would have been able to launch the Orville. As a fan of ‘Star Trek’, Seth, AND ‘Family Guy’, I’m disappointed in the show. It doesn’t know what it wants to be. Wait… It wants to be ‘Galaxy Quest’, but doesn’t come close. THAT type of Orville would work. An homage, a comedy, and an action adventure. More Patrick Warburton, Norm Macdonald, and childish banter. Less storyline rip-offs (Brannon Braga and Macfarlane need to let go and allow new writers to go wild). This is a slick production that can only be saved by more clever story-and-joke-telling.
I would actually agree with as that’s my personal opinion. Being objective I’ll say that Seth MacFarlane is a funny guy, but drama is just not his thing at this point in his career. You can give the guy credit for trying to step out of his comfort zone, but so far it doesn’t seem to be working quite as well. If it finds its own identity and runs with it there’s a good chance it could disprove this article. Things happen.
Thanks for the post by the way, forgot to add that in at the end.
The Orville is better trek than ST:D and they not to forget that Family Guy has been running since 99; was cancelled, and revived! This article is sour grapes.
If The Orville is cancelled, it will be for many of the same reasons Star Trek was cancelled back in ’69 — The vast majority of people don’t get it! For those that don’t remember, TOS rehashed a number of unoriginal ideas, like “The Doomsday Machine”, “Obsession”, “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”, and others. These weren’t ‘new’ ideas, but they were told in a new and modern way. For the detractors, it was low-hanging fruit to mock the show, but in the subsequent decades these became lessons for lifetimes. And in case anyone needs to be reminded, TOS broke a number of then taboos of race, gender stereotypes, relationships, etc., and presented other societal norms of the time in all of their absurdity.
The Orville excels at many things, it regularly breaks the fourth wall, and shows us it’s self-awareness. Someday those little aspects will be seen as the beginning of the new paradigm.
If you enjoy The Orville, then do what you can to support it. Watch it on TV, and rewatch it on Hulu — do whatever you can to boost the ratings, become a (small) part of history, or allow history to pass you by.
— In Liberty
Yes it may be running off pre-used ideas but look at most TV shows and movies nothing’s been original for a long time at least he’s adding humor 2 shows that have been very dry and serious for way too long and also are touches on some touchy subjects that TV shows generally try to steer clear of which I kind of like it has a modern-day twist tune old TV show so if it does get cancelled from regular Network I hope that Netflix or fire stick or Pluto TV or some other interweb carrier picks it up cuz I will continue to watch it personally cuz I for one enjoy the Orville and Netflix does pick up the show he can probably do more than what he’s able to with regular TV and for those saying that oh that’s not sticking to his stand-up comedy that’s good an actor should spread their wings and explored new areas in acting cuz it’s seen them in the same type of rule over and over again gets very old and stale look at Tom Hanks he started off as a comedic actor and worked his way through a bunch of different stuff look at Bill Murray he’s done several different things Robin Williams they’ve all done, characters dramatic actors they’re all very well diverse and if you’ve ever seen any other videos and plays on the interweb of Seth McFarland’s work you’d see that he is a very well diverse actor not just dick and fart jokes I support the fact that he’s trying to expand his fan base as well as his acting Spectrum to the General Public
My shout of frustration:
I wish I could watch and be a fan of The Orville. A Star Trek show with humor should be a big hit, but instead MacFarlane is making a show for a narrow niche audience. I’m certain that it’s the gross out humor that’s killing the show. I’m certain that MacFarlane and his writers could easily make a show I, and many other people, would want to watch, but they don’t. I’m certain the majority of the potential audience (primarily Trekkies I’m assuming) don’t decide on whether to watch based on “liking” MacFalane. You have to admit, he has a unique brand of gross out humor, but he’s shown he can also make jokes that don’t automatically turn stomachs. The problem is, many people just don’t find things like being ejaculated on by an alien to be funny, quite the opposite. It’s not something I want to watch, I’m sure many feel the same. For pitty’s sake, difficult can this revelation be? Like Fox execs haven’t mentioned this to him?
Your opinion is of course valid and I can see how you feel the way you do. However, I think time will bear out that yours is a minority opinion. Based on three of the most widely used ratings websites, it seems that people overwhelmingly enjoy the show in general and the second season in particular:
Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 93% based on 675 user ratings (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/orville/s02/)
IMDB rating of 7.9 based on 39,216 ratings (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5691552/) [For the series overall, I didn’t see a breakdown by season]
Meteoritic rating of 7.2 based on 26 ratings (https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-orville/season-2)
Now, the show’s reception from professional critics is lower, and popular shows have been cancelled in spite of their popularity. That being said, The Orville is a relatively popular show. Last year it’s Nielsen Rating was 2.3 in the adults 18-49 category (https://www.indiewire.com/2018/05/most-watched-tv-shows-2017-2018-season-roseanne-this-is-us-walking-dead-1201968306/). That translates to something like 3 million viewers on average (approximately 131 million people in the category multiplied by .023). There are several Fox shows with less viewership that have been running for years. I don’t see a reason at present to cancel The Orville. My money’s on a third season.
It’s actually nice to see this level of discourse and discussion. Thanks one and all for your comments and your passion concerning the show. In some way I do hope that you’re proven right, though I will hold onto my own opinion. If history passes me by it won’t be the first time as I like to think that sitcoms come and go and those that enjoy them are of course entitled to like what they want. This does show that some folks really do care about their TV shows. Thanks for the posts.
I think what draws people to The Orville IS the familiarity. I know a lot of the episodes are classic story ideas that we’ve seen from Sci-Fi shows before, but I think that is what makes it kind of, well, great in my option. The show brings back memories of the shows I watched when I was younger, and does put a slight twist on them.
The main issue on why it has so many mixed reviews is because there were ‘expectations’ for how this series should be, or rather should have been. And with the name Seth Macfarlane, there were even more of those expectations. A lot of people wanted to see a Sci-Fi half-hour comedy, others wanted a serious space drama and when it turned out it was neither of them but a combination of both, it just left everyone confused. Even the way FOX marketed it was misleading (Seth has stated in many interviews)
For me I went in with an open mind. After seeing the preview of the show I just thought it was going to be a science fiction show that I actually might want to see. And I did, and it was.
I would like to see more seasons from this show, if it makes it to a 5th season that would be even better, if not then maybe fans can hope for those movies they’ve been talking about. :)
I think you’re very right in your assessment adfsdf, the expectations of a show are what can kill the interest a lot of times, but I am glad to see so many people taking their own stance in this. My own philosophy is to each their own, and so far people have made it clear where they stand on the matter of this show lasting for a while. Barring those that have used personal attacks this has been an interesting line of discussion. Thanks for your comment, it’s always interesting to see different viewpoints.
I know it’s kind of pointless to say, but I’m sorry you’re suffering personal attacks over your respectful opinion of a television show. I enjoyed your article even though I disagree. It led me to conduct a little Google-fu in support of my opinions, and I learned a little bit along the way. Thanks for the experience!
I’m not too worried about it, this kind of thing happens when you write about certain things. People have the right to their opinions and that’s part of what this is about. Taking the high road isn’t easy but it’s preferable to getting into an argument that resorts to something out of one’s childhood years. Thanks for your words though, they’re very appreciated.
When Orville was announced I was cautiously optimistic. In general I liked it but the humor seemed to be disconnected from the rest of the show. The dog on the couch was the biggest example, similar in tone to Conway Twitty on Family Guy but lacked any purpose. Now that has changed and I am not sure if I like it or not.
Season 2 has less humor and what is there is far better integrated. Subtler yes, but less like the Family Guy that drew us into Orville in the first place. Oddly enough the sci-fi is improving and in at least two episodes has been build upon Season 1 jokes.
Yes it can be compared to Star Trek, but really only out of laziness. Sometimes it seems as that is the only sci-fi a reviewer knows so it gets used. There was a season 1 episode that reminded me (sort of) of a Sliders episode. I have seen a enes that I would compare to some of the Twilight Zone remakes.
Season 2 makes me think the show is growing up. This will either bring more viewers or loose more viewers, but only if the show gets to find its own groove. It is better that STD, but that bar is so low that who cares.
It’s quite interesting to see the different comments and everyone’s take on this. Thanks for the comments, they’re enlightening in a way.
It seems to Me, Tom, you’re writing this article from an agenda rather than from actually watching it. Sure, the first two episodes, of Season two, were less than stellar, but one of them was a holdover from the first season, so it shouldn’t be blamed for not fitting in, and the other, I think, was laying story foundation. The second two shows, of this season, have improved and with them so has their ratings. The Orville will probably get a season three, especially if the shows and ratings keep getting better.
If it seems that way James let me assure you, I don’t have an agenda against the show. If it proves me wrong then I will own it and admit it. In truth it’s been quite interesting to see the responses to this article as it’s obviously touched a nerve. Thanks for the comment.
Looking forward to the follow up article “How i was wrong”
Orville is going nowhere
Hi Pontoon01, sorry you’re late to the party. But thanks for your comment all the same.
Season 3 is confirmed.
Okay, then the article was a guess that was proven wrong. Thank you for calling it out. Have a good one.
Hi,
I was very excited to see the update on The Orville, (i.e., “Season 3 has been confirmed”).
But since I haven’t heard that from any of the people involved in the production, nor from the show’s on-line fan base, I checked the show’s page on Fox.com … they aren’t mentioning season 3 yet. So I did multiple Google searches and I still couldn’t find any confirmation. That said, could you kindly provide a link to the announcement?
Thanks, in advance.
SciFiRules this is the best link I could find when trying to find out if there will be a season 3.
https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/orville-fox-cancelled-renewed-season-three/
Right now it looks like the ratings are down from last season and things aren’t going as well, but it could be a transition phase. Anyway, you can go to the above link to keep an eye on it. Enjoy.
Thank you for providing the link Tom.
When I was searching for any confirmation of season three, that was one of the first articles I came across.
Alas, while the article speculated that it would make good economic sense to renew The Orville, it didn’t actually confirm a season three either. Therefore, for those of us who like The Orville more than any other Sci Fi television property currently in production, we will need to remain on “high alert” until we receive official confirmation! I know critical reviews aren’t everything, but season two of The Orville currently has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Hopefully that will have at least some influence on Fox TV’s decision. Time will tell.
BTW: I enjoyed your article and will try to compose my thoughts into a detailed response when time permits. One thing’s for sure, you started a great conversation, (this is a subject worthy of intelligent discussion).
Cheers!
Thanks SciFiRules, I really appreciate your comments and I do agree that high alert would be best since despite the 100% on Rotten Tomatoes anything can and usually does happen. But maybe Orville will prove to be a little more versatile and able to pull it off. This conversation took a lot of interesting turns but it did spark a lot of interest, that’s for certain. Thanks again, always nice to ‘talk’ to someone and not argue all the time, haha. Take care.
I’ve read the story and the comments and I have never responded before to anything, but I felt I had to say something…
I like the show and don’t have the insight to be clever about what’s right or wrong with it.. I just like it.. it entertains me.. I just wanna watch TV with no expectations, except to watch something cool.. I have racks and racks of old shows on dvd from the 40s through the
80s and this show fits right in to my star trek .happy days. Gilligans .island .Hogan’s heroes .Batman .beverly hillbillies .bewitched .my favorite Martian .green acres.. etc etc etc.. get the picture? I just love TV, or as it used to be.. I can’t bring myself to watch broadcast TV and it was purely by accident I even found out about The Orville. I have purchased the first season and await the next and I hope it does continue, because even though I may be a crappy unwanted demographic to most of TV land I spend money on this stuff, Hate Ads and love cheese.. thank you Tom.
Well thank you starsguitars, it is obvious that I was wrong about there being a season 2 but we’ll see if they push through to a season 3 since ratings seemed to have dropped just a bit. Until then though, keep o enjoying what you want to watch. Thanks for the comment and take care.