Somebody who reviewed one of the new and frankly bizarre "Star Trek" series that are out there said that they should just hand the entire Star Trek franchise over to Seth MacFarlane as he was most suited and likely to actually do a good job of keeping the essence of Star Trek and its legacy. I could not agree more. What the new Star Trek series fail miserably at achieving MacFarlane does so effortlessly. In just one or two episodes of the Orville we already like and understand who the characters are. We care for them. In the new Star Trek series they cry all the time either when leaving each other or when being reunited, obviously they are incredibly attached to each other, however, the viewer has not partaken in the actual bonding that seems to have occurred between the characters. Must have been happening behind the scenes. Again, MacFarlane makes the interaction between the crew members very successful. For example, by understanding the importance of downtime and using an inviting dining or pub area for people to hang out.
Instead of filling our screens with doomsday scenarios the Orville brings us hope for the future and the message that we can always aspire to better as human beings.
At any time, but especially now, I feel the world could do with more positive messages like this.
However, even though the Orville reminds us of the "real" Star Trek, it has its own personality and manages to effectively balance humour, the weird, with the serious, with the current topics of our modern world.
We need the Orville and I sincerely hope we get several more seasons of this well-made, well-rounded, quality show!
Also a plus for the good music and a real intro theme!