Editing The Orville

'''The Orville''' is <s>[[Star Trek]] fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off</s> a comedy drama sci-fi television series that began as a homage to Star Trek, created by and starring Seth MacFarlane of ''Family Guy'' infamy-- [[Skub|No wait, come back!]]

The guy's a huge Trekkie, to the point of having a few cameos in Star Trek, who went to the FOX execs and pitched his idea for a loving comedic sendup of The Next Generation because he felt too many shows were going the grimdark route.  Many of the executive producers and developers are notable industry Trekkies such as David Goodman (who wrote the ''Futurama'' Trek parody episode), or Trek alumni such as Brannon Braga.  First airing in 2017, the series is about the strung-out not-Picard protagonist Captain Edward Mercer, played by MacFarlane himself, of the eponymous not-Enterprise spaceship "The Orville" ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers#Orville likely named after one of the Wright Brothers]).  His ex-wife Kelly is the first officer while the crew includes the beefy gay not-Worf alien Bortus, asshole not-Lore android Isaac, and John LaMarr and Gordon Malloy - an even more ridiculous parody of Harry Kim and Tom Paris. They explore the galaxy while dealing with personal problems and fighting various bad guys. The show has a mix of drama, comedy and commentary on real world issues.

The first season was thirteen episodes long but The Suits didn't like the episode revolving around (gay) porn addiction, so that got pulled. The episodes include the titular "Pilot" episode where Ed and Kelly begin their posting on the Orville while trying to build a professional relationship, "Majority Rule" -  an episode with good (if derivative) commentary on social currency systems, "About a Girl" - A Bortus-centered episode that explores his relationships during a vital part of his race's life cycle, and "Krill" - one of the season's three anti-religion episodes (side note; Season 1 pushes atheism hard enough to make Star Trek look like The Chronicles of Narnia), this one named for the villainous alien race the crew have to study who follow a violently xenophobic religion.  The season was mostly well-received, a few recurring complaints notwithstanding, and the show was greenlit for a second season.

In the second season, the network got a little more confident in the show so, to save money, they aired Bortas' porno, held over from the previous one.

The main change here was writing out Alara a couple eps in. The character's actress, Halston Sage, was rumored to have briefly dated Seth MacFarlane, although it is just as likely that other factors such as her role on ''Prodigal Son'' or a desire for a pay increase could've contributed to or caused her departure. The dating rumor may have got the oxygen it did due to a later episode where Captain Mercer dates a too-young version of his own First Officer, showing that [[Derp|dating a co-worker and subordinate 20 years younger than you rarely ends well]]). This all may come back to haunt the showrunners as Alara was one of the better received characters. Don't worry though, Alara's character was immediately replaced with another alien of the very same race, gender, and profession... despite the lore establishing that Alara's career path as a security officer is unusual by her species' standards. Alara's final episode ''is'' a good sendoff for the character.

Throughout the Season Isaac gradually turned good, becoming the crew's not-Data member, and another episode relied on a plot hole where a Krill captured and imprisoned by Ed in Season 1 returned as part of a strike force targeting him with no explanation for her escape.  Speaking of the Krill, they become the "lesser villains that need to team up with the good guys to fight worse villains" cliché, in possible asspull given all the villainous setup the Krill got so far (deliberately built around being violently religious and xenophobic with a sinister design invoking Nosferatu to the point of sharing his fatal weakness to sunlight).  The team up happens because the rest of Issac's robotic race, the Kaylons, have gone [[Necrons|Full Skynet]] against organic life. The cast seems to be gelling better - rumored situation between Seth and Halston aside, the writers have a better idea of what the show should be and the humor is now used in service of the stories; again, Alara's loss aside, it's a step up overall.  

The show is slated for a third season, but was cancelled by Fox and moved from TV to the streaming service Hulu.  However, filming was delayed by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Some commend The Orville as a well-made, witty breath of [[Noblebright|fresh air]] in an overly [[Grimdark|stagnant]] genre with a side of nostalgia.  Others denounce The Orville as derivative, sophomoric, vain (some consider MacFarlane stunt-casting himself as the main character the height of vanity, especially given his tendency to push his views on the audience) and uncomfortable (eg; Ed's interactions with ex-wife character Kelly).  Some think both sides have a point.  Trekkies are equally divided on the show; many Trekkies [[butthurt]] over Discovery endorse The Orville, a significant number of Discovery fans hate The Orville, and a small and overlooked group quietly enjoys both.  

As always, stay tuned for how this turns out.