Seth MacFarlane’s new show “The Orville” is not just derived from Star Trek, but it’s set to capitalize on disgruntled fans, according to a cast member.
Originally believed by many to be a spoof of Star Trek, Seth MacFarlane’s new series “The Orville” appears to be much more than meets the eye. In fact, while the show’s trailer made it appear to be a comedy typical of MacFarlane’s body of work, we’ve since learned that it’s not an exclusively comedic series after all.
In fact, much of the humor in the trailer consists of most of the jokes in the premiere episode, which means that the show itself is much more serious in nature.
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That’s not a bad thing, and there’s no reason that The Orville and Star Trek: Discovery can’t coexist side-by-side, much like Deep Space Nine and Babylon Five did in the 1990’s. The Orville has an impressive staff consisting of a number of Star Trek alumni, including Voyager showrunner Brannon Braga as executive producer, and both Robert Duncan McNeill and Jonathan Frakes have directed episodes.
The Orville’s close release date to Discovery appears to be anything but coincidental, however. The Orville debuts on September 10th, two weeks before Discovery comes out on September 24th. It also has the advantage of being on Fox, which is free television, as opposed to Discovery, which in the United States will be mostly aired on CBS All Access.
That’s a subscription service that costs $9.99 per month if you want to skip the commercials, and a large (and vocal) contingent segment of Star Trek fans are loudly opposed to paying for Trek content. For those fans, The Orville waits with open arms, according to Mark Jackson, who plays an android named Isaac in the show.
"“That’s only going to be available online,” Jackson added. “And you have to pay a subscription for it. So I think there’s going to be a few disgruntled Star Trek fans who will love this show, as well as Seth MacFarlane fans, so we’ll have quite the mix.”"
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There’s nothing wrong with positioning yourself for success, and I hope The Orville does succeed. I’ll be watching both shows and expect to enjoy both of them, and my deepest hope is that both series enjoy long and impressive runs.