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The Orville Proves ‘Derivative’ Doesn’t Always Mean Unnecessary or Bad
When Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi space odyssey show The Orville was first announced, the geek world raised a collective single eyebrow and muttered “fascinating.” It was both a bold and interesting choice for the longtime titan of animation on Fox to leverage his considerable success to make what is clearly a passion project in which he cast himself as a kind of combination Kirk and Picard (and a bit of Kermit the Frog). Perhaps the most glaring observation one could make, especially before the show aired, was that it was part-homage, part-rip-off of the Star Trek series. To add to the befuddlement, this show premiered in the same season as the newest Star Trek property, the CBS All Access exclusive series Star Trek: Discovery. Yet, any honest Trekker/ie will admit that when comparing the two, The Orville is hands-down the clear successor to the torch lit by Gene Roddenberry more than half a century ago.
Of course, this wasn’t readily apparent at first. If you’ve not seen the show and want to go-in spoiler-free, now’s the time to bookmark this page and return after you’ve seen it. Light spoilers below:
