I was going to check it out but I heard that it was cut short and didn't want to be disappointed. But I'll try it knowing there's a movie to conclude it.
Wasn’t it the problem at the release that the episodes weren’t aired in order? Leading to low ratings, hence why it was cancelled.
I’m glad I watched it though.
I've seen the recommendations: Babylon 5, Farscape, The Expanse, etc., but Firefly is the easiest to get into. More or less everyone can enjoy it, and it's short.
Just make sure you watch in the proper order and not the order it was aired! Not even sure nowadays if it's possible to watch in the aired order. But just be mindful of that. FOX screwed over Firefly so hard.
I would say SG1 is the closest to Orville in having a light humor side, with some ethical stuff now and then, the cast is smaller in comparison, but their internal dynamics are interesting and fun to watch over time, if you haven't watched it, the first season is kinda rough, but around episode 8 the true heart of SG1 starts to show.
I keep wanting to get into Farscape, I've tried 3 times now, but first impression is that it is too silly for me.
And it suffers from "first season weak writing" syndrome.
I will give an example and put it in spoilers tags:
>!There is an episode in which the blue woman is very pacifist refusing to harm a villain that got into the ship. But then in another episode not far after that they are given the chance to get a galactic map to lead them home, and the price is to remove the arm or arms from another character, and she was "like cool where is the sharpest knife?"!< it just felt like bad characterization...
Another thing that bothered me a bit was the puppets, it just felt cheap and took me out of the suspension of disbelief. The whole "pees acid" just felt juvenile.
I probably will go back to it because there is a lot of love for that franchise, but it is not easy for me.
SG1 in comparison was both more serious and yet very full of humor now and then. Somehow Farscape was both not serious enough, and way too humorous.
The writing in the first half of season 1 is pretty inconsistent. IIRC, it gets much better in the second half of the season (with the notable exception of *Jeremiah Chrichton*, which is generally considered to be one of the worst episodes of the entire series). As for the arm-ripping episode, I think the violence was an intentional point they were trying to make with the story rather than a case of inconsistent writing. I won't give anything specific away, but Zhaan (the blue lady), and really all of the characters on the show are fairly complex and do not fall as neatly into Sci-Fi character archetypes as you'd expect based on the setup you get in the pilot episode. Much of the enjoyment of watching the show comes from that complexity and how it affects how they see themselves and each other.
I don't know how old you are so forgive me if this is something you already know, but keep in mind that shows used to have much longer seasons than they do now, and the writers often took a good while to figure out what they were doing before things got good. Some of the best Sci Fi/fantasy shows of all time took more than a full season of 20 something episodes to get their shit together and start remotely resembling what they eventually became. If you're judging the quality of a show made before 2010 by watching the first 8 episodes of the first season, you're often going to be torturing yourself with no benefit.
I know people like to be completionists, but my suggestion to you would be to find an essential episodes watch list for the first seasons of some of these shows and watch those instead of trying to watch all of the first few episodes. If you decide you like the show enough to keep watching, you can always swing back and catch the the lesser episodes later and this way, you'll have a better idea of what the show is going to be before you decide it's not for you.
Great example of what u/punkinholler is talking about is Babylon 5. The whole first season sucks. I do not understand how they got renewed. I'd go so far as to say you could watch a 10 minute summary on youtube and save yourself hours of watching a pretty crummy first season. But the following seasons are top-notch. Such a shame they made JMS rush the story at the end.
There's a common story that B5 started with a 5 year plan. It's sort of true, but it was really a 10 season plan for two shows. The end of season one is when JMS started the rework to 5 years total and took advantage of a cast change to make it plausibly slot in.
I think the original plan doesn't sound anywhere as good as what we got.
Many times people who love a certain show will attack such criticism, I'm not telling anyone not to love something, people love things that objectively are trash \*cough\*kardashians\*cough\* but it is one thing to say "I love X show" and saying "X show is perfect, how dare you criticize it?"
The best part about Farscape is the juvenile silly humor imo, on some level it allowed them to take certain things farther than other shows would be able, to me it feels very ahead of it’s time, I remember an episode where chiana refers to Rigel as a “kinkoid” , this is in 2001 or 02
Whoever was writing this stuff could have had so many twitter followers, I loved all the alien slang they came up with
The show was worth watching for me just because Crichton and Aeryn join sg1 in the later seasons, after finishing it I find it to be better than sg1
The puppets will grow on you to the point that you prefer them
And another thing is that Scorpius is one of the best villains in all of scifi
I can tell you my personal story with SG1, I hated it!
I tried 4 times to get into it and couldn't, I usually stopped after 4-5 episodes, but people kept recommending it to me so fervently I decided to give it 10 episodes.
Boy was I glad I did, become one of my fave franchises, I've rewatched all the stargate shows more than 20 times.
If by episode 10 you don't at least like it, it may not be for you. But the first few episodes are very very weak.
Thr first season or 2 is fairly week. It's a much strong show later on. If it's not working out you could try just starting at season 6 or even just give season 9 and 10 a go as the last two seasons have their own story arc. Then there's always stargate atlantis as well. I hate starting later on in a series but I'd hate it even more if the first couple of seasons put you off the rest of it.
If you're struggling with SG-1, try Stargate Atlantis. It was spun off after SG-1 Season 7 and because of that, it's high quality right off the bat whereas SG-1's first season was a lot rockier.
SG1 is literally one of my favourite science fiction shows ever. I hope you give it a chance because it gets even better in a few seasons and there's a lot of political intrigue that comes along with it as well.
Good for you for trying to stick it out. It took me a couple of times but it was worth it. I just finished my second rewatch this month. Stargate Atlantis is the one that got me into he franchise. Might be worth checking out first.
I'd recommend trying The Lower Decks and Galaxy Quest. You could always try Stargate SG1. It's rough in the first season or two for newcomers but it has a light comedy side which just increases as the seasons go on. The last couple of seasons have a lot of humour in it.
Star Trek Lower Decks is great. I tried it after I watched The Orville, and was pleasantly surprised. I started in season 3 because that’s what Amazon prime had. I’ve heard starting in season 1 can be rougher but I already loved the show when I got to season 1.
I have no idea why I liked the Orville as much as I did. I wasn’t expecting much with Seth macfarlane. But man, it became my favourite show quickly. That is one talented dude.
Also, a suggestion I've not seen anyone else make: Eureka. It's not a space travel based show (though if that's your jam, I might also suggest Avenue S), but it is a fantastical-yet-grounded-in-hard-science show about a Federal agent who ends up having to be the sheriff of a town populated entirely by geniuses who are working on next-gen weapons and such for the Department of Defense; so he's literally the dumbest guy in town, having to solve crimes and enforce laws.
Great show! It was one of my favorites!
Warehouse 13 is in the same "universe" and is pretty good. Also, The librarians is another semi funny scifi show in that area.
What exactly was "the hit" for you in Orville? Which you didn't get in other shows?
**Star trek: DS9** is my wosonal favorite, the first seasons sucks and it may be hard to get into it for you. Try some of the best episodes: **Duet, In The Pale Moonlight, The Siege of AR-558, It's Only a Paper Moon.**
Incredibly strong stories, you don't even need to know much about the show. EspeciallyDuet, even if you didn't find Star Trek appealing, give a try to this one episode. It deals with a conflicts of two characters: one of them being resistance fighter, another being basically a concentation camp... guard, to not spoil the point. Incredible emotional rollercoaster, which you'll not expect.
The last two episodes I mentioned deal with war trauma, they actually consulted this episode with actual war veterans to get realistic portrayal of PTSD. Again, incredible emotions, you watch spoiled group of people which lived in privilege and prosperity so far, to be pushed against extreme situation in front lines, and see them to break both psychically and emotionally.
In the Pale Moonlight is just brilliant, I won't spoil this one for you. You might need some basic prior knowledge to understand the situation, but it can be watched as stand alone episode as well (it was my 1st ep. of DS9).
There's not so much fun, but if you liked Orville for societal commentary and storytelling, you might like these episodes as well.
I think what really drew me in was that the world felt so... possible. I wish I could be Lysella right now, and get swooped up into the 25th century. However, I really appreciate your comment and will check out the episodes you referenced. Thank you.
Star Trek at this point also benefits from the huge quantity of stories in a shared universe which really allows things to get fleshed out in great detail. If you start with the first episode of TOS today and watched an episode every day it would take just a little less than 2.5 years to get through all the episodes to the different Star Trek series.
Some random shows that mix scifi with comedy, in case that's your thing:
* The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. - a "weird west" that aired for one season in the 90s. Tinges of steampunk and scifi, but mostly Western.
* American Dad - not very much like The Orville, even though it's also Seth MacFarlane. But it has an alien in the cast, and it gets into science-fiction-y stuff fairly often.
* Avenue 5 - Disaster on a space cruise ship
* Chuck - Action/comedy/scifi/espionage. Silly, but fun.
* Eureka - Everyday life in a town where all of America's super-scientists live.
* Extraordinary - Everyone gets superpowers when they turn 18, except the protagonist, who's into her 20s and still doesn't have powers.
* Fallout - Post apocalypse action/comedy/drama
* Futurama - Assuming you know what this one is
* Future Man - Time travel comedy. Incredibly juvenile, but also a lot of fun.
* Inside Job - Animated conspiracy theory comedy
* The Last Man on Earth - Post apocalyptic comedy. Unfortunately, cancelled and ends on a cliffhanger.
* Mrs. Davis - A.I. Religious Adventure Comedy? Miniseries, so it tells a complete story in one season.
* Resident Alien - An alien is not very good at pretending to be human.
* Rick and Morty - Probably also assuming you know what this one is
* Severance - Light on the comedy, but it's a great show. People working in an office where their brains are split, so the workplace version of themselves only knows what happens at work, and the outside version of themselves only knows what happens outside work.
* Solar Opposites - Animated, and similar to Rick and Morty. Aliens trying to live in human society.
* Upload - After people die, their consciousnesses are uploaded to a virtual paradise, if they can afford it. The protagonist isn't rich, but when he dies, he finds himself uploaded anyway, thanks to his kind of crazy girlfriend.
* Warehouse 13 - Government agents work for the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark (not literally, but basically), which houses all the things too powerful to be allowed out in society.
* Weird City - An anthology series, kinda Black Mirror but with comedy, all set in a future city, which has a wall dividing a utopia from a dystopia.
I feel the same about The Expanse. Also the same emptiness you described about The Orville. Knowing that so much of it was inspired from the next generation helps, but there’s nothing really close to taking its place.
The Expanse was great for the first few seasons. But it really loses its way in the last couple seasons. We watched it all the way through around the holidays when we were stuck at home, and I had never seen the last season or two… wish I didn’t either.
I really adored the first three seasons, absolute peak television.
But the last three seasons were just alright. They weren’t bad, but watching them felt like eating a tasty pizza that could’ve been great, but they’ve been left out. And now I’ve just eaten cold and hard pizza, that could’ve had so much tasty potential.
I really enjoy the hard sci fi attention to detail in the show. It’s pretty depressing compared to a lot of other sci fi portrayals of a future spacefaring human race, but it’s still probably more optimistic than what will probably happen.
I just started watching The Orville and its kind of a cursed show for me.. I’m currently going through a divorce because of infidelity on my wife’s part. The way Ed and Kelly argue about the cheating and why it happened and everything is almost identical to what my situation is like. It’s scary. I broke down crying the first episode alone because of it. At the same time I absolutely love the show and am binge watching it.
New series coming soon!, You Small off duty Czechoslovakian Traffic Warden
[https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/red-dwarf-three-new-episodes-newsupdate/](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/red-dwarf-three-new-episodes-newsupdate/)
The Orville is basically a love letter to Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, to the point I think they even have some of the same writers.
I’m not sure how far you got while trying them, but they’re definitely worth sticking out. They each take a season or two to really hit their stride but they are so good.
Babylon 5 is a slow burn, it takes time to set up the puzzle pieces and establish its world and characters before the real plot kicks in, so it can be a slog at first. But once it kicks in...
Expect to just not realize how things are being set up while you watch what seems to simply be an episodic show, until it starts to become apparent it isn't.
If thoughtful, true sci-fi like the Orville is your thing, I’d recommend Black Mirror. Together with The Orville, it’s the best sci-fi out there. I’d say give the “San Juniper” ep a shot first or, if not, there’s a Star Trek-ish ep “USS Callister” that is very, very good. Also, as others have said, GalaxyQuest is something truly special. It’s somewhat more of a TOS Trek “parody” than Orville is, but it’s done with so much love and the cast is dropdead amazing.
If you want some great shows, these are what you are looking for:
Firefly, Stargate SG1, and Stargate Atlantis should fit what you are looking for with a space theme.
Chuck, White Collar, and Dollhouse are also great choices even if they are not space related.
I've watched all star trek series many times. My favorite is Voyager. I like the idea of being far away and making their way back. And Janeway... the best captain in my opinion.
VOY is like… 20% really bad (looking at you, Tuvix), 60% really good (The Thaw), and 20% absolutely fantastic (Year of Hell). Janeway is a fantastic captain and once you get passed S1, it’s really good TV.
Not as good at Next Gen’s best episodes, as that’s some of the best SciFi of all time. But it’s really good!
Dark Matter (2015-2017), Start Trek Continues, Farscape, Firefly, Dune movies and series, Stargate movies and series, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow… and others…
I’m trying to think of things that haven’t been said over and over. I agree woth those encouraging you to get deeper into next generation to see as things gel and they get past the rodenberry years.
Better off Ted was a really fun office style sci fi parody sitcom. It was well written and acted.
Have you tried Dr. Who? There’s a whimsical but heartfelt tone that might sit in the same place. I’d recommend starting at the reboot with Christopher Eccleston.
Futurama strikea some of the same tone as orville and galaxy quest too.
Have you read Project Hail Mary? I think it might be up your alley.
I have seen the first season of Dr. Who and enjoyed it. But then I saw a clip of The Orville on YouTube and got sidetracked. I will finish Dr. Who eventually.
Thank you for these recs and I will look into all of them.
You should look into the Mass Effect trilogy of video games. If you aren't someone who plays games, there are edited videos of it put together on Youtube that make it feel like a TV show.
Orville was an incredible combination of high quality science fiction and working man humor. The first episode, when he asks " the last captain let us have soda at the console" I knew it was going to be a unique show.
100% get your feelings about Orville. After I found Star Trek Strange New Worlds and LOVE it! I was not a ST fan before. I recommend watching the episodes with that cast in ST Discovery first for somecontext, they're goid, and you'll hit a cross over episode in season 2 with ST Lower Decks, and go watch Lower Deck (also amazing, which shocked me because I thought it looked stupid) before you continue.
Rebecca Romijn is Una Chin-Riley/number 1 and she's soooo great, I think I even like her more than Kelly
SNW is startrek learning the lessons of the orville. Highly recommended. Discovery imho was the absolute bottom of the barrel. They forgot everything that made startrek something we loved.
Firefly is great.
Any Star Trek newer than 2007 is legally not Star Trek because it's under a different license and in fact ignores a lot of core rules of original trek. TNG, DS9, and Voyager are peak Trek.
The newer Star Treks were created under a separate license than the previous Star Treks. One of the requirements was that all content had to be "at least 25% different from previous versions". That why they can use the names of all the characters and ships, but the ships themselves are different. The size and scale of the Enterprise is different and they created an alternate history to make it easier to implement the "25% different" legal requirement. Canonically, all the new trek is considered to be in a different universe.
And rightfully so. I mentioned that they break some core rules. A good example is Roddenberry's golden rule: all Federation crew must resolve their interpersonal issues by the end of the episode. Star Fleet is supposed to represent the best of what humanity can be in the future which means resolving differences peacefully and quickly. Take Lt. Barkley as an example. The crew wanted to get rid of him because he was super awkward but by the end of the episode they found a way to work with him. They didn't LIKE him, but they were at peace with him and saw him as a valuable member of the crew. Compare that to the first season of star Trek discovery (STD). The main character is constantly at everyone's throats, people are rude to one another constantly, and they end episodes with massive interpersonal conflict. It breaks the core rule. The drama of star Trek is meant to be about exploring social and political ideologies and trying to find a resolution within an episode rather than a show about individuals fighting each other episode after episode like most modern dramas are.
The Orville has interpersonal conflict, but the crew gets along with each other even when different people aren't particularly fond of everyone else. They have respect for every other crew member and their primary goal is to get along with everyone. Newer "trek" is more about the drama than the exploration of social ideas and scientific possibilities.
Babylon 5 is definitely worth watching. Same with Star Trek.
I don’t know that anything really feels like the Orville, which is what makes it so special.
Star Trek the next generation has a similar feel but it’s not quite there.
The Orville is largely a love letter to shows like Babylon 5 and Star Trek.
Without TNG Orville wouldn't be anything because it would have had no foundation to build on. Orville is pretty much just a mod installed on TNG with some topic updates.
OP, The Orville is a love letter to Star Trek: TNG. Seasons one and two are rough to watch, but have some episodes that are worth watching. Ask on r/startrek for a list of recommendations. You can watch every episode from season 3 onwards, that’s peak Star Trek and the show the Orville is in reference to. Star Trek DS9 and Voyager are the next shows afterwards. DS9 is the best Star Trek in my opinion, though there are quite a few episodes of TNG that come close.
Voyager is in an interesting setting and I like it. Voyager also really kicks into gear from season 4 onwards, but the first three seasons are fine too.
Enterprise is also fine. It’s a prequel to the rest of Star Trek. There are some gems in seasons one and two, with the season 2 episode “Vox Sola” being one of the best of all Star Trek episodes. From season 3 onwards, ENT really takes off, though opinions generally vary greatly on season 3. It’s a little darker than the show is in season 1 and 2, and it introduces a pretty cool new species, the Xindi. Season 4 is generally regarded to be one of the best seasons of Star Trek ever, except for the last episode. Just end the show on the two parter before, which wraps up the whole show beautifully and watch the very last episode as a special at a later date. I watch it as part of the TNG episode “The Pegasus”, because that’s where it’s set to take place.
Of the new shows, Lower Decks is great, but it’s even better if you’ve seen TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT before.
Prodigy is a new show, but it also acts as continuation of Voyager. It’s kind of the Clone Wars of Star Trek. As is the case with Clone Wars, the target audience are kids and teens, but like with Clone Wars, the show just happens to be really damn good.
Strange New Worlds is another prequel set after ENT, Discovery Season 1 and 2 and before the original series of the 1960s. It is utterly fantastic. I recommend you watch Discovery season 1 and 2 (definitely season 2) before SNW season 1 episode 1. Discovery starts as another prequel set after ENG and before SNW and TOS of the 1960s in seasons 1 and 2, before it does a massive time jump 900 years into the future. Discovery works in season long arcs, so you can watch the seasons mostly individually. Some of the characters of SNW are introduced in DIS season 2. You don’t need to watch it before SNW, but you can, and I see no reason not to. So if you decide to watch SNW, at least consider watching DIS season 2 before.
Discovery in general is the reason we’re in a second big era of Star Trek. There are some aspects of Discovery I *really* enjoy and others I *really* don’t. Overall I’m not the biggest Discovery fan. I like seasons one and two better than the later seasons. Tastes vary. There are some great elements to the later seasons as well.
Picard is a sequel to TNG. While it was nice seeing familiar faces again, Picard is a clusterfuck of attempts to make a good show. Season 3 is by far the best of the three seasons in my opinion, though that is only because it *heavily* leans on fan service. The story itself is weak and full of plot holes, though the acting is on point.
In any case, give Star Trek a proper shot. It’s a fantastic universe and was *the* inspiration for The Orville. It’s well worth getting into.
You can use this [watch guide](https://wordmerc.medium.com/star-trek-the-next-generation-watch-skip-guide-e489377bfd9). In my opinion, it's the best way to watch TNG.
Edit: You can skip the plot episode by watching [this](https://youtu.be/TedCLj44kZA). There's also [this](https://youtu.be/PPGSKOIu1dI).
Oh shit, “Conspiracy” is in season one? For some reason I thought that came way later. It’s a really fun and dark and cool episode. Time for a rewatch I guess :D
Star Trek The Next Generation is as close as I think you will get, especially the later Seasons, 4+
If you found it too camp and cheesy, thats season 1-3, it gets more like The Orville after Season 3.
TNG (especially seasons 3-7 + season 3 of Picard), Voyager (all 7 seasons), SNW, and Lower Decks are what I would recommend. Those are probably the closest thing to The Orville.
As a show it is a bit darker, but the 2003 Battlestar Galactica is a masterpiece. It is not a serial, episode of the week show, nor is it about a utopian civilization, but it is really great storytelling and character development.
I feel exactly the same way. I avoided the show for some reason all these years finally watched it and wished I hadn't watched it after I heard it was canceled have you watched Stargate Sg1-?
I had always seen ads for it, so I thought it had like 5 or 6 seasons, at least. Then I started it up last week after getting a couple of scenes recommended in YouTube shorts, and I absolutely love it, but i was unpleasantly surprised that it only had 3 seasons.
Which Star Trek series? The Orville was most inspired by Voyager specifically, so if that's not one you watched definitely try it. It hits alot of the same notes. Just give it a season, it does take a bit to find its footing but then its amazing.
The Orville actually started my path to Star Trek. So far, Strange New Worlds has “hit” the same. Star Trek Voyager as well, although it’s very, very dated. Next Generation didn’t grab me, probably because of all the hype, but all of the original movies did. It’s very weird that The Orville set expectations on what I want Star Trek to feel like, so those are my recommendations.
The Orville is the only show I want revived more than Firefly, and that is saying something. But it's mostly because I think it that Orville could actually happen on another network where Firefly's cast could probably not be reconvened at this point.
The Star Trek series that hits closest to The Orville, I would say is DS9. Most people say TNG because that's clearly the one that Seth loved the most, and that's the closest *setting*, but the way stories are told feels a lot more like DS9.
You should also try out Farscape. Doesn't tell stories like Star Trek or The Orville(not that they're bad, I just mean not in the same style), it's more of a wacky space adventure, but it's got Jim Henson puppets and I love it with all my heart.
Orville is literally Star Trek TNG, without transporters, and instead of the cream of Star Fleet, they're the bottom of the barrel, people that wouldn't be assigned to a star ship if they didn't have so many ships to crew.
But someone else pointed out that both TNG and DS9 had to take a while to hit their stride. And with about 22 episodes a season, there were still some lemons. But the highs are worth sitting through the lemons.
Firefly is very special too. Different type of story but a lovable crew full of charismatic characters
A great show cut short
Absolute crime that we only got one season, but at least there was a movie to wrap it up. But yeah, talk about being *robbed*…
Final words: "Well, here I am"
That seem right to you?
I am a leaf on the wind 😭😭
Too soon.
Fuck you
Dude.. read the room..
How do Reavers clean their weapons?
May the Fox execs responsible burn in hell
Sci-fi had a hard time on Fox
Didn't it though ?? If Supernatural lasted fifteen years Firefly should have been good for twenty-five . I wish the CW had picked them up .
Pretty sure that's a given for anyone at Fox. They've hammered some seriously good shows over the decades.
Definitely play The Outer Worlds too.. it hits pretty close to Firefly.
I was going to check it out but I heard that it was cut short and didn't want to be disappointed. But I'll try it knowing there's a movie to conclude it.
Yes, even though short, Firefly definitely falls into the category of “better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.” Worth the watch
Wasn’t it the problem at the release that the episodes weren’t aired in order? Leading to low ratings, hence why it was cancelled. I’m glad I watched it though.
It’s as well regarded as it is because it was cut short. It never got a chance to jump the shark. And it gets resolved very well.
"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"
I've seen the recommendations: Babylon 5, Farscape, The Expanse, etc., but Firefly is the easiest to get into. More or less everyone can enjoy it, and it's short.
You can watch Firefly then watch Serenity which wraps up the story. So yeah its over too soon but at least it ends.
Firefly had a movie made after it called serenity also. Explained some stuff and had the same cast. Make sure to watch that too.
Just make sure you watch in the proper order and not the order it was aired! Not even sure nowadays if it's possible to watch in the aired order. But just be mindful of that. FOX screwed over Firefly so hard.
It’s an amazing space western
I'm still mad about Firefly being cancelled.
I just wanted to recommend it - it’s awesome! Why awesome things are so short? Masses have no taste looks like…
I would say SG1 is the closest to Orville in having a light humor side, with some ethical stuff now and then, the cast is smaller in comparison, but their internal dynamics are interesting and fun to watch over time, if you haven't watched it, the first season is kinda rough, but around episode 8 the true heart of SG1 starts to show.
Or perhaps Farscape
I keep wanting to get into Farscape, I've tried 3 times now, but first impression is that it is too silly for me. And it suffers from "first season weak writing" syndrome. I will give an example and put it in spoilers tags: >!There is an episode in which the blue woman is very pacifist refusing to harm a villain that got into the ship. But then in another episode not far after that they are given the chance to get a galactic map to lead them home, and the price is to remove the arm or arms from another character, and she was "like cool where is the sharpest knife?"!< it just felt like bad characterization... Another thing that bothered me a bit was the puppets, it just felt cheap and took me out of the suspension of disbelief. The whole "pees acid" just felt juvenile. I probably will go back to it because there is a lot of love for that franchise, but it is not easy for me. SG1 in comparison was both more serious and yet very full of humor now and then. Somehow Farscape was both not serious enough, and way too humorous.
The writing in the first half of season 1 is pretty inconsistent. IIRC, it gets much better in the second half of the season (with the notable exception of *Jeremiah Chrichton*, which is generally considered to be one of the worst episodes of the entire series). As for the arm-ripping episode, I think the violence was an intentional point they were trying to make with the story rather than a case of inconsistent writing. I won't give anything specific away, but Zhaan (the blue lady), and really all of the characters on the show are fairly complex and do not fall as neatly into Sci-Fi character archetypes as you'd expect based on the setup you get in the pilot episode. Much of the enjoyment of watching the show comes from that complexity and how it affects how they see themselves and each other. I don't know how old you are so forgive me if this is something you already know, but keep in mind that shows used to have much longer seasons than they do now, and the writers often took a good while to figure out what they were doing before things got good. Some of the best Sci Fi/fantasy shows of all time took more than a full season of 20 something episodes to get their shit together and start remotely resembling what they eventually became. If you're judging the quality of a show made before 2010 by watching the first 8 episodes of the first season, you're often going to be torturing yourself with no benefit. I know people like to be completionists, but my suggestion to you would be to find an essential episodes watch list for the first seasons of some of these shows and watch those instead of trying to watch all of the first few episodes. If you decide you like the show enough to keep watching, you can always swing back and catch the the lesser episodes later and this way, you'll have a better idea of what the show is going to be before you decide it's not for you.
Great example of what u/punkinholler is talking about is Babylon 5. The whole first season sucks. I do not understand how they got renewed. I'd go so far as to say you could watch a 10 minute summary on youtube and save yourself hours of watching a pretty crummy first season. But the following seasons are top-notch. Such a shame they made JMS rush the story at the end.
There's a common story that B5 started with a 5 year plan. It's sort of true, but it was really a 10 season plan for two shows. The end of season one is when JMS started the rework to 5 years total and took advantage of a cast change to make it plausibly slot in. I think the original plan doesn't sound anywhere as good as what we got.
Love your analysis. Often my pet peeve in writing of shows is this exact character betrayal to fulfill a plot or story.
Many times people who love a certain show will attack such criticism, I'm not telling anyone not to love something, people love things that objectively are trash \*cough\*kardashians\*cough\* but it is one thing to say "I love X show" and saying "X show is perfect, how dare you criticize it?"
The best part about Farscape is the juvenile silly humor imo, on some level it allowed them to take certain things farther than other shows would be able, to me it feels very ahead of it’s time, I remember an episode where chiana refers to Rigel as a “kinkoid” , this is in 2001 or 02 Whoever was writing this stuff could have had so many twitter followers, I loved all the alien slang they came up with The show was worth watching for me just because Crichton and Aeryn join sg1 in the later seasons, after finishing it I find it to be better than sg1 The puppets will grow on you to the point that you prefer them And another thing is that Scorpius is one of the best villains in all of scifi
Scorpius is such a fantastic villain.
It is silly the first season but progressively got darker as the seasons went on. It turns into an amazing show.
I started SG1 and didn't enjoy it, but I'll stick it out to episode 8.
I can tell you my personal story with SG1, I hated it! I tried 4 times to get into it and couldn't, I usually stopped after 4-5 episodes, but people kept recommending it to me so fervently I decided to give it 10 episodes. Boy was I glad I did, become one of my fave franchises, I've rewatched all the stargate shows more than 20 times. If by episode 10 you don't at least like it, it may not be for you. But the first few episodes are very very weak.
Thr first season or 2 is fairly week. It's a much strong show later on. If it's not working out you could try just starting at season 6 or even just give season 9 and 10 a go as the last two seasons have their own story arc. Then there's always stargate atlantis as well. I hate starting later on in a series but I'd hate it even more if the first couple of seasons put you off the rest of it.
If you're struggling with SG-1, try Stargate Atlantis. It was spun off after SG-1 Season 7 and because of that, it's high quality right off the bat whereas SG-1's first season was a lot rockier.
SG1 is literally one of my favourite science fiction shows ever. I hope you give it a chance because it gets even better in a few seasons and there's a lot of political intrigue that comes along with it as well.
Please do. The first 6 episodes are very much 90s Showtime and not Stargate. Starting with ep 7 The Nox it really improves.
Good for you for trying to stick it out. It took me a couple of times but it was worth it. I just finished my second rewatch this month. Stargate Atlantis is the one that got me into he franchise. Might be worth checking out first.
I'd recommend trying The Lower Decks and Galaxy Quest. You could always try Stargate SG1. It's rough in the first season or two for newcomers but it has a light comedy side which just increases as the seasons go on. The last couple of seasons have a lot of humour in it.
Lower Decks crossover episode may be the best thing ever <3
Lower Decks’ humor is more than 50% predicated on already knowing and understanding Star Trek.
There are a lot of references for the die-hards, yeah, but I'd say if you've watched the Orville then you know enough to get most of it.
Not. TV series - but Galaxy Quest. Great, silly Star Trek parody/tribute.
It's the best Star Trek movie ever made.
George Takei called it "a chillingly accurate documentary".
I'll check it out.
By Grabthar’s Hammer, Galaxy Quest is a family favorite!
I thought it was Grebthar's Hammer.
[Grabthar's Hammer](https://frakipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Grabthar%27s_Hammer)
...what a savings.
You've not seen it!? 😲
I'm literally watching it right now and so far I LOVE it oml.
Star Trek Lower Decks is great. I tried it after I watched The Orville, and was pleasantly surprised. I started in season 3 because that’s what Amazon prime had. I’ve heard starting in season 1 can be rougher but I already loved the show when I got to season 1.
I have no idea why I liked the Orville as much as I did. I wasn’t expecting much with Seth macfarlane. But man, it became my favourite show quickly. That is one talented dude.
My girlfriend doesn't even care for Star Trek and the like, but she loved the orville. And we both have been disappointed there's not more.
I know you said various Star Treks but have you tried Lower Decks ? I love them both so much And ik it's not the same but Resident Alien as well
Lower Decks! Lower Decks! Lower Decks!
i was just going to suggest lower decks. great show!
I've watched the first season of lower decks and it was pretty funny. I'll check out resident alien too. Thanks.
You might also like Killjoys!
That was an awesome show! I loved it. :D
I suggest "Resident Alien." I call it a cross between "Northern Exposure" and "Invader Zim."
that is an apt description, which hadn't occurred to me
Never realized, ^son-of-a-bitch!
Yes! Underrated show.
Also, a suggestion I've not seen anyone else make: Eureka. It's not a space travel based show (though if that's your jam, I might also suggest Avenue S), but it is a fantastical-yet-grounded-in-hard-science show about a Federal agent who ends up having to be the sheriff of a town populated entirely by geniuses who are working on next-gen weapons and such for the Department of Defense; so he's literally the dumbest guy in town, having to solve crimes and enforce laws.
That is a excellent show. I've watched it twice. It needs multiple view times to catch all the little timey things.
This sounds super interesting and I will check it out. Thank you!
Great show! It was one of my favorites! Warehouse 13 is in the same "universe" and is pretty good. Also, The librarians is another semi funny scifi show in that area.
Surprisingly, they also shared the universe with Alphas which had a very different vibe.
What exactly was "the hit" for you in Orville? Which you didn't get in other shows? **Star trek: DS9** is my wosonal favorite, the first seasons sucks and it may be hard to get into it for you. Try some of the best episodes: **Duet, In The Pale Moonlight, The Siege of AR-558, It's Only a Paper Moon.** Incredibly strong stories, you don't even need to know much about the show. EspeciallyDuet, even if you didn't find Star Trek appealing, give a try to this one episode. It deals with a conflicts of two characters: one of them being resistance fighter, another being basically a concentation camp... guard, to not spoil the point. Incredible emotional rollercoaster, which you'll not expect. The last two episodes I mentioned deal with war trauma, they actually consulted this episode with actual war veterans to get realistic portrayal of PTSD. Again, incredible emotions, you watch spoiled group of people which lived in privilege and prosperity so far, to be pushed against extreme situation in front lines, and see them to break both psychically and emotionally. In the Pale Moonlight is just brilliant, I won't spoil this one for you. You might need some basic prior knowledge to understand the situation, but it can be watched as stand alone episode as well (it was my 1st ep. of DS9). There's not so much fun, but if you liked Orville for societal commentary and storytelling, you might like these episodes as well.
I think what really drew me in was that the world felt so... possible. I wish I could be Lysella right now, and get swooped up into the 25th century. However, I really appreciate your comment and will check out the episodes you referenced. Thank you.
Star Trek at this point also benefits from the huge quantity of stories in a shared universe which really allows things to get fleshed out in great detail. If you start with the first episode of TOS today and watched an episode every day it would take just a little less than 2.5 years to get through all the episodes to the different Star Trek series.
Havent seen anyone else suggest Farscape
This should be higher. Farscape is so fucking good and perfect for anyone that likes The Orville.
Season 1 is a bit of a cluster, but man. Man o man.
Some random shows that mix scifi with comedy, in case that's your thing: * The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. - a "weird west" that aired for one season in the 90s. Tinges of steampunk and scifi, but mostly Western. * American Dad - not very much like The Orville, even though it's also Seth MacFarlane. But it has an alien in the cast, and it gets into science-fiction-y stuff fairly often. * Avenue 5 - Disaster on a space cruise ship * Chuck - Action/comedy/scifi/espionage. Silly, but fun. * Eureka - Everyday life in a town where all of America's super-scientists live. * Extraordinary - Everyone gets superpowers when they turn 18, except the protagonist, who's into her 20s and still doesn't have powers. * Fallout - Post apocalypse action/comedy/drama * Futurama - Assuming you know what this one is * Future Man - Time travel comedy. Incredibly juvenile, but also a lot of fun. * Inside Job - Animated conspiracy theory comedy * The Last Man on Earth - Post apocalyptic comedy. Unfortunately, cancelled and ends on a cliffhanger. * Mrs. Davis - A.I. Religious Adventure Comedy? Miniseries, so it tells a complete story in one season. * Resident Alien - An alien is not very good at pretending to be human. * Rick and Morty - Probably also assuming you know what this one is * Severance - Light on the comedy, but it's a great show. People working in an office where their brains are split, so the workplace version of themselves only knows what happens at work, and the outside version of themselves only knows what happens outside work. * Solar Opposites - Animated, and similar to Rick and Morty. Aliens trying to live in human society. * Upload - After people die, their consciousnesses are uploaded to a virtual paradise, if they can afford it. The protagonist isn't rich, but when he dies, he finds himself uploaded anyway, thanks to his kind of crazy girlfriend. * Warehouse 13 - Government agents work for the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark (not literally, but basically), which houses all the things too powerful to be allowed out in society. * Weird City - An anthology series, kinda Black Mirror but with comedy, all set in a future city, which has a wall dividing a utopia from a dystopia.
While I wouldn't consider it like the Orville, The Expanse was great
I didn't hate it and will probably see it through eventually. It just didn't hit the same as The Orville.
I feel the same about The Expanse. Also the same emptiness you described about The Orville. Knowing that so much of it was inspired from the next generation helps, but there’s nothing really close to taking its place.
The Expanse was great for the first few seasons. But it really loses its way in the last couple seasons. We watched it all the way through around the holidays when we were stuck at home, and I had never seen the last season or two… wish I didn’t either.
I really adored the first three seasons, absolute peak television. But the last three seasons were just alright. They weren’t bad, but watching them felt like eating a tasty pizza that could’ve been great, but they’ve been left out. And now I’ve just eaten cold and hard pizza, that could’ve had so much tasty potential.
The Expense is fucking amazing
I really enjoy the hard sci fi attention to detail in the show. It’s pretty depressing compared to a lot of other sci fi portrayals of a future spacefaring human race, but it’s still probably more optimistic than what will probably happen.
We gonya rise up, Beratnas!
I just started watching The Orville and its kind of a cursed show for me.. I’m currently going through a divorce because of infidelity on my wife’s part. The way Ed and Kelly argue about the cheating and why it happened and everything is almost identical to what my situation is like. It’s scary. I broke down crying the first episode alone because of it. At the same time I absolutely love the show and am binge watching it.
if you need comedy sci-fi try red dwarf
Oldie but a goodie, you smeg head
New series coming soon!, You Small off duty Czechoslovakian Traffic Warden [https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/red-dwarf-three-new-episodes-newsupdate/](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/red-dwarf-three-new-episodes-newsupdate/)
LOL!!! I thought of saying it, but because its old some people might not like it. BUT IT IS AWESOME!!! :D One of the best.
Me too, I finished it on Sunday and I'm just scrolling through all the platforms. Of you find something please let me know 😊
Of the legit Treks, Strange New Worlds is the best on right now.
Have you tried the movie Galax Quest?
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
I feel like of all the live action Trek shows to come out in the modern era this one captures the vibe of Star Trek the best.
The Orville is basically a love letter to Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, to the point I think they even have some of the same writers. I’m not sure how far you got while trying them, but they’re definitely worth sticking out. They each take a season or two to really hit their stride but they are so good.
I wore my shirt in the pool until I was 20.
Babylon 5 is a slow burn, it takes time to set up the puzzle pieces and establish its world and characters before the real plot kicks in, so it can be a slog at first. But once it kicks in...
I'll take your word for it and watch a few more episodes.
Expect to just not realize how things are being set up while you watch what seems to simply be an episodic show, until it starts to become apparent it isn't.
yeah the first season is not great, you gotta get to the second season
the closest you're gonna get is Star Trek TNG
The only Star Trek that is going to vaguely live up to The Orville is Star Trek the Next Generation, and maybe the original movies.
Lower decks but that's a lot better if you've already watched trek
If it's the space part that you miss, try For All Mankind on Apple TV.
Other Space has that space comedy feel.
If thoughtful, true sci-fi like the Orville is your thing, I’d recommend Black Mirror. Together with The Orville, it’s the best sci-fi out there. I’d say give the “San Juniper” ep a shot first or, if not, there’s a Star Trek-ish ep “USS Callister” that is very, very good. Also, as others have said, GalaxyQuest is something truly special. It’s somewhat more of a TOS Trek “parody” than Orville is, but it’s done with so much love and the cast is dropdead amazing.
If you want some great shows, these are what you are looking for: Firefly, Stargate SG1, and Stargate Atlantis should fit what you are looking for with a space theme. Chuck, White Collar, and Dollhouse are also great choices even if they are not space related.
And look… “FutureMan” is a stretch to say similar, but it’s premium dumb show for smart people
Give st: voyager a proper chance.
I've watched all star trek series many times. My favorite is Voyager. I like the idea of being far away and making their way back. And Janeway... the best captain in my opinion.
VOY is like… 20% really bad (looking at you, Tuvix), 60% really good (The Thaw), and 20% absolutely fantastic (Year of Hell). Janeway is a fantastic captain and once you get passed S1, it’s really good TV. Not as good at Next Gen’s best episodes, as that’s some of the best SciFi of all time. But it’s really good!
Chris and Devon will forever be my favorite Krill
There is a Orville comic book series on Amazon t thing there is 2 books and they are supposed to be between season 1 and season 2 I believe.
It's like that summer love whose memory helps you cope with decades in a bad marriage.
Oh my god your username. I love it.
You should check out resident alien it's a great show Alan Tudyk is an amazing actor who really kills it on that show
I agree. I really enjoyed it.
Dark Matter (2015-2017), Start Trek Continues, Farscape, Firefly, Dune movies and series, Stargate movies and series, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow… and others…
star trek lower decks, give it a try.
Fr, I got so ridiculously hooked on it and was really bummed when I finished it. Such a good blend of sci-fi and comedy. Really miss it
Not a comedy, but check out Dark Matter (the Sci-Fy series, not the Apple one).
Strange new worlds is pretty good , but I definitely want another season of TO.
I really hope they make a new season. Fingers crossed.
I know you said star trek. Did you include lower decks?
Gotta give Star Trek TNG more time. The Orville is basically a modern version.
You trippin, The Expanse was the bomb. Can’t speak on the other series though lol. And I also agree on the lack of Orville fucking sucking.
Firefly and Stargate. Not quite the same but enjoyable in a similar but slightly different way.
With Star Trek, try a skip watch guide. It tells you the the best episodes/ episodes that are most relevant.
Avenue 5, I found, hits the spot for missing Orville. But…it also ended too soon.
Star Trek Strange New Worlds, Killjoys, Stargate Atlantis
Lower Decks is almost perfect to fill in the Orville gap.
The Expanse. That was a proper series with many seasons. Give it a shot.
Try again. Star Trek Next Gen from season 3 onwards is amazing. DS9 and Babylon 5 from season 2 are fantastic.
Strange New Worlds holds up that standard for me as does lower decks. You should watch those if you have not yet.
Not sci fi, but there is a Ted TV series by Seth. It has a lot of the Orville actors in it as well. It is amazingly good.
My favourite of all time is Stargate Universe. It was a little darker & grittier than Orville. Worth a watch
I’m trying to think of things that haven’t been said over and over. I agree woth those encouraging you to get deeper into next generation to see as things gel and they get past the rodenberry years. Better off Ted was a really fun office style sci fi parody sitcom. It was well written and acted. Have you tried Dr. Who? There’s a whimsical but heartfelt tone that might sit in the same place. I’d recommend starting at the reboot with Christopher Eccleston. Futurama strikea some of the same tone as orville and galaxy quest too. Have you read Project Hail Mary? I think it might be up your alley.
I have seen the first season of Dr. Who and enjoyed it. But then I saw a clip of The Orville on YouTube and got sidetracked. I will finish Dr. Who eventually. Thank you for these recs and I will look into all of them.
Dang, not even *The Expanse* hit the same for you? That’s my favorite SciFi show of all time.
You should look into the Mass Effect trilogy of video games. If you aren't someone who plays games, there are edited videos of it put together on Youtube that make it feel like a TV show.
It’s a different vibe but you might want to try Sense8. No spaceships but the same family aspect and a sense of hope permeates.
Orville was an incredible combination of high quality science fiction and working man humor. The first episode, when he asks " the last captain let us have soda at the console" I knew it was going to be a unique show.
Red Dwarf
Have you watched Lower Decks yet?
I really enjoy resident alien. Same sort of comedy.
100% get your feelings about Orville. After I found Star Trek Strange New Worlds and LOVE it! I was not a ST fan before. I recommend watching the episodes with that cast in ST Discovery first for somecontext, they're goid, and you'll hit a cross over episode in season 2 with ST Lower Decks, and go watch Lower Deck (also amazing, which shocked me because I thought it looked stupid) before you continue. Rebecca Romijn is Una Chin-Riley/number 1 and she's soooo great, I think I even like her more than Kelly
SNW is startrek learning the lessons of the orville. Highly recommended. Discovery imho was the absolute bottom of the barrel. They forgot everything that made startrek something we loved.
Firefly is great. Any Star Trek newer than 2007 is legally not Star Trek because it's under a different license and in fact ignores a lot of core rules of original trek. TNG, DS9, and Voyager are peak Trek.
Oh really? Can you expand on the post 2007 thing? Genuinely asking as I’m not familiar with this.
The newer Star Treks were created under a separate license than the previous Star Treks. One of the requirements was that all content had to be "at least 25% different from previous versions". That why they can use the names of all the characters and ships, but the ships themselves are different. The size and scale of the Enterprise is different and they created an alternate history to make it easier to implement the "25% different" legal requirement. Canonically, all the new trek is considered to be in a different universe. And rightfully so. I mentioned that they break some core rules. A good example is Roddenberry's golden rule: all Federation crew must resolve their interpersonal issues by the end of the episode. Star Fleet is supposed to represent the best of what humanity can be in the future which means resolving differences peacefully and quickly. Take Lt. Barkley as an example. The crew wanted to get rid of him because he was super awkward but by the end of the episode they found a way to work with him. They didn't LIKE him, but they were at peace with him and saw him as a valuable member of the crew. Compare that to the first season of star Trek discovery (STD). The main character is constantly at everyone's throats, people are rude to one another constantly, and they end episodes with massive interpersonal conflict. It breaks the core rule. The drama of star Trek is meant to be about exploring social and political ideologies and trying to find a resolution within an episode rather than a show about individuals fighting each other episode after episode like most modern dramas are. The Orville has interpersonal conflict, but the crew gets along with each other even when different people aren't particularly fond of everyone else. They have respect for every other crew member and their primary goal is to get along with everyone. Newer "trek" is more about the drama than the exploration of social ideas and scientific possibilities.
Thanks for the response!
Would really like to hear the post 2007 comment too.
Babylon 5 is definitely worth watching. Same with Star Trek. I don’t know that anything really feels like the Orville, which is what makes it so special. Star Trek the next generation has a similar feel but it’s not quite there. The Orville is largely a love letter to shows like Babylon 5 and Star Trek.
Without TNG Orville wouldn't be anything because it would have had no foundation to build on. Orville is pretty much just a mod installed on TNG with some topic updates.
OP, The Orville is a love letter to Star Trek: TNG. Seasons one and two are rough to watch, but have some episodes that are worth watching. Ask on r/startrek for a list of recommendations. You can watch every episode from season 3 onwards, that’s peak Star Trek and the show the Orville is in reference to. Star Trek DS9 and Voyager are the next shows afterwards. DS9 is the best Star Trek in my opinion, though there are quite a few episodes of TNG that come close. Voyager is in an interesting setting and I like it. Voyager also really kicks into gear from season 4 onwards, but the first three seasons are fine too. Enterprise is also fine. It’s a prequel to the rest of Star Trek. There are some gems in seasons one and two, with the season 2 episode “Vox Sola” being one of the best of all Star Trek episodes. From season 3 onwards, ENT really takes off, though opinions generally vary greatly on season 3. It’s a little darker than the show is in season 1 and 2, and it introduces a pretty cool new species, the Xindi. Season 4 is generally regarded to be one of the best seasons of Star Trek ever, except for the last episode. Just end the show on the two parter before, which wraps up the whole show beautifully and watch the very last episode as a special at a later date. I watch it as part of the TNG episode “The Pegasus”, because that’s where it’s set to take place. Of the new shows, Lower Decks is great, but it’s even better if you’ve seen TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT before. Prodigy is a new show, but it also acts as continuation of Voyager. It’s kind of the Clone Wars of Star Trek. As is the case with Clone Wars, the target audience are kids and teens, but like with Clone Wars, the show just happens to be really damn good. Strange New Worlds is another prequel set after ENT, Discovery Season 1 and 2 and before the original series of the 1960s. It is utterly fantastic. I recommend you watch Discovery season 1 and 2 (definitely season 2) before SNW season 1 episode 1. Discovery starts as another prequel set after ENG and before SNW and TOS of the 1960s in seasons 1 and 2, before it does a massive time jump 900 years into the future. Discovery works in season long arcs, so you can watch the seasons mostly individually. Some of the characters of SNW are introduced in DIS season 2. You don’t need to watch it before SNW, but you can, and I see no reason not to. So if you decide to watch SNW, at least consider watching DIS season 2 before. Discovery in general is the reason we’re in a second big era of Star Trek. There are some aspects of Discovery I *really* enjoy and others I *really* don’t. Overall I’m not the biggest Discovery fan. I like seasons one and two better than the later seasons. Tastes vary. There are some great elements to the later seasons as well. Picard is a sequel to TNG. While it was nice seeing familiar faces again, Picard is a clusterfuck of attempts to make a good show. Season 3 is by far the best of the three seasons in my opinion, though that is only because it *heavily* leans on fan service. The story itself is weak and full of plot holes, though the acting is on point. In any case, give Star Trek a proper shot. It’s a fantastic universe and was *the* inspiration for The Orville. It’s well worth getting into.
This comment was super helpful. I'll give Star Trek another shot when I have the time. I only really watched two episodes or so of each to get a vibe
You can use this [watch guide](https://wordmerc.medium.com/star-trek-the-next-generation-watch-skip-guide-e489377bfd9). In my opinion, it's the best way to watch TNG. Edit: You can skip the plot episode by watching [this](https://youtu.be/TedCLj44kZA). There's also [this](https://youtu.be/PPGSKOIu1dI).
Oh shit, “Conspiracy” is in season one? For some reason I thought that came way later. It’s a really fun and dark and cool episode. Time for a rewatch I guess :D
Yup
Star Trek The Next Generation is as close as I think you will get, especially the later Seasons, 4+ If you found it too camp and cheesy, thats season 1-3, it gets more like The Orville after Season 3.
TNG (especially seasons 3-7 + season 3 of Picard), Voyager (all 7 seasons), SNW, and Lower Decks are what I would recommend. Those are probably the closest thing to The Orville.
Truuuee we need more!!!
As a show it is a bit darker, but the 2003 Battlestar Galactica is a masterpiece. It is not a serial, episode of the week show, nor is it about a utopian civilization, but it is really great storytelling and character development.
I feel exactly the same way. I avoided the show for some reason all these years finally watched it and wished I hadn't watched it after I heard it was canceled have you watched Stargate Sg1-?
The 2003 reboot of Battlestar Galactica is pretty damn awesome.
Funny that Trek hasn't hit for ya when Orville redid a few episodes they had done especially TNG.
Welcome to the club.
1. Don't be sad it's over, be happy that it happened. 2. Firefly, but don't get attached to it either.
I liked McFarlanes TED tv show a lot recently. Much better than the movies for me. Super funny. Charlie and Gordon are in it, too!
You're going to get closer to The Orville's sense of humor from Firefly, Resident Alien, and Avenue 5 than from those more self-serious series.
I had always seen ads for it, so I thought it had like 5 or 6 seasons, at least. Then I started it up last week after getting a couple of scenes recommended in YouTube shorts, and I absolutely love it, but i was unpleasantly surprised that it only had 3 seasons.
Yeah the last season was Ssoooooo good on so many levels they were really getting to Star Trek type of emotional feel Then BAM now it’s over
The Lower Decks is very similar to The Orville and still star trek related.
Future Man scratched the itch for me. It's not space, but it is sci-fi and has 3 solid seasons.
Which Star Trek series? The Orville was most inspired by Voyager specifically, so if that's not one you watched definitely try it. It hits alot of the same notes. Just give it a season, it does take a bit to find its footing but then its amazing.
Likewise. One of those rare shows that keeps getting better each season.
The Orville actually started my path to Star Trek. So far, Strange New Worlds has “hit” the same. Star Trek Voyager as well, although it’s very, very dated. Next Generation didn’t grab me, probably because of all the hype, but all of the original movies did. It’s very weird that The Orville set expectations on what I want Star Trek to feel like, so those are my recommendations.
Farscape for sure.
Watch lower decks
Avenue 5 was ok. If it wasn't Hugh in it I probably would not have watched it at all.
Try Deep Space 9.
The Orville is the only show I want revived more than Firefly, and that is saying something. But it's mostly because I think it that Orville could actually happen on another network where Firefly's cast could probably not be reconvened at this point.
Star Trek Lower Decks!
Have you tried Star Trek Lower Decks? It's their animated comedy series about the low level crew members.
The Star Trek series that hits closest to The Orville, I would say is DS9. Most people say TNG because that's clearly the one that Seth loved the most, and that's the closest *setting*, but the way stories are told feels a lot more like DS9. You should also try out Farscape. Doesn't tell stories like Star Trek or The Orville(not that they're bad, I just mean not in the same style), it's more of a wacky space adventure, but it's got Jim Henson puppets and I love it with all my heart.
Orville is literally Star Trek TNG, without transporters, and instead of the cream of Star Fleet, they're the bottom of the barrel, people that wouldn't be assigned to a star ship if they didn't have so many ships to crew. But someone else pointed out that both TNG and DS9 had to take a while to hit their stride. And with about 22 episodes a season, there were still some lemons. But the highs are worth sitting through the lemons.
Star Trek Lower Decks and Strange New World are both really entertaining.
There was an old SyFy show that was an irreverent take on space sci fi.. Lexx I think?
Farscape is my recommendation if you like good scifi series set in space...