Thursday, June 02, 2022

The Orville: Season 3, aka New Horizons

Guess what comes out today? After three years. It's the third (and final) season of Seth MacFarlane's capable ode to Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Orville.

I think that The Orville 'grew its beard' in episode six, and that beard is a show that's slightly out of phase with TNG, much to my consternation.

Everything that tries to be TNG (including TNG movies) makes me feel like I've got Capgras Syndrome for TV shows; the same look and feel--the lunchbox iconography--but it's something different and hollow behind the eyes. 

I'll be the first to admit it's 50/50 me. Maybe everything trying to be TNG isn't just putting itself up against a TV show from 1987, but also against my own nostalgia. I feel that doing The Beige and The Bold was a good antidote for that. 

I do like shows in the same way I like TNG. But maybe they're better at being the show I imagined TNG was when I look back at it. 

That show is The Good Place, and describing it as "as good as TNG when viewed through nostalgia goggles," is the highest compliment I can think of. Accurate though.

I like The Orville, but I have remembered and forgotten it's coming out about six times since the release date was announced. Say what you will about them, but those Spotify ads work.

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