If you want a great current sci-fi drama I can't recommend The Expanse highly enough. I'm enjoying Discovery, but The Expanse might be my favorite thing on television right now
You have bad, bad tastes if you like Discovery. I only watch it to see the train wreak that it is. Every week a new train ploughs into the wreckage that came before it. It's fascinating to see people watch something so badly written and made while saying it's good.
It makes for a great case study as to how not to do a show.
The thing I laughed hardest about the last episode is that they had so much money that they decided to blow it on showing a uniform getting replicated very up close. You couldn't find a worse way to waste money for something so absurdly trivial.
Started watching The Orville on Ceric's recommendation.
Ugh...Seth McFarlane. Just when I'm starting to get into this show, a character makes a (to them) 400 year old 20th Century pop culture reference or talks about someone's ****. Then the show's totally lost me again.
The acting's mediocre, the bridge is hilariously awful in the pilot (it's lit & shot better from Ep. 2 onward), and the writing's just...bad. If someone more capable was helming this show, it could be saved. The show is on par with TNG Season 1, but there are some decent ideas here & we haven't had this style of Star Trek in a while. But what's here right now is just incredibly mediocre.
I rather like Seth McFarlane. His humour isn't for everyone but no one else on TV does what he does. Dick jokes aside he is a pretty good actor although he is far from master-class and with the recent episodes he has managed to show some of that air of command. He isn't instantly a Captain like the others as he is emotionally fucked but it gives his character space to evolve and see how people get there.
You don't get that far in Hollywood without some serious talent given the number of shows he has personally done that has been successful. He is also on pretty good terms with alot of A list actors so we will be seeing more of them as they have alot of fun as a bonus.
As for the references what else are they going to use? It is strangely retro but it serves a very good purpose as scaffolding as they construct more contemporary references and humour. You can't have in-jokes if you have no idea what the original joke is. Plus I find it rather charming in it's cheesiness. I don't see people complain about TNG still playing poker, violins, cowboys, Shakespeare, Doyle, baseball etc.
I am very happy with the Orville. I don't actually want more TNG as that is more than super dry and so done, but I do want more Star Trek and the Orville delivers with it's own flavour something STD straight up isn't because it isn't Trek. It's nothing but branding. It is so sad that official Trek has become so worthless and abused.
The later episodes of Orville are increasingly more TNG like with a touch of that DS9 darkness but the light heartedness is still there and they use it to explore characters. These people are alot more real that the TNG crew with their horse play and interacting with each other to satisfy their curiosity.
The writing is far, far more clever than you give it credit even in the pilot. Unlike JTrek the Orville takes the time to set things up for a pay off, something JJ is incapable of doing with his obsession with the mystery box which he has infected both Trek and Star Wars. Orville has already had an episode where the crew doesn't win with continued consequences down the line. It has also been bitter sweet with characters suffering emotional harm as these people are not invincible.
I love the security officer Alara. So much utility and fun. I really look forward to her doing something every time she goes on an away mission. Unlike Worf who exists to get beaten up to show the power of who ever the bad is, she is the opposite.
Other characters get alot of airtime so it isn't the Captain/Seth show. It is very team oriented. He also steps back from writing and directing post pilot to diversify the stories as well as it's presentation.
Again people just don't give Seth the credit where it's due because he shakes up people's sensitivities which leads to self reflection that alot of people don't like challenges to their world-view and people don't like being wrong especially when they profess how open minded they are.
In the last episode of STD the writers gave you a literal mystery box containing some cheap tricks in a sad attempt to get you to like the characters while making absolutely utter nonsense. It's something I don't expect Orville to do as it is such a cheap and obvious ploy.
As for the sets they are adequate and I rather they spent money on people than some flash on a far more limited budget. I wouldn't be surprised if STD has 3x the budget or more.
If you want a great current sci-fi drama I can't recommend The Expanse highly enough. I'm enjoying Discovery, but The Expanse might be my favorite thing on television right now
Yeah, I tried watching the 1st season of the Expanse, and I just kind of lost interest halfway in. I stopped watching the show towards the end of the season when I realized I couldn't remember anything that had happened the previous 3-4 episodes.
For some reason I didn't get pass the first episode. I don't dislike it or anything but I was very disinterested as to what was happening. Maybe it's because they dump you in the middle of something without any human connection as it was very much just something happening you have to instantly contextualise not helped it was politics.
Topic: Rate the last TV show you've seen (Read 1198989 times)
