New Series--The Orville

[slikmar]

There are 2 things that this episode makes me think of when I watched it, especially in letting the masses decide guilt;

1) Should Jason Todd live or die : the masses vote overwhelmingly to die. Why, cause Why Not.

2) Sanjaya Malakar on American Idol and his remaining on the show long past when he should, partly due to the work of Howard Stern. In fact, Malloy even called it trial by American Idol.

It actually reminds me why the founding fathers supposedly put in the electoral college - because when you give the masses the chance to affect things directly without real guidance, it could go horribly wrong, and probably will.

[Old Man]

The Electoral College was installed as a compromise between people who thought the POTUS should be elected by states and people who thought it should be elected by popular vote.  Not to insulate the office from "the masses".

One of the more uneven episodes.  Oddly they didn't really go into the pros and cons between pure vs. representative democracy, but it was thought provoking nonetheless.

[zslane]

A couple of elections ago, there was going to be a show that used an American Idol system to produce a presidential candidate, but it was wisely discarded before it got started. Nevertheless, I'm sure there are plenty of people who think the idea has merit (apart from its entertainment value), especially now.

We've already reached a point where foreign policy posturing occurs on Twitter. The next logical step is foreign policy execution according to retweet count.

[pinecone]

16 hours ago, Old Man said:

The Electoral College was installed as a compromise between people who thought the POTUS should be elected by states and people who thought it should be elected by popular vote.  Not to insulate the office from "the masses".

One of the more uneven episodes.  Oddly they didn't really go into the pros and cons between pure vs. representative democracy, but it was thought provoking nonetheless.

Also, it was done because the technology simply didn't exist. It took weeks for a candidate to travel to washington. (for example) So the States elect "Electors" who travel, and cast on the behalf of their voters. Direct Democracy also has Tech issues, Athens was one small town, where most folks knew most folks, so direct votes were possable, but even there long distance statecraft was more or less determined by a single person.

[Cassandra]

Regardless of how one feels about a direct democracy system, The Orville has used the premise to tell an interesting science fiction story with a touch of allegory. 

 

In other words, pure Star Trek.

[bigdamnhero]

On 10/31/2017 at 5:44 PM, DShomshak said:

I never imagined Gordon was actually pointing at Sol. I thought he was just giving the kid something to look for.

Even if he was pointing at the right star, that would take one heck of an astrogation roll to locate a system based on "some guy once pointed at it."   Besides which it doesn't sound like the Federation Union is exactly hiding, so I doubt the location of Earth is much of a secret.

 

On 10/31/2017 at 5:44 PM, DShomshak said:

The Orville is just a little too serious sometimes to watch just as a comic romp, but just a little too goofy sometimes to treat as a serious attempt at SF.

That was my trouble at first too, the tone shifts are a little jarring. But once I got used to that, the show became more enjoyable.

[Cassandra]

On 10/31/2017 at 5:46 PM, slikmar said:

There are 2 things that this episode makes me think of when I watched it, especially in letting the masses decide guilt;

1) Should Jason Todd live or die : the masses vote overwhelmingly to die. Why, cause Why Not.

2) Sanjaya Malakar on American Idol and his remaining on the show long past when he should, partly due to the work of Howard Stern. In fact, Malloy even called it trial by American Idol.

It actually reminds me why the founding fathers supposedly put in the electoral college - because when you give the masses the chance to affect things directly without real guidance, it could go horribly wrong, and probably will.

 

To answer the Jason Todd question, I think DC always intended him to be killed off.  They made the character so unlikable he he was doomed from the start.

[Ternaugh]

And The Orville has just been renewed for a second season:  http://ew.com/tv/2017/11/02/the-orville-renewed-season-2/

 

From the article:

 

So far this season, Fox’s sci-fi series has been averaging 6.7 million viewers and a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49 on Thursday nights. That might not sound like very much, but in a fall where so many new shows have struggled, it’s enough to rank Orville as the second highest-rated new hour-long show of the fall behind ABC’s The Good Doctor. Plus, Orville is keeping Fox alive in what’s long been a very tough timeslot for the network.

[mattingly]

The second highest new show? Wow.

[zslane]

I'm not sure I'd place much significance on those numbers. The traditional broadcast marketplace is dying (maybe transforming is the more accurate term). Ratings have become virtually meaningless as they are a vestige of a business model that is becoming hopelessly outdated.

[Jagged]

Just read the series has been renewed, so I guess the numbers are good enough. I am glad because like many I find it quite watchable. Much to my surprise. 

[Hermit]

Okay. Isaac using the Doctor's phrases caught me off guard. Must put drink down during this show.

[bigdamnhero]

23 hours ago, zslane said:

I'm not sure I'd place much significance on those numbers. The traditional broadcast marketplace is dying (maybe transforming is the more accurate term). Ratings have become virtually meaningless as they are a vestige of a business model that is becoming hopelessly outdated.

True, except AFAICT the whole business of selling commercials (ie keeping in business) is still based around traditional ratings. So ratings may mean nothing in terms of actual popularity, but they still mean (almost) everything in terms of perceived popularity, and therefore marketability.

 

I'm not saying this makes any rational sense, mind you...

[zslane]

Ratings today are merely pointing out that viewers aren't watching as much traditional broadcast content as they used to, and so advertisers are going to be looking elsewhere to spend their advertising dollars. The Orville may be the #2 new show, but it is #2 in an arena that is losing more relevance every year. It's like saying the Pentax K1000 is the #2 film (35mm) camera in the marketplace; that may be true but it is a virtually meaningless fact when you consider that 99% of all photos taken today are taken from smartphones.

[Cassandra]

10 hours ago, zslane said:

Ratings today are merely pointing out that viewers aren't watching as much traditional broadcast content as they used to, and so advertisers are going to be looking elsewhere to spend their advertising dollars. The Orville may be the #2 new show, but it is #2 in an arena that is losing more relevance every year. It's like saying the Pentax K1000 is the #2 film (35mm) camera in the marketplace; that may be true but it is a virtually meaningless fact when you consider that 99% of all photos taken today are taken from smartphones.

 

The Orville benefits from the same phenomenon as Wonder Woman.  It may not be perfect, but it's better then what's been put out before.

[Hermit]

My friends laughed outloud when the game was thrown into the air and shot.

[Iuz the Evil]

That was a very dark turn for the series. Not what I expected when I was watching the trailers before it came out. 

[Ternaugh]

I liked the last episode.Yes, it was dark, but in a TOS/TNG dramatic sort of way.

[Hermit]

Cupid's Dagger

 

Seriously blue dude, you couldn't wear gloves? Maybe warn folks? Does the Union know about this particular genetic quirk? You're an ass.

 

We may never hear "My Heart will go on" in its original Maclan, and that makes me sad

 

Mercer's handling of the two factions at the start was pretty good diplomacy! Picard would be proud I think

 

Props to McFarlane for scary good acting where he channeled a  girl's high school crush:)

 

And Blue Dude drops a bomb on the once married couple, but again proves to be a jerk as you know, he doesn't really keep track of when he's in season. Seriously? Jerk.

 

Still, said bomb puts a lot in flux again.

 

 

 

 

[zslane]

One Star Trek trope I could never really buy into was the "all biped species in the universe are sexually compatible" trope. It's worse than the tacit assumption that invisible, perfect universal translators are operating at all times, no matter the situation, no matter the location of the action. And the end solution was predictable as hell. But still a fairly entertaining episode, all in all. And I do appreciate that they found a way to exonerate Kelly.

[Ternaugh]

I guess it's true. There's always room for Jell-O.

[Tech priest support]

You'll know for sure if the Orville becomes successful. If it does the firefly fanatics will start making attempts to steal some of it's success by trying to do firefly crossover memes with it.

[BoloOfEarth]

The Orville is on Fox, right?  So we'll know it's successful if Fox cancels it after one season. 

[Hermit]

Well, Amazon is going ahead with a Galaxy Quest Reboot (Cast not specified yet)

 

So maybe that's a sign the Orville has swayed them it can be done?

[zslane]

Just like maybe it's a sign that Game of Thrones convinced Amazon that there are more stories in Middle-Earth worth telling?