7th Station ~TV, movies, games~

[Celedam]

Regarding My Hero Academia…

It's a pretty generic shounen but it uses the "generic"ness well which is why it's popular.

This, so much.

[Celedam]

I've finally gotten around to watching The Orville, because it's expiring off of Hulu in a couple weeks. It's a decent approximation of Star Trek, made by someone who obviously grew up with and loved Star Trek: The Next Generation, but don't believe anyone who says it's better Star Trek than Star Trek. It's really not. It is to other action/adventure series what The Big Bang Theory is to other sitcoms.

What do I mean by that? Well, The Big Bang Theory includes many references to science, technology, and geek culture, but those references are almost never funny or clever in themselves. They're inserted only to remind you that the characters are supposed to be awkward nerds and that's their excuse for behaving the way they do. If you overlook or remove those references, the jokes are standard sitcom jokes delivered by awful, obnoxious characters.

The Orville is essentially the same. It looks like ST:TNG, and it includes many sci-fi and adventure tropes that were popularized by ST:TNG, but it doesn't explore any new ideas like real science fiction does (and like ST:TNG did more often than you might remember). The tropes are just a costume for a fairly typical story about a man who is forced to work with his ex-wife and gradually falls in love with her again. Yes, really.

Possibly the most off-putting thing about The Orville is that although it's set even further in the future than ST:TNG was, it is thoroughly modern in its style, language, and humor. I get it, that's part of the joke, but that's also why I can't think of it as real science fiction. The premise of ST:TNG, and the reason why its characters behaved the way they did, was that they lived in a post-scarcity world (thanks to reactor and replicator technologies) and were free to devote themselves to exploration and personal enlightenment. That sort of thing has a radical effect on sociocultural evolution. (See also "the singularity".)

Don't get me wrong, The Orville is plenty of fun for what it is, but it's important to remember what it is: a loving and earnest parody of ST:TNG created by the same man who created Family Guy. It's not quite as wacky as the special Star Wars episodes of Family Guy — no lightsabers with erectile dysfunction — but it's certainly coming from the same headspace.

[Zunu]

I agree with all of that. I'd just add that the 20th century callbacks are also some of the laziest and most annoying parts of "real" Trek. I cringed when they played "Sabotage" in ST Beyond. 98% of the time in Trek, it's like Greece, Rome, Shakespeare, 20th century culture, and that's it. The original series is supposed to take place starting in the year 2264. You mean to say they don't have oldies from 2240? No classic scannerbop tunes from 2187? No new forms of art or pop culture created in the 23rd century? And then 100 years later, with Picard and the gang, basically no major cultural shifts between the 2260's and the 2360's? Oh, Holodeck I guess....where 90% of the time is spent on 19th/20th century Sherlock Holmes and film noir cosplay. I guess in general I'd like to see less past and more future in my science fictional future. I guess that's why for me The 5th Element is still one of the best SF films of all time, despite it failing on every level when it comes to real science and physics. At least it's got the right idea of even the not-too-distant future being disturbingly weird. (Shoutout to the three seashells in Demolition Man tho.)

Anyway, why is Geordi seemingly the only dude in a population of trillions with a cool visor? And where's the record/playback/transmit/receive button on that thing? You'd think he'd be spending all his free time in his cabin watching hyperreal "educational videos" and such.

[erilaz]

Possibly the most off-putting thing about The Orville is that although it's set even further in the future than ST:TNG was, it is thoroughly modern in its style, language, and humor.

The summary I normally use to describe The Orville is "Star Trek with dick jokes."

98% of the time in Trek, it's like Greece, Rome, Shakespeare, 20th century culture, and that's it.

At best, you'll get a token post-20th-century name-drop. "Earthmen like Ramses, Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler, Lee Kuan." ("Drink!")

Anyway, why is Geordi seemingly the only dude in a population of trillions with a cool visor? [snip] You'd think he'd be spending all his free time in his cabin watching hyperreal "educational videos" and such.

I think you answered your own question.

[Celedam]

The summary I normally use to describe The Orville is "Star Trek with dick jokes."

Or "Galaxy Quest, the series."

Wait, didn't I make that comment before?

<searching>

Yeah, I did…

viewtopic.php?p=222495#p222495

It turned out to be accurate. The Orville is to ST:TNG what Galaxy Quest was to ST:TOS. And I think that's why The Orville, as fun as it can be sometimes, still grates on my psyche: this schtick has been done before.

[Celedam]

I wish there was someone else who is into both H!P and Critical Role, because I want to share the realization I just had that Jester is a blue tiefling version of Maachan…

Last edited by Celedam on Thu Sep 20, 2018 5:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

[TotallyUncool]

This jsut popped up in my Youtube suggestions.



if only it were an actual anime series - I would definitely watch it.

[Shoujo Q]

The summary I normally use to describe The Orville is "Star Trek with dick jokes."

Or "Galaxy Quest, the series."

Wait, didn't I make that comment before?

<searching>

Yeah, I did…

https://jplop.com/viewtopic.php?p=222495#p222495

It turned out to be accurate. The Orville is to ST:TNG what Galaxy Quest was to ST:TOS. And I think that's why The Orville, as fun as it can be sometimes, still grates on my psyche: this schtick has been done before.

I watch the Orville and have been paying attention to the new Star Trek series but haven’t watched it because screw you CBS, but everywhere I look people say The Orville is more Star Trek than the new Star Trek series. I wonder if it’s really THAT bad?

The first season wasn’t bad but it has a lot to live up to if it doesn’t want to come off as a one trick pony. It had moments in the show where it might be good but stupid stuff got in the way.

[JonCC]

I never thought it would happen, but it has: a Gundam series has been added to Netflix.

Specifically Gundam Unicorn (2010). It's presented in its original 7 one hour episode theatrical OVA format, not the 2017 fifteen episode TV recut (known as RE:0096).
If you haven't watched it, give it a try. I really enjoyed it. It does require a bit of Universal Century knowledge to get into, but the opening mobile suit battle should get you hooked.

I hope this bodes well for both the back catalogue and future projects (Gundam Narrative, Hathaway's Flash film trilogy) to be added as well.
Adding the recent The Origin series would make a lot of sense as well.

It would put Gundam in the reach of a lot more people. Those Blu-ray box sets are extremely pricey these days.

[Celedam]

Gundam has been on Hulu for a while, although I don't know if that means anything for people outside the U.S.

I'd still like to see my personal favorite, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, be made available. It's been buried and forgotten by all of the other, newer series — especially standalone, non-UC series — over the last couple decades. Sure, Gundam Wing (a.k.a. Boy Band Gundam) was immensely popular and opened the way for those other series, but it twisted the franchise a bit and made it less palatable to old-school fans who prefer the worldbuilding and military realism of Universal Century.