Bad Trek Clones

[bcholmes]

iTunes recently had a sale on the first season of The Orville. I’ve long felt certain that I wouldn’t like the show for several reasons. First, I don’t find Seth Macfarlane’s humour fits my tastes. Second, I’m kind of opposed to giving my money and attention to a show that hires Norm Macdonald. And third, from the clips that I’ve seen, the visual design of the show makes it look cheap.

So, my gut tells me that the series is half-assed. But I’ve heard from more than a few folks that the show is surprisingly good. I’ve also quizzed people about the Norm Macdonald character: if he only has a small role, I might be able to overlook his presence. I’ve heard a couple people tell me that they don’t really remember the gelatinous character.

So there was iTunes offering the first season for cheap. And I decided to give it a try. Do you know the phrase, “buyer’s regret”?

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Mirrored from Under the Beret.

Comments

[elusis]

Do you just have a general hatred of Norm Macdonald's inability to act, or is he particularly heinous in some way I'm not aware of?

[bcholmes]

Have you ever seen the movie, Boys Don't Cry, about trans man Brandon Teena?

Here's how Norm Macdonald covered that story on Saturday Night Live's news segment:

In Nebraska, a man was sentenced for killing a female crossdresser who had accused him of rape and two of her friends. Excuse me if this sounds harsh, but in my mind, they all deserved to die.

Hilarious, huh?

[elusis]

Christ, what an asshole.

[emceeaich]

It's staggering what one can say and not derail one's career if one is white and cis-male.

People keep singing this series' praises to me, but I'll take a hard pass on it.

Bring me season four of The Expanse (and someone airlock Holden.)

[sabotabby]

Every time I see a post about Disco, some Orville fan jumps into the comments and says that it's better. The fanbase is just so obnoxious that it makes me not want to watch the show. And yet people whose opinions I typically respect tell me that it's good and I'd like it and it's progressive and queer positive even though it's Seth Macfarlane and I can't name a single thing he's done that I've ever found funny.

I think you and I have pretty similar tastes in terms of what's good in sci-fi, so I am inclined to take your word for it. In conclusion thank you for watching it so that I don't have to.

[lovelyangel]

I've experienced the same thoughts and external feedback as you. But so far I've continued to resist any temptation to watch the show. (It's not like have have tons of spare time, anyway.) Thanks for taking the bullet for us. This is one more data point I'll add to the Don't Watch side. I'm sure I have better things to do with my time.

[bibliofile]

Alas. I watched the first episode and was seriously underwhelmed. I don't need to see any more characters or setups like that.

Geez, I didn't know that about Norm Macdonald before. Thanks for the tip. (Huh, and he wasn't that funny to begin with.)