How Seth MacFarlane could save his terminally bland Star Trek clone The Orville

Seth MacFarlane’s new faux-Star Trek show The Orville premiered on Fox recently, and

the reviews ranged from scathing to indifferent. People clearly aren’t sure what to make of its weird blend of straight-faced Next Generation-era Trek pastiche and MacFarlane’s particularly lowbrow brand of humor. So far, The Orville isn’t exactly a bad show, but it’s disjointed and formless as it oscillates between the different things it’s trying to do. Here’s what it’s going to need to do better to survive as a series. COMMIT TO SOMETHING, ANYTHING The Orville is two different shows. One is live-action Family Guy in space, with crude humor and casual racist and sexist jokes. The other is a bland, off-brand Star Trek imitation. In theory, either of these ideas on its own could let the series survive on network television. MacFarlane’s Family Guy and American Dad have seen tremendous success on the foundation of that same kind of bro-humor. And while it does feel out of place on the deck of the Enterprise, given Star Trek's history of diversity and inclusiveness, it’s possible that jokes featuring a racist robot or banal, sexist arguments about leaving the toilet seat up will bring something new to the Trek table. There’s clearly room on TV for mediocre Star Trek — after all, Star Trek: Enterprise somehow made it through four full seasons.                                                                                                 https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/14/16307156/the-orville-fox-star-trek-seth-macfarlane-humor-originality