So far, I’m pretty meh on it. Somehow her children are the only kids in DC not interested in getting into an Ivy league. They seem to play no sports or have any after school activities or be worried about getting into college. They somehow magically get all this stuff managed by themselves; she has no responsibilities to their school at all. She never has to deal with maid or any staff to get her home managed. It just happens.
The people on her staff are all under educated. It’s just this weird Hollywood version of DC that has no relationship to the actual wonky people who live there. It’s inverse to the actual values of the East Coast.
The brown people are either bad guys or magic Negro types.
It’s not really interesting to me, except the idea that a show can center on a high powered woman’s career, and even so she is conventionally pretty and basically acts just like a man. There’s no real feminine slant to it except sorta Go Ladies! You can do it! Which, okay, I guess??
My friend started music in Season 2 so I’m trying to hang in.
I had thought of watching it, until realizing it was only available to watch via a paid streaming subscription.
I already pay an exorbitant amount for cable in order to watch like two channels. I simply can’t afford more streaming services to watch a single new show.
I will say however that one look at the new Klingons made me less encouraged to watch.
This is true. I’ve spent a fair amount of time near DC. Fucking strivers everywhere.
Nothing wrong with that… but I’d imagine being the kids of a war college professor and the freakin’ Secretary Of State would be an automatic “in” for some schools. They’re less worried than they would be if they were the kids of random middle-class schlubs.
If anything, your comment just shows how needlessly classist the college acceptance system has gotten. Even the normal intramurals won’t cut it anymore. By now, these activities practically have to be something that requires a significant monetary investment and takes time away from activities that make money. If I could get into a top school without doing all that bullshit, hell yeah I would coast a little.
That is just too perfect. In middle-class sitcoms, nothing “just happens”, but here is a sitcom where the family isn’t doing anything different than those middle-class families, but everything just goes smoother for them. Anyone who has ever been part of a family must be laughing at that.
Yep. DC people are incredibly wonky, detail-oriented, Type-A personalities. The people on this show seem to be a shallow surface-level imitation of that. It’s really no better or worse than any of the other police procedurals though. I’m not sure if it’s lack of due diligence, intentional corner-cutting laziness, or some combination of the two.
I’m not sure what “East Coast values” are either. DC is a different animal from New England or New York, both of which are different from each other. Do Floridians and Georgians have East Coast values too? That’s the East Coast.
Hate that. Two-dimensional plot device characters are already one of my pet peeves, no need to make it worse by throwing racism into the mix.
This also feeds into the typecasting cycle that prevents talented PoC actors from getting work.
If she’s 1) Mrs. Perfect and 2) a TV character, of course she’s going to be conventionally pretty. Ugly people don’t exist on US television. Not sure what “acting like a man” entails. I’ve met many women who have had to act like a man at least a little to advance their careers, so this may be a reflection of that instead of bad writing.
Even Hillary Clinton, who is the epitome of a DC striver and is conventionally pretty, got a lot of hate for her looks. She also get hit from both sides on the “(not) acting like a man” thing, so I really don’t know. These are legit issues, but I don’t think the title character faces much sexism in the show. There’s no glass ceiling, just like how her household is perfectly organized, and it’s laughable.
Re: the college stuff - even kids with privilege have to take AP classes and run for class president and join lots of clubs to get into Ivy Leagues. I knew a few kids at Tulane who did get in on Mom and Dad’s money but they still at least played some of the game.
re: it just happens
I am trying to relax about the pretense of it and just go with the “she lives her life like a man” thing and therefore no one gets sick, no doctor’s appointments to schedule, no hair appointments to set up for herself or children, no meals to cook, house magically cleans itself
East Coast values - maybe more NorthEast?
The pretense that she just fell into the role without striving for it, has no political ambitions for herself, only wants to serve the country - completely ignores the amount of gladhanding and political currying it takes to get these high level appointments in any administration. But, okay, trying to roll with this lack of real world connection and buy into the Hollywood fantasy DC where everyone is perfectly average.
BTW, my classmate who actually served under Bush - uh, yeah, he graduated a year ahead of me because he AP tested out of his entire first year of Harvard.
I want to talk about tonight’s the Orville, but I posted too soon. I’m erasing it to repost tomorrow, or a little later, when my brain’s doing better with the words and stuff.
Having seen Episode 3, all I can say is The Orville is Seth MacFarlane doing Star Trek. Not a parody of Star Trek. This is Seth MacFarlane as showrunner for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 8.
People who think that sounds awesome will love this show.
If it makes you feel deeply confused, then you’re not alone.
Yeah, I’m liking it better than I thought I would, and that does confuse me. The first few episodes were rough and awkward, but tonight’s episode made me feel like the show’s starting to come together into something that… doesn’t completely stink.
In fact… I think I like it.
Oh, it’s definitely Next Generation Trek with the serial numbers filed off. Tonight’s concept wasn’t new (a generation ship where the inhabitants no longer remember they’re in space), but it was solidly executed, with a sense of wonder from both the Orville’s crew and the aliens that helped sell the story. In fact, I felt like it ended too soon. Without getting too spoilery, what the crew did is bound to have a profound impact on the alien society, and I wanted to see it play out. This episode actually left me wanting more. Wow!
It wasn’t perfect. IMHO, most of the jokes still fall flat, but they’re starting to feel more like organic reactions from the crewmembers and not just random crude attempts at humor. I’d prefer less anachronistic pop-culture references, yet I grinned at the Friends quip. And the characters are beginning to develop, if only a tiny bit, into more than one-dimensional stereotypes tailor-made for the lulz.
I’m starting to think the Orville is finding its footing, and it just might grow into a show worth following. And yes, that’s confusing me, considering it’s from the same person who made Family Guy. But I’m intrigued enough to keep watching and see what happens next.
Having not had a chance to see it or the new Trek yet, it’s been very interesting watching the reactions of friends on social media.
Before: Oh holy crap! I can’t wait for the new Star Trek series! It looks so good! This Orville show looks godawful. is it Seth MacFarlane’s Galaxy Quest? Hard pass.
After: The new Star Trek is all wrong. The tech is wrong. It’s ugly. It’s boring. It’s awkward. No thank you. So, the Orville is my new Star Trek now. Fake Trek is actually better than legit Trek.
I missed the first half-hour of Discovery, so I can’t fully judge it. It seemed pretty interesting, and if it was airing on broadcast I’d follow it, but I’m not signing up for CBS All Access just to watch it. It’ll eventually get syndicated or released on DVDs. I’ll catch it then.
