The Orville: A better Star Trek than Star Trek

What a ridiculous name for a StarShip.

The Orville.

Instead of going where no man has gone before...Instead of evoking visions of the first flight with the brothers Wright (as in Orville and Wilbur) 

I think of Redenbacher...

You know, the popcorn guy...

...and maybe that's the point.

But somewhere along the way Seth McFarlane managed to do something no Star Trek Series has done in 4 decades.  

In a time when the "official" Star Trek canon has been bastardized into some weird amalgamation of action movie meets Sci-Fi chic peppered with  liberal doses of gratuitous sex and violence for no other reason than they could.

Here comes a parody, a spoof, the comic relief of the genre that somehow managed to get it right.

The Orville while not as straight-laced as Star Trek: The Next Generation or as moody and lifeless as Discovery has more in common with the original series than either of them.

What made the original Star Trek series good was the writing and the chemistry of the actors.  You didn't have to club the viewer over the head with the message.  The drama made sense.  Tension had a reason and didn't have to be manufactured.  You cared about the characters, maybe even shed a tear at their pain.

Tonight while watching The Orville it happened for me.  Yes, it was campy in spots but there were moments every bit as poignant as the the best Star Trek episodes regardless of who sat in the captain's chair.  It touched me like any good Star Trek episode would.  It made me think.  It made me feel.

The Orville works for the same reason Star Trek worked in the 60's.  We can identify with the characters.  We can see ourselves in their trials and tribulations without being forced to.  I think of The Orville as kind of a Next Generation if Picard had a better sense of humor.

It's a funny show but not Family Guy kind of funny.  The laughs aren't forced, they're natural and fit the narrative.  The kind of thing you might say to a friend in a similar situation.

OK the obvious question....

"It's a show about being on a spaceship with alien people 400 years in the future.  How would I EVER be in a similar situation?"

That's the gist of it, it's relatable, recognizable.  Not in the way that Deep Space 9 was in defiling the rose colored glasses of Roddenberry's Star Trek universe by exposing its dark underbelly.  Its rai·son d'ê·tre  to make the future just as ugly as our present.

No, the problem with many of the Star Trek series that came after Kirk and Spock was that they took themselves too seriously.  Somewhere along the line, they forgot that just shoehorning a current event into a Science Fiction context wasn't enough to be relatable to those of us that were watching.

For any work of fiction to succeed it has to meet us half way.  It has to connect us to their world by reaching a hand out to ours. 

I've seen that happen repeatedly on The Orville.

In "Nothing Left on Earth Excepting the Fishes" a title which references "The King and I" we saw multiple story lines intersecting and filling out the narrative.  The most primary of which spoke to finding common ground.  Something very much in the public conscience and something only addressable through a narrative in the current political climate.

It's no surprise, however, with Star Trek heavy hitters like Andre Bormanis and Brannon Braga showing up in the show's credits.  In the previous episode "Home" we even saw a couple of veteran Star Trek actors in Robert Picardo ( the EMH from Voyager ) opposite John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox from Enterprise)

You don't have all of these celebrated Star Trek alumni  jumping onboard The Orville just because they need a paycheck.  They see it too.

Where Discovery is a militant, lifeless shell devoid of passion or reason for being other than just...being, The Orville has managed to bring us back to what good Sci-Fi should be.

It's not an action movie, it's not sexy or gratuitous just for the sake of being so.  It's not trying to make Star Trek into Mission Impossible: Space Camp.

It's good writing, a good story and a dose of humor just where it's needed.  Even if that means poking fun at it's progenitor.  

And the fans love it.

I've had a very positive view of  The Orville since it launched ( pardon the pun ) but this season seems to be raising the bar.

At the end of "....Fishes" there was a poignant scene where Ed ( Seth McFarlane ) sets free a Trill ( the primary antagonist species ) that  betrayed him by appearing as a human and starting a relationship just to lure him into a Trill trap.  As the scene closed and she boarded her shuttle, Billy Joel's "She's always a woman" played the episode out.

I literally felt that moment.  Maybe it was the song....no...not maybe....the song fit the story perfectly.

That's good writing, that's making something completely alien relatable. 

That's why The Orville is a better Star Trek than Star Trek...

A passion for the discarded

I've always had a special kind of reverence for old things.  Things discarded, battered and within an inch of being just a pile of scrap.

I'll look at an old car rusting away in some forsaken back lot and think, What was it like when it was new.  What places did it go and whom did it carry there.  What was the world like around it.  No doubt very different from where it is now.

It's a little sad to see such things discarded simply because they've fallen out of favor with their owners.

I feel the same way about anything abandoned, discarded, unloved...

But while I feel a subtle tug at the heart strings I also see potential.  I never believe anything is too far gone so long as someone is willing to take up the challenge to breathe life back into it.

Yes, there are exceptions and some things are just meant to be thrown away but these days it seems we treat everything from the cars we drive to the people we meet the same way.  Disposable when in our estimation they become too cumbersome.

I've been a fan of Science Fiction since I was a kid which is where I first noticed this fascination with the discarded and neglected.  I was a huge fan of Star Trek (the original series) and always watched with intense interest when the good ship Enterprise would visit some derelict spaceship or forgotten world.  

One of my favorite episodes was entitled, "The Doomsday Machine"  Where Kirk and crew set off to discover the fate of their sister ship who had suffered an unfortunate encounter with a world eating mechanized monster.

What fascinated me wasn't the alien device, however.  It was the bruised, battered hulk of a starship hanging helpless in the cold blackness of space.

The destruction was palpable but what thrilled me was when it was brought at least partially back to life ultimately sacrificing itself and providing the vehicle for Kirk to once again save the galaxy.

It was that last gasp of life.  The Phoenix rising from the ashes if not a bit battered in the process but nonetheless once again relevant.

It's taught me a lesson.  Nothing is beyond hope so long as you're willing to try and the rewards can be truly great.  

I have two cars one is over 40 years old and I've owned it more than half of my life.  It's what I call a project car meaning there's always something to be done.  Mind you, many things have been done but part of the joy of owning it is the ever present opportunity to make it a little better.

When I first bought it nobody paid much attention.  20 years later, however, it seems I can't drive it a block without it coaxing a smile or an impromptu conversation.

It seems to bring others more joy than even I get from it.  I can only guess as to why but if I dared to try it's probably this...

It's not disposable.

It's a reminder that with effort,, some patience and a little love anything is within reach even if nobody else thinks it's worth the effort.

That's why I have a special place in my heart for those old, special things. They're a link to a tapestry of memories that can add color to an otherwise mundane present.

It's worth it to bring some of them into our future. 

By the way, I'm not just talking about cars and barns.  Today we live in a society that's far too quick to label everything disposable, even when those things posess a heart and a soul.

Learn to see the value after the luster has faded.  Learn to see the potential in the passed by.

.

"Spock Out"

We've lost a legend today 
and it will be a long time before we see his like again.

No long winded testimonials or empty accolades for link bait.  

Just.

Thanks...

Leonard Nimoy

1931-2015

Sunday's Super large Sportsball Ubergame (updated for 2014)

A non-sports fan's guide to Sunday's Super large Sportsball Ubergame

I'm not much of a sports fan.  In fact for many professional sports I only have a passing interest in seeing their respective seasons end.  That stems primarily from a desire to see the end of the propaganda that accompanies said professional sports when their season is over.

I don't hate sports, I just don't buy into the glorification of them.  Hey, these guys get to play a game for a living.  Yes it requires training, skill and intelligence to participate but in the end it's just a game.  We should all be so lucky, but we aren't.

And so it was with Sunday's major sporting event which shall remain unnamed because last year they sued a bunch of people just for saying its name without permission from the council of elderly rich people who own it.  

It had a lot to do with large men repeatedly assaulting each other usually in pursuit of another large man in possession of an oblong shaped object.  Possession of said object is paramount in this sporting contest by the way.

As I understand it, the game is divided into 4, 15 minute quarters that for some reason take 3 hours to complete.  There is also a lavish performance event in the middle of it where they stop the game and a popular entertainer sings songs with accompanying fanfare.  After which they resume the running and assaulting of each other. 

(The 2014 version featured a matchup between a group of large individuals representing angry equines versus another group representing seafaring birds of prey.)

The 2013 version of the Super large Sportsball Ubergame took place on February 2nd and involved 2 teams.  One team represented a group of black scavenging birds and the other a group of 19th century freelance laborers with pick axes.

During low spots during the game a small group of middle aged men wearing headsets would have heated discussions about what just happened.  It's not uncommon for discussions of 30 seconds of the game's proceedings to be discussed for 15 minutes, for example.   

Some of these men could also be heard during play of the game when something of interest to them occurs.  These men are known as Sportscasters.  They're much like the players in that they get paid to talk about professional recreational events without having to take part.  Some of their membership includes former game players who have "retired" from participating in these professional recreational activities. 

For most of the game it appeared that the team representing birds were very agitated while the team representing the laborers were largely disinterested.  Except during the early part of the game after the popular entertainer was done singing or the "second half" as they call it. Perhaps they were motivated by the performance of popular entertainer.

During an opportunity for the laborer team to best the bird team's score, one of the playfield judges dressed in a prison shirt appeared to have a lapse in their judgment.  It seems that the decision of the judge in the prison garb disheartened the laborer's team.  The effect of which was for the laborer team to stop trying to best the bird team's score. Apparently the effect of the popular entertainer's performance had worn off.

(For the 2014 game it appeared the team representing the angry equines shared the same motivational psychology as 2013's team representing laborers. Throughout the event the equine team's leader was shown many times with a concerned, unfulfilled demeanor.  In the end the seafaring birds of prey triumphed over the angry equines by apparently just showing up.  Proving once and for all after 2 examples that you never want to go up against a sportsball team representing angry birds. )

 (During the weeks leading up to 2014 edition of this annual sports event many late night comedic hosting personalities made note of how both teams apparently heralded from areas of the country where the consumption of exotic flora was deemed acceptable.  With some proclaiming the sporting event the "Bowl Bowl")

Now admittedly, I could care less and was actually flipping between coverage of this sporting event and reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Still, I saw enough to know that my time was better spent on the reruns.  Although even with my limited knowledge I surmised 30 minutes before the game ended that the birds were going to leave the laborer's with excrement on their pick axes. 

Luckily, the Star Trek reruns were presented marathon fashion by BBC America proving to be a far better use of the majority of my time.  I was also able to gain the most minimal of knowledge so as not to bring harm to myself should devotees of this sport find irritation with my lack of interest. 

In short, I can fake it.  If you know the score and a few highlighted moments you can keep this sport's  devotees postulating on individual player performance for days without fear of having to interject anything except for the occasional head nod.

Mission accomplished.