Do you have to be a fan of “Star Wars” to enjoy “The Orville”?

Question

I love watching “Family Guy,” but never got into “Star Trek.”  Would I like “The Orville”?

Answer 1

Seth sold The Orville as a comedy but as more episodes came out it started getting more serious.   But like most shows these days they do eight to ten shows and call it a season.   Give me the old shows where they did 26 episodes a year.   

Answer 2

The Orville does have some of Family Guy's trademark crude humor, but it's actually pretty serious most of the time.

Try watching the first episode to see if it appeals to you.

Answer 3

No, you don't have to be a Star Wars or Star Trek fan.

Answer 4

As other have said, it's inspired by Star Trek, not Star Wars.  But contrary to "Steve Guy", it is NOT a parody.  Orville is a spiritual successor to Star Trek.  Seth MacFarlane is actually a HUGE Trek fan.  This show is an attempt to mix his love of Trek and to try to do REAL Trek-style stories where science fiction uses the fantastic to comment on real life.  He mixes in his brand of humor.

It is NOT a very Family Guy style of humor though.  Family Guy relies heavily on non-sequiturs that have nothing to do with the plot or character of the moment.  It's one of the worst of the animated sitcoms.  Orville's humor is actually A BIT better than Family Guy at times because there are no cheap cutaway gags.  MacFarlane is forced to actually fit the humor into a storyline.  

But the humor still uses alot of sophomoric potty humor, and often has minimal relationship to the plot.  It also usually occupies the opening scene and maybe interjects once or twice.  Don't expect a sitcom.

You don't have to be a Trek fan to like this show...but it helps.  If you like Trek, you'll PROBABLY like Orville.  If you DISliked Trek, you'll PROBABLY dislike Orville.  If you just never saw Trek and have no opinion either way, you can watch Orville and not be lost...but there are tropes and cliches of the genre that will feel familiar to a Trek fan that you might not pick up on.  

Overall, I'd say Orville showed promise, but never really delivered on that promise.  But then again, neither has Trek since TNG.  

Answer 5

The Orville is a parody of Star Trek, and it definitely helps to have seen at least some of Star Trek: The Next Generation because some of if its ideas come straight from that show. But you don't have to have seen it, nothing is confusing if you haven't, they explain everything about their technology that you'd need to know. Plus the friendships and characters are very different on The Orville so it stands alone as an interesting watch. Its very much like the creator's other show Family Guy, which is a parody of 70s and 80s sitcoms but most of its fans are too young to have seen many of things it makes fun of, and you don't have to have seen them to enjoy family guy anyway. Same with Orville having its own fans. 

Answer 6

No. Orville stands on it's own. You don't need to be a fan of Star Wars or Star Trek to enjoy it.