This past Summer we had two different shows on the streaming services that offered a throwback of sorts to the earlier days of Star Trek. The prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise in the days when Captain Christopher Pike was in command and that Paramount+ series took the franchise back to the episodic, space exploration format that the original series delivered. Over on Hulu, the third season of Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville continued to harken back to the look and feel of Star Trek: The Next Generation even though it is not linked to the Trek universe. That one follows the crew of the titular starship as they explore the galaxy and protect against threats to the Planetary Union. So which of the two was most Trek-like? I have managed to work my way through the most recent seasons of both shows (which took a while with some of those epic-length Orville eps) and I am prepared to offer my assessment here.
I should note before proceeding that Star Trek: TOS is one of the early sci fi shows that got me into the genre and it is not only my favorite entry in the franchise but also one of my all-time favorites across all of television. Second on the list of Trek shows for me is TNG and I watched that one all the way through during its original run (TOS I caught in repeats). So I know my Trek (I have seen all or part of all the franchise entries) and I consider myself more than qualified to gauge how well SNW and The Orville stand up to the franchise’s legacy.
Among the newer Star Trek shows from the past five years or so, Strange New Worlds has definitely been a welcome arrival. I have watched some of Discovery, but it is not Trek to me. While it does have some good characters and decent stories from time to time, the CGI overload and emphasis on action-adventure over character development and story led me to give up on that one after its second season. And Picard hasn’t been much better. The first two seasons both had some good ideas and introduced some interesting characters (while also bringing back many familiar faces), but the stories seem better fit to a two-hour movie than a ten-episode season which results in a fair amount of padding and derailments. And the excessive sfx and emphasis on action comes through on that show as well. Strange New Worlds is guilty of that at times, but it channels the original series well enough that I enjoyed the first season for the most part.
SNW does not follow a story arc like the other current live-action shows, but it is not quite as episodic as they would have you believe. If you have to start episodes with a “Previously On” opener, then you are carrying over storylines. But still, most episodes offer a complete story even if they might borrow some threads from past eps. I certainly enjoy Anson Mount as Pike and Rebecca Romijn as Number One, and I am warming up to Ethan Peck as Spock. I like that they revived the character of Dr. M’Benga (played perfectly by Babs Olusanmokun), but the Nurse Chapel of this series (who is practically portrayed as an action hero) is a far cry from the character we saw on TOS. They do deliver an interesting take on a young Uhura, though, and some of the new characters show promise.
The episodes for the first season were mostly good with some interesting sci fi concepts, and it doesn’t bother me too much that they did not try to recreate the “morality plays” of the original because those could get heavy-handed at times. There were a few clunkers among the ten eps (“The Serene Squall” was a bit of a mess), but there were also bright spots and the season finale (which delivered a revision of a classic episode) deserves a place among the all-time great Trek eps. It definitely represented a good start and shows promise for where SNW can go if it sticks closer to the episodic format and the general spirit of TOS.
As for The Orville, I became hooked on that show after its first season, and even though I was disappointed with its second season, I stuck around for the third year. Now that it is on Hulu, the show doesn’t have the limitations of broadcast television and it took advantage of that where it could. But for the most part, this season harkened back to the show’s first year with some interesting sci fi-infused stories while also further developing its cast of characters.
The Orville is so close to the look and feel of Star Trek: TNG that I am surprised that Paramount has never threatened legal action. But I guess that they are happy enough with the performance of their own shows that they will let this one have some leeway for now. Season 3 of The Orville does have its moments where it gets rather talky and touchy/feely, but that was not uncommon with TNG. It also could get a bit preachy at times (just like TNG and some eps of TOS). And there were also points where it was downright dull. Again, just like TNG. But when it soared, it really hit the mark. And it did that more often than not throughout the season. It also took some pretty direct political potshots that I thought were dead on (i.e., “Gently Falling Rain”).
This show also had its moments of CGI overload and excess action that I thought could have been toned done. (How about they save their money with less sfx and maybe make a couple more eps each season? That applies to SNW as well.) And those last four episodes (all well over an hour each) started to feel bloated even if they did deliver some pretty good stories. Interestingly, I often hear the new Trek shows accused of being too “woke” (a term that I don’t care for and an assessment I do not necessarily agree with), but I rarely hear that mentioned of The Orville even though I would say that is closer to applying with the McFarlane series (particularly apparent in “A Tale of Two Topas”). But despite its much more apparent “liberal” leanings, it still manages to deliver some good sci fi.
So which of the two is most Trek-like?
I would argue that they both do a good job of paying homage to the glory days of the franchise. Strange New Worlds brings back the space exploration of TOS with a new adventure each week. And The Orville follows a similar template while connecting more closely with the TNG aesthetic. And yet fans of the original shows should still enjoy the new entries because they do enough to distinguish themselves on their own terms.
Basically, this is just a good time to be a Star Trek fan. More Strange New Worlds is on the way, and if you like Discovery and Picard then that is more live-action Trek for your viewing queue. Plus, the animated Lower Decks (which is also a throwback to the TNG days) is a ton of fun. There is no word yet on a fourth season of The Orville, but I am guessing that we have more adventures from that on the way even if it is just a movie now and then. If you have not seen it yet, I definitely recommend checking it out (all three seasons are streaming on Hulu). And if you are a TOS fan, then Strange New Worlds should be on your must-watch list. It builds on the Trek franchise while also paying homage to its origins.
Are you watching Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and/or The Orville? Chime in with your thoughts on which show best represents the Trek legacy in the comments below.
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