Starship shows are back!

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This season, the oft-delayed "Star Trek Discovery" finally premiered. Also, Seth MacFarlane introduced a show called "The Orville." Comparing these shows would be like comparing apples and oranges, but both shows are entertaining and successful, and well worth watching. Both shows have also been picked up for a second season.

First, "Star Trek Discovery." There had been a lot of chaos prior to the premiere date, with showrunner Bryan Fuller leaving, and the numerous delays. It was originally supposed to premiere in January 2017, but was pushed back multiple times to September 2017. This is different from any other Star Trek show. As the creators said, they needed a "Star Trek show for the post-Sopranos era of television."

The show is serialized and not as episodic, which works well here. Also, I like the opening credits, which uses images and blueprints as opposed to the ship flying through space through nebulas and asteroid belts. Also, there is no cheesy pop song during the credits, like the Show Which Will Not Be Named.

First of all, because this is on a pay-per-view platform (CBS charges $6 per month to subscribe to All Access with commercials, $10 without), the budget is huge, about $8 to $9 million per episode. That's more than a lot of movies. You can see it on screen, because the effects are movie-quality stunning. The ship uses an experimental "spore drive," which transports the ship to other parts of the universe instantaneously. The hull is made up of three concentric circles. When the drive is activated, the circles spin in opposite directions, the ship rotates fully, and then vanishes. Trust me, this looks cooler than it sounds.

Also, thanks to the pay-per-view format, there are no standards-and-practices requirements. The producers promise to keep things at a PG-13 level, and promise that there won't be any explicit sex scenes (save that for the fan fiction), but the violence is a little more bloody, and they went where no Star Trek movie or show has gone before by using the f-bomb. The word "shit" was used a few times in Star Trek IV, Generations (by Data with his newly activated emotion chip, and he said it for a good reason), and twice by Lily in First Contact (but she was from the late 21st century). Even though I never use the f-word (snicker), I am not offended by it. However, I don't buy its use in this show, because, based on what Spock said about the use of "colorful metaphors" in the 20th century in Star Trek IV, I thought cursing was no longer a "thing" by the 23rd century.

Okay, you are probably wondering what this show is about. It takes place 10 years before the timeline of the original series with Kirk and Spock. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is a human raised by Spock's parents, Sarek and Amanda, on Vulcan. She is the first Starfleet officer to be charged with mutiny. She ends up on the Discovery while she is being transported between prisons, which is not coincidental.

Starfleet is at war with the Klingons, who are trying to unify and conquer the galaxy, because that is what Klingons like to do. However, the Klingons are given some depth and not portrayed as purely evil. They have clear motivations and goals, and it seems like they are at war with the Federation because they are simply in the way of their goal.

Other characters are first officer Saru, who is able to sense the coming of death, bright-eyed cadet Sylvia Tilly, and captain Gabriel Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs, who most of us know as Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies. He is a brilliant tactician, but he cares about his crew, like any good captain. However, they make it rather obvious that he has been out in space and in the heat of battle too long. (watch the last two episodes to learn more about this character's motivations).

Overall, this is a very good show, and I will continue to watch it. My only complaints are that the show tries too hard to be gritty sometimes, and is visually too similar to the new Star Trek reboot movies. Also, even though this show takes place 10 years before the original series, the technology is advanced, using touch screens and holographic communication. If they were going for continuity, the bridge would be painted in bright colors and have lots of beeping noises and blinking lights. However, I don't think they are going for continuity, and as Nicholas Meyer (who is on the writing staff for this show) said, every show or movie, regardless of when it takes place, is a product of the date it was released.

Finally, the show understandably gave the Klingons a makeover. It may have been a bit too drastic, because they are now bald-headed and look almost reptilian. For those of you who remember the 1980s, they look a lot like Grig from "The Last Starfighter." At least they are not a bunch of guys with tan makeup and mustaches.

Now, on to "The Orville." I had no idea this show even existed until this past summer (2017), and I thought it was going to be an all-out spoof of Star Trek, which I thought (and still think) is a terrible idea. It's not even a straight-ahead comedy like the great movie "Galaxy Quest." It still has plenty of laughs. MacFarlane's motivation to create this show was that he thought too much of today's sci-fi is dark and dystopian, and he wanted a bright, fun and optimistic view of the future, especially after he found out that "Discovery" was going to be dark and gritty.

The show takes place on a mid-size vessel (The Chevy Malibu of starships?) MacFarlane also stars in the show as captain Ed Mercer, who caught his then wife, Kelly, in bed with a blue-skinned alien a year before the show takes place. As luck would have it, Kelly ends up being Ed's second-in-command, but they develop a friendship and good working relationship. Other characters include a woman, who looks like she is 90 pounds soaking wet, with enough strength to knock down a metal door with her bare hands, and Isaac, an artificial lifeform who believes most species are inferior to his.

This is similar in tone and structure to the original Star Trek series, because the show introduces characters, and brings up issues like sexual mutilation, and how a true democracy functions where every single citizen has a say. There are just enough changes to this show to keep Fox from getting sued - the governing body is called the Union instead of the Federation, plasma torpedoes instead of photon torpedoes, etc. The effects aren't as detailed as "Discovery," but are still very good. They put a lot of money and effort into the show. A lot of writers and directors from Star Trek shows were poached for this show like Brannon Braga, and Jonathan Frakes (as a director). Jon Favreau, who directed "Iron Man," helmed the first episode of the series.

Although "Star Trek Discovery" is sprinkled with a fair bit of humor (especially the recent episodes with Rainn Wilson as intergalactic con man Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd), "The Orville" tries for laughs much more often. The problem is, you have to like MacFarlane's sense of humor. Remember, this was the guy who sang "We Saw Your Boobs" (NSFW) at the Oscars. However, his jokes are greatly toned down compared to his animated shows, and, in my opinion, most of the jokes are downright funny. My favorite so far is when the crew is trying to teach Isaac how practical jokes work. They put "Mr. Potato" pieces on his head (He doesn't use his "eyes" to see, they are just there for aesthetic reasons). He got his revenge on the crew member by amputating his leg while he was sleeping. Don't worry, everyone was fine in the end.

So what is the verdict? Again, these shows are very different in tone and intent, so it's like comparing
apples and oranges. This is close, because both shows have great effects, good characters, and good acting. I will keep watching both shows. "Discovery" is better written and thought out as a single coherent story, while "The Orville" is episodic. However, "The Orville" benefits from its storylines that bring up moral debates, and its sense of humor. I will give "The Orville" the edge, because you have to pay $6-$10 per month for CBS All Access in order to watch "Discovery." However, in you don't like "Family Guy" or "American Dad," you probably won't like "The Orville."