Project Hail Mary Author Andy Weir Thinks This Sci-Fi Series Is A Perfect Star Trek Substitute
by Witney Seibold · /FilmIt doesn't take a very perceptive viewer to see that Seth MacFarlane's 2017 sci-fi series "The Orville" is a deep and exact homage to "Star Trek: The Next Generation." It takes place on the USS Orville, ECV-197, a clear rendition of the classification of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D. "The Orville" concerns the machinations of the Planetary Union, and the navy-like fleet of starships that serves its interests, just as "Star Trek" is about the United Federation of Planets and its Starfleet. Both shows feature space military officers who dress in color-coded uniforms, and center on the captain of a Union vessel, in this case, Captain Mercer (MacFarlane). His first officer, Commander Grayson (Adrianne Palicki), is also his ex-wife, making command a little awkward.
What's more, "The Orville" and the "Star Trek" franchise share a lot of actors and directors. "Star Trek" regulars Marina Sirtis, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, and John Billingsley have had small roles on "The Orville," while Penny Johnson Jerald, a semi-regular on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," is a full regular on "The Orville." Also, Jonathan Frakes, who played William Riker on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," has directed two episodes of "The Orville." MacFarlane's show is kind of an unofficial part of the "Star Trek" family, spun out directly from the creator's deep and completely unhidden love for the franchise (MacFarlane made "Star Trek" fan films as a youth).
Some have even said that "The Orville" is better at being "Star Trek" than some of the more recent "Trek" shows. Back in 2022, Andy Weir, the writer of the hit novels "The Martian" and "Project Hail Mary," said as much to MacFarlane on Twitter/X. "The Orville" was, he said, the best "Star Trek" show on the air.
The Orville is better at being Star Trek than some of the newer Star Trek shows
Perhaps more important than all the superficial details listed above, "The Orville" has a "Trek"-like spirit about it. Seth MacFarlane may have pitched "The Orville" to Fox as a comedy series, and he is careful to include bouts of crass humor, but the show, overall, has a spirit of curiosity, tolerance, and exploration. It celebrates intelligence, and has several stories about accepting the differences of other cultures. Weir noted to MacFarlane that "I'm sure you've heard it a million times, but I'll add to the pile: 'The Orville' is the best 'Star Trek' show out there right now."
When Weir Tweeted that in 2022, Paramount+ had launched "Star Trek: Discovery," "Short Treks," "Star Trek: Picard," "Star Trek: Lower Decks," "Star Trek: Prodigy," and was just beginning on "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." Many Trekkies will note that this new wave of streaming shows, overseen by executive producer Alex Kurtzman, was marked by a less peaceful ethos than the "Star Trek" shows that came before them, and featured a lot of violence, revenge, and contrived action conceits. The shows were dark (both tonally and in terms of candlepower), and didn't seem to possess a lot of the utopian ideas of Gene Roddenberry's original. Each one of the shows also sported many, many producers, making them feel overcooked and messy; the writing was rarely self-contained and sharp. Only the animated shows "Prodigy" and "Lower Decks" were able to lean in the direction of optimism and exploration, and featured curious, intelligent characters.
Andy Weir was just expressing what a lot of Trekkies were feeling in 2022. "The Orville" was doing a better job of replicating "Star Trek" than "Star Trek."
The Orville also appealed to science nerds
Andy Weir has a penchant for scientific accuracy in his sci-fi, and he had already Tweeted to Seth MacFarlane that "The Orville" had even gone so far as to include a few notable scientific accuracies that he appreciated:
"I have to give mad props to 'The Orville' for their recent handling of time travel. They used actual Einsteinian physics to go forward in time via time dilation, and they even show the stars blue-shifting in front and red-shifting behind as they traveled near lightspeed."
"Star Trek," of course, is often noted for the scientific-sounding plausibility of its fantastical sci-fi conceits. The imaginary tech to make starships travel faster than the speed of light takes the laws of physics into account, and a lot of time and energy were once devoted to making sure the tech on "Trek" seemed usable. "The Orville," at least in the example Weir cited, also seemed to do the same thing.
This, too, must have been refreshing to Trekkies in 2022, as the recent spate of "Star Trek" shows didn't deal with much real-world physics. There was a lot of lip service characters on "Discovery" and "Strange New Worlds" paid to their love of math and science, but none of the math and science were the least bit recognizable in the real world. That "The Orville" was outstripping "Star Trek" in terms of astral accuracy was yet another sign that it was the best "Trek" replacement we had.
As of this writing, "Star Trek" is winding down with its final seasons of "Strange New Worlds" and "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" coming soon. "The Orville," meanwhile, fully intends to return with a fourth season. It just still needs to be made, as MacFarlane is busy with other things.