The 1st Star Trek trope that The Orville never made fun of

The Orville has incorporated many elements of the Star Trek franchise, but there is one facet of the iconic sci-fi universe that Seth MacFarlane’s space opera has avoided. Although The Orville is not set at any point in the Star Trek Timeline, the intentional similarities between the two have inevitably led them to become intertwined in popular culture. All the thoughts The Orville Borrowed from Star Trek Helped the former become much more accessible from the start. however, There is still one big thing missing The Orville That would complete his Star Trek tribute

The tech and alien races in the Star Trek universe are some of the most recognizable in sci-fi. The Orville has made a conscious effort to ensure that it has a counterpart for many of Star Treks famous elements. Despite evolving into an impressive dramatic saga in its own right, The Orville began as a loving parody of Star TrekAnd it’s easy to find in almost every frame of The Seth MacFarlane Show. Interestingly, there is a very good reason The Orville has stayed away from a legendary piece of canon of the franchise that inspired it.

The Orville never parodied Star Trek’s transporters

Captain Ed Mercer doesn’t have the most useful tech at his disposal

While The Orville has introduced versions of Star Treks weapons and other advanced technology, the show’s titular ship does not have the ability to beam its crew up and down from the surface of alien worlds or between ships. Instead, Captain Ed Mercer and the other members of the USS Orville’s crew make the trip the “old fashioned” way – by taking a shuttle. Given that Star TrekThe transporters are incredibly well ingrained in the general time, It’s surprising that The Orville Would sidestep parody the tech When everything else is replicated in such impressive detail.

Iconic like Star Treks transporters are, they have not been immune to criticism through the decades. The technology to instantly move people and objects from one place to another is incredibly convenient, And sometimes even to the detriment of the narrative. Transporters can be something of a cure for a handicap that would otherwise be incredibly difficult to overcome. when Star Trek Wanting to sideline the transporter for plot reasons, the show often had to come up with a variety of reasons why they weren’t working. So, it is possible The Orville Wanted to avoid this case.

Star Trek: The Original Series introduced transporters for budget reasons

Star Trek once could not afford to shoot shuttle landing sequences

Transporters may seem like an idea introduced to help Star Treks world-building, but they were actually first used for financial reasons. when The original series was shot, it was much easier, faster and cheaper to film a transporter sequence than it was to show one of the USS Enterprise’s shuttles flying down to the surface of a planet. Exploring alien worlds was and continues to be a huge part of Star Trek StudySo with the frequency it was happening, the invention of transporters made it a possibility.

At the time of Star Trek: The Next GenerationThe spinoff’s budget has been increased. This is proven by The next generations many shuttle landings. however, Transporters remained a large part of the formula due to their popularity in The original series. interesting, The Orville Clearly has the option to follow in The next generations footsteps and use shuttles as well as transporters. Alas, MacFarlane’s show decided not to stick with the transporter trope, possibly to avoid the narrative issues the tech has caused in some corners of the world. Star Trek Franchise.

Transporters exist in the Orville Universe

Other groups like the Planetary Union can transport people and objects

While The OrvilleThe Planetary Union does not have access to transporter technology, it exists in the show’s canon. Transporters are considered incredibly advanced in The OrvilleAnd only a few select species have developed the technology that mirrors its counterpart Star Trek. Members of the crew of the USS Orville even fell victim to being transported against their will. While this happened in Star Trek Also, the development has much more weight in it The Orville Because the main characters cannot recover their friends using the same methods.

While The Orville would not exist without Star TrekThe former mostly avoiding the use of transporters is almost like a preview of that The next generation Could have been if The original series Has the budget to accommodate endless shuttle landings. The crew of the USS Orville often has to come up with much more complex rescue missions How very TNG Counterparts because they can not just resort to a fly-by beam out. While Star Treks transporters captured the minds of many when they were introduced, The OrvilleThe limited use of the same tech works much more consistently.

Key background

• MacFarlane, a huge Star Trek fan, aimed to capture the feel of the classic series, blending humor and social commentary with space exploration.

• Several episodes of The Orville were directed by Star Trek veterans like Jonathan Frakes (Riker from The Next Generation) and Brannon Braga, a writer and producer for multiple Star Trek series.

• While known for its comedy, the show often tackles serious and emotional topics, exploring themes like identity, ethics and personal relationships.