I've been watching The Orville. I remember watching some of the episodes from Season 1 and 2 on TV with my mom and waiting for it to come back. Then later I heard from my uncle that Season 3, "New Horizons" is like a completely different show. Now that I've gotten to Season 3, it is definitely a weird transition from the goofy, fun finale of Season 2 to the somber, emotional plot of the Season 3 premiere that I don't think would have even been allowed on network TV. But I like it!
On one hand, Season 3 is a lot better at giving the stories the room they need to be satisfying. In Season 1 and 2, there are so many episodes that had great ideas, but didn't go that one extra step they needed to. I'm only two episodes in (Claire is feeling like the main character at this point) but so far I feel like Season 3 has basically fixed this problem. And it's probably because this season spends less time, in Seth Macfarlane's words, "shoehorning jokes" into the dialogue, and just tells the story naturally.
On the other hand, without those network-mandated jokes, Season 3 is lacking some of that warmth that came from a half-comedic, half-serious show. MacFarlane's goal is to just let the comedy flow from absurd situations that naturally come from the plot. And I know from YouTube clips that there are going to be a good number of them in later episodes, so it's not going to be all dark. But some plots - like the continuation of the Issac arc, for example, are better off with a serious tone that doesn't lend itself to comedy.
I'm not sure about calling Season 3 a different show entirely. Streaming was bigger back in 2022 when it premiered, and it wasn't unusual to give a popular show that made the jump to streaming a bigger budget and less constraints. But nowadays with the streaming wars ruining everything, there is a bit of nostalgia for the kind of network shows that The Orville started as - a comedic Star Trek tribute. I'm not sure how popular that nostalgia is, but I think a lot of us miss long running shows that weren't ashamed of filler, and could make lighthearted comedy work at the core of the show without it ever feeling like it was shoehorned into the dialogue in the first place. So maybe the fact that the Orville writers even felt like the ideal version of the show would be less comedic kind of illustrates a flaw at the heart of the show in the first place.
So I disagree with my uncle - it still feels like the same show. It's just offering something different in Season 3.
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