Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes Had One Big Fear About The Orville

Just as one might consider Dean Parisot's 1999 comedy "Galaxy Quest" to be an unofficial "Star Trek" movie, so too do many consider Seth MacFarlane's 2017 series "The Orville" to be an unofficial "Star Trek" series. Indeed, "The Orville" debuted only two weeks before "Star Trek: Discovery," the first new "Star Trek" series in 12 years, and one might see it as a proper "Star Trek" parallel universe. While the makers of "Discovery" wanted to set a new violent tone and aesthetic for their show, setting it apart from the "Star Trek" of the past, MacFarlane deliberately designed his sci-fi series to be more retro, looking remarkably like one of his favorite shows, "Star Trek: The Next Generation." 

And "The Orville" has palpable other connections to "Star Trek." One of the show's most prominent writer/directors was Brannon Braga, a longtime "Star Trek" luminary and co-creator of "Star Trek: Enterprise." A prominent "Star Trek" actor, Penny Johnson Jerald, has a regular role on the show. And Jonathan Frakes — who played Commander Riker on "Next Generation," and who has directed dozens of episodes of "Star Trek" besides — has helmed two episodes of "The Orville." If "Discovery" was the edgy new kid in the "Star Trek" family, "The Orville" was an adopted uncle. 

Frakes, it should be noted, has become a prolific TV director in general since his days on "Star Trek," where is directorial career began. He has directed 13 episodes of "Leverage," and 10 episodes of "The Librarians." In a 2017 interview with IndieWire, Frakes admitted that he was wary of "The Orville" at first, as MacFarlane was best known for creating and writing crass, frat-boy friendly animated shows like "Family Guy" and "American Dad!" Luckily, Frakes noted, MacFarlane's show wasn't like "Family Guy" at all. 

Frakes' fears about "The Orville" were shared by most sci-fi fans. MacFarlane wasn't just the mastermind behind "Family Guy," but had also made crass comedy films like "Ted" and "A Million Ways to Die in the West." He became successful writing farces and fart jokes, not intellectual sci-fi like "Star Trek." And indeed, "The Orville" is a comedy series. The characters do make flippant jokes with one another, and some of the sci-fi conceits on the show are designed to be silly; in one episode, the emotionless robot character, Isaac (Mark Jackson), cuts off the leg of Lieutenant Malloy (Scott Grimes) as a prank. Isaac, it seems, doesn't quite understand human humor.

But overall, "The Orville" is at least as much sci-fi as it is comedy. This put Frakes at ease when he came on board to direct the fifth episode of the series, "Pria." He recalled his hesitation, but also his relief, saying: 

"I was afraid that it was going to be like 'Family Guy,' and it's not really, but it's also not really as serious as 'Next Generation.' I think Seth, and Brannon, and whoever else is involved in all this, they found a tone that clicks with this audience, either the millennial audience or the old school audience. Everyone is very pleasantly surprised at how well the show has been received. I'm happy to see the homage, and I'm happy to see success for whoever wants to steal good ideas." 

Frakes went on to say that the TV landscape was broad enough that both "The Orville" and "Star Trek: Discovery" could easily co-exist. And they did. "The Orville" may return for a fourth season, while "Discovery" ended after five.