The Orville Is More Than A Great Star Trek Homage
Even someone who had never seen an episode of Star Trek would know, within the first five minutes of The Orville's first episode, that it was intended to emulate the legendary sci-fi franchise. Everything from the ship designs to the crew's uniforms to the soaring, adventurous music is engineered to make Trekkies feel right at home. As the show's creator's have affirmed, The Orville is indeed both an homage and a lighthearted parody of Star Trek, mainly the Original Series and The Next Generation shows.
However, over the course of its run, it progresses to more complex topics and tackling bigger storylines. The Orville doesn't simply coast on Star Trek nostalgia. Alongside its irreverent humor, it also makes a point of telling interesting stories, posing what-ifs and exploring philosophical questions — all the things that science fiction does best.
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During its first season, The Orville sets up a world more or less analogous to the one that Star Trek fans are familiar with. The Union is, essentially, this world's version of the Federation and Starfleet. Like the Enterprise, the Orville's mission is to explore the galaxy and map uncharted territory, while trying not to interfere in undeveloped cultures. Meanwhile, the Krill, enemies of the Union, combine elements of various Star Trek villains, such as Romulans and early Klingons.
Many other races introduced throughout the series draw inspiration from Star Trek aliens as well. The Moclans are reminiscent of TNG-era Klingons; the intellectualism of the Xelayans calls the Vulcans to mind. However, they're not direct rip-offs. Rather than simply giving new names to familiar faces, each species is based on a collection
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