The Orville
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 11 of 19 science fiction TV series by recommenders
Fans call it the best modern Star Trek and say it gets much better after the first few episodes. Critics say early episodes were cringeworthy and dated.
Fans call it the best modern Star Trek and say it gets much better after the first few episodes. Critics say early episodes were cringeworthy and dated.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 77%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Best modern Star Trek
“once it goes past the first few "family guy"-esque episodes, is a fantastic Star Trek”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Through Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart taught us the measure of a man” “That's why Orville is my favorite of the newer ST series.”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Patrick Stewart has died” “The Orville was the best Star Trek in a very long time”
Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “Paramount Skydance has completed its $111B merger with Warner Bros. Discovery” - Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut”
Stronger than newer Star Trek shows
“That's why Orville is my favorite of the newer ST series.”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Patrick Stewart has died” “the best modern Star Trek has to be The Orville”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut” “but the Orville does it better”
Comment from 6 Sep 2026 in “The pencil case model of creativity” Gets much better after early episodes
“once it goes past the first few "family guy"-esque episodes, is a fantastic Star Trek”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Through Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart taught us the measure of a man” “The Orville was the best Star Trek in a very long time”
Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “Paramount Skydance has completed its $111B merger with Warner Bros. Discovery” Excellent and cheers people up
“then I watch The Orville and I'm happy again”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “A warning about 'model welfare'” “The Orville is excellent. I am a fan.”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “I flagged two research papers for fake authors and both were accepted as orals”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Cringeworthy, dated American humor early on
“It got less cringeworthy once they toned down the dated American culture references during the second season”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Through Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart taught us the measure of a man” “it was cringe on many occasions and i would not recommend it”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Through Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart taught us the measure of a man” Derivative, copies other shows
“best described as McFarlen using his money to pay for his Larping (in a good way), but was pretty much just copy pasting”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Patrick Stewart has died”
Other science fiction TV series people recommend
The four most recommended other science fiction TV series, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | 88 | 19 | 82% | 13 | — | Approved |
| Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | 59 | 9 | 87% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Expanse | 51 | 12 | 81% | 13 | — | Approved |
| The Culture seriesby Iain M. Banks | 38 | 5 | 88% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The OrvilleThis page | 10 | 3 | 77% | 4 | — | Approved |
What people said
All 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“My #1 beef with the Orville was always that they couldn't write a B-plot.”
“It got less cringeworthy once they toned down the dated American culture references during the second season”
“it was cringe on many occasions and i would not recommend it”
“once it goes past the first few "family guy"-esque episodes, is a fantastic Star Trek”
“directed two great episodes of the Orville”
“best described as McFarlen using his money to pay for his Larping (in a good way), but was pretty much just copy pasting”
“That's why Orville is my favorite of the newer ST series.”
“The Orville was the best Star Trek in a very long time”
“Only Expanse and The Orville compares in the past decade I guess.”
“then I watch The Orville and I'm happy again”
“but the Orville does it better”
“The Orville is excellent. I am a fan.”
“the best modern Star Trek has to be The Orville”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.