When I first started this show I found it to be a really awkward mix of comedy and seriousness. It had some jokes thrown it at the most inopportune times as some kind of comic relief from a really serious situation. Perhaps the first half of the first season was actually a bit rough or maybe the show just grew on me, but by season 2 I found myself loving this show.
To me it seems as every bit as comfy, intellectually interesting and even funny as some classic Star Treks while still clearly being its own thing. I wish more comfy space shows like this would get made.
What are your thoughts on The Orville? Also I miss Alara.
I strongly disagree with you. There was one prominent homosexual couple on the show and that couple served as an important plot device to make commentary on our society. There were plenty of heterosexual (and even robosexual) relationships that we're just as "in your face".
To me it always seemed nice to see a homosexual relationship placed on the same level as heterosexual relationships. I also thought it was a clever way to discuss homophobia through a lense of heterophobia and to discuss trans issues through a lense of forced transition.