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.
It always felt so forced and artificial to me, like they were looking at a stopwatch with a bunch of entertainment lawyers going "okay, better do a dick joke now so we can still claim 'Trek parody' instead of getting sued for blatantly doing bootleg Trek."
I like a lot of fanfic but Seth MacFarlane's just failed to grab me, and given how much I adore "Lower Decks" I'm glad the official comedy Trek job was given to those folks and not the "Family Guy" contingent.