I was 11 years old on September 8th 1966 and I remember that date because of a television show I saw premier that night. The show was Star Trek and as far as I know that is the only television premier for which I remember where I was when I saw it. I was a fan and watched Star Trek 'religiously'. One day I heard that NBC* was not going to renew Star Trek for a third season. In a panic, I wrote a letter imploring NBC not to cancel Star Trek. I was not the only one who wrote a letter. In the days before social media campaigns, enough people felt as I did that NBC decided to renew ST. ST did return for a third season, but NBC scheduled it in a very bad time slot and ST's run ended after the third season.

So, what does that have to do with the program The Orville? If ST had not returned for season 3, there would not have been enough episodes to make ST economically viable for syndication and it was in syndication that if built its following.

I was not thrilled with all of the Star Trek products. I liked the original show. I watched the animated series for want of anything else. I rejoiced when the moving came out and I liked ST The Next Generation. I was and am not a fan of Star Trek Enterprise, Deep Space Nine, Voyager or any others I have not mentioned and though I liked the ST shows I have listed, I did NOT like the episodes where the audience was being preached at, and that is the problem with The Orville. The Orville had some promise, but it has shown itself to be not only highly preachy, but plagiaristic and and WRONG.

A recent episode, If The Stars Should Appear (ITSSA), was essentially a rip-off of the 8th episode of the 3rd season of the original Star Trek. The episonde was titled, For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky. The problem with ITSSA is that the episode insists on a side story about the autocratic religious leaders who brutally kill anyone who contradicts the "scriptures" which claim there are no other worlds. This is clearly a hit on Christianity. The writers and produces of TO should have done their homework. I refer them to Medieval Cosmology: Theories of Infinity, Place, Time, Void, and the Plurality of Worlds by Pierre Duhem amazon.com/Medieval-Cosmology-Theories- ... +cosmologh.

It would be tolerable if TO occasionally deviated into an overly didactic mode but it appears to be an underlying reason for the show's existence, and they get it wrong to boot.

I suppose that had I not written that letter, 50 years ago, ST would not have made it to syndication, and TO would not exist. I suspect that the appetite for TO will be very small and the show will vanish, unless they stop the stupid programming.

*Trivia note: There were only 3 networks in those days, NBC, CBS and the newest addition, ABC

Sadly, Star Trek's third season was mostly bad.