Critical response
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 21% approval rating, with an average rating of 4.61/10 based on 33 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "An odd jumble of campiness and sincerity, homage and satire, The Orville never quite achieves liftoff."[41] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 36 out of 100, based on 20 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[42]
Liz Miller writing for IndieWire compared the series to Star Trek, calling it a rip off and "Creatively, Morally, and Ethically Bankrupt". She criticized the lack of creativity, the blatant imitation, and was surprised that the show is "uninterested in being a comedy".[40]
Erik Kain of Forbes, gave a positive review of the show with the observation that "All the optimism and sincerity and lightheartedness of Star Trek is here, and in many ways it's kind of wonderful. I'm honestly surprised something like this exists." He says the critics were wrong and suggests their opinions are based on disliking MacFarlane and his type of humor