I don't know how we can say The Orville is trying to be something its not when we haven't seen it!
Again... I think people are overlaying their wishes and desires...
Also if Mcfarlane has anything going for him.. its getting his shows canceled by fox.. then resurrected (multiple times!)
But then the same could be said of peoples opinion of star trek: discovery. The thing is, we've yet to see either and while our opinions could be way off, I think we've seen enough of both to understand the direction these two shows are going.
The Oville won't have the same luxury the star trek shows that have had three seasons to get "good".
Discovery will have that luxury because it's star trek - it's a billion dollar brand name that makes CBS a lot of money, discovery has already mAde its money back so clearly this show will go on. If it fails to grab an audience or the reaction to it is bad to mediocre, CBS will work with what resonated and jettison the stuff that hasn't worked.