“If Seth quit trying to be funny [which he isn’t], that show has the potential to be a decent dramatic series.”
This is the crux of the problem. It’s SUPPOSED to be a comedy, not a drama, but it hasn’t made up its mind yet.
I’ve heard and read it’s supposed to be both. I think it’s possible to be both. But I have yet to see a single episode of The Orville.
Side note: Trek after 1987 became so preachy, it was hard to watch. Any fun Next Gen had was typically with watching Data struggle with emotions, particularly humor. Dr. Crusher was habitually annoying and Diana Troy was often hopelessly irrelevant. They had to introduce Whoopi Goldberg’s “Guinan” character to get anything like an objective read on another character or situation that didn’t sound like academe-screech or psychobabble.
In the 60’s and 70’s, they seemed to be able to put drama and conflict between the characters in a simple, matter-of-fact way without the protagonists off-handedly saying you must be a bad person to boot if you can understand the position of the antagonist.