If you’d told me twenty years ago that Family Guy’s Peter Griffin would grow up to command one of the most emotionally resonant, culturally curious starships on television, I would’ve laughed you out of Ten Forward. But here we are. And Jonathan Frakes—Commander Riker himself—sees what many genre aficionados have been shouting from their plasma-lit rooftops for years: The Orville isn’t just a sci-fi comedy with a Seth MacFarlane stamp. It’s a full-throated, warp-drive-powered love letter to Star Trek in its purest, Roddenberry-est form.

Frakes, who’s directed episodes across the Trek multiverse—from TNG and DS9 to Picard—knows a thing or two about what makes this kind of storytelling hum. So when he calls The Orville “very much Roddenberry,” that’s not a casual pat on the back—it’s a nod of deep professional respect. In an era where science fiction often leans into spectacle over substance, MacFarlane zagged, crafting a show that isn’t afraid to press pause on space battles to dissect cultural dilemmas, ethical paradoxes, and good old-fashioned human frailty. Sound familiar?

Of course it does. That was Star Trek’s real prime directive: use the stars as a mirror, not a map. From TOS episodes like “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” to TNG’s “The Measure of a Man,” Trek has always been less about photon torpedoes and more about moral torpedoes—quietly launching ideas into the social bloodstream under the radar of network suits. The Orville picks up that baton and runs—not with the self-seriousness of later Trek installments, but with a wink and a heart.

Frakes admitted he expected The Orville to be goofier, and who could blame him? This was the guy who built an empire out of fart jokes and anthropomorphic baby rants. But MacFarlane, a lifelong Next Gen fan who allegedly knew the Enterprise-D’s layout better than most of its actors, took his shot at the captain’s chair seriously. He staffed his ship with characters who felt lived-in: Ed Mercer is as much Picard as he is Kirk via a Harvard Lampoon sketch. Kelly Grayson, Claire Finn, Bortus—each member of the crew has that sweet spot between archetype and authenticity that classic Trek did best. And when it works, it works. “About a Girl”? That’s not just a bottle episode; it’s a bottle rocket aimed at the heart of the culture wars.

And let’s not forget: Frakes directed two episodes of The Orville. You can feel his touch in the pacing, in the way scenes breathe and arguments play out with sincerity rather than snark. He’s not alone either. Trek veterans like Robert Duncan McNeill and Brannon Braga (who co-created The Orville) helped MacFarlane make the transition from parody to paragon.

Look, The Orville isn’t perfect. The humor doesn’t always land. The uniforms look like a cross between paramedic scrubs and a soda company’s brand guide. But what it gets right—its emotional intelligence, its willingness to wrestle with complicated issues like identity, parenthood, diplomacy, and forgiveness—that’s where it transcends pastiche and becomes genuine homage.

Meanwhile, the Star Wars vs. Star Trek debate still rages in geek circles, but let’s be honest: Star Wars was always more myth than method. Trek, especially under Roddenberry, asked us to believe that humanity could evolve—not into Jedi, but into better versions of ourselves. MacFarlane tapped into that idea not with nostalgia, but with earnest storytelling and sly subversion. And Frakes, who’s been part of the Federation fabric since the 1980s, saw through the jokes to the substance underneath.

So yes, Jonathan Frakes is right. The Orville is one of the most slept-on shows in MacFarlane’s galaxy-spanning career. It’s also one of the most quietly courageous things to come out of modern genre TV—a reminder that science fiction, at its best, doesn’t just imagine new worlds. It dares to challenge our own.