The Orville

Original characters in an original universe; no established characters to swap.

Captain Mercer is the flawed but competent male lead; his ex-wife Kelly is his capable first officer, but men aren't mocked as a message.

• Ed Mercer leads the ship despite personal flaws
• Kelly Grayson serves as a strong but fallible first officer

The Moclan species storyline centers heavily on gender, sex assignment and identity, with Bortus and Klyden's child plotline a recurring major arc.

• The episode 'About a Boy' deals with the Moclans' female-to-male reassignment of an infant
• Bortus and Klyden are a same-sex couple raising a child
• Recurring Moclan arcs about gender and a hidden female population

Diverse crew typical of the Star Trek-style ensemble format; fits the optimistic future setting.

• Ethnically diverse bridge crew

The show frequently uses allegorical episodes to deliver moral lessons on social media, religion, gender and justice in classic Trek-style fashion.

• 'Majority Rule' satirizes social-media mob justice
• 'If the Stars Should Appear' critiques anti-science religious dogma
• Moclan episodes explicitly debate gender norms

The Moclans are an all-male warrior society critiqued for rigid patriarchy, but it's framed as one species' flaw rather than a blanket anti-male message.

• Moclan society's suppression of females is portrayed critically

Original work not adapted from any source material.