Anyone beaming aboard Fox's new Seth MacFarlane science fiction series expecting to encounter an easy hybrid between Star Trek and Family Guy were likely left a little bit surprised.

wheelhouse (Roger the alien could have easily been in bed with Adrianne Palicki's Kelly Grayson for the show's opening gag, in which her extraterrestrial lover prematurely ejaculates from holes in his head), but it doesn't pack a laugh per minute, nor is it aiming to.

Instead, The Orville is aiming to tell stories that ride the line between drama and comedy, with an eye toward earnestness, according to executive producers Brannon Braga and David A. Goodman.

Read the full interview to find out why, to learn more about the show's creative process, and to understand what you're signing up for should you choose to continue on with the first season of Fox and MacFarlane's new starship enterprise.

Toward the end of the episode, the Orville crew defeats the Krill aliens by making a giant redwood tree grow through the middle of an enemy ship, followed with the one-liner: "Happy Arbor Day."