The Orville wants to let us all know they will Live Long and Prosper.  Huh!?  Isn’t that that OTHER sci-fi show?  If the FOX sci-fi TV show gets its way, the traditional Star Trek Vulcan hand gesture greeting – splitting one’s four fingers down the middle and solemnly intoning, “Live Long and Prosper” – will now become firmly part of Orville iconography.

Hands Up, Fingers Spread

While cockily flashing the traditional Vulcan LLAP sign, Orville producers told us, “You’re dealing with a truly obscure thing, agreed?  Vulcan hand sign?  Salute?  Sure.  We guess.  Whatever.  To be honest, I always thought it stood for Victory.  Or maybe very Vulcan.  Vorta?  Veruca Salt? Vendetta?  The list goes on and on.  Well, that’s all great, isn’t it, but now it will stand for us as in the V in Orville.”

Science fiction fans certainly are aware of the V shaped hand signal and know it quite properly belongs to the Star Trek alien mythology.  Famously first proffered by Trek’s Vulcan, science officer Mister Spock back in the original series, the hand gesture or LLAP sign is instantly recognizable by the geekiest among us.  Grabbing it for another franchise is crossing the streams – and then some.

Can’t Us Geeks All Get Along?

Hand gestures really can’t be owned or copyrighted, right?  But still, the katra receptacle boggles. How will this go down in the great, galaxy which is giddy geekdom?

“Why the hell not?  We’ve already taken on a Star Trek look and structure, so why not just ‘borrow’ just a wee bit more?  Who’s it going to hurt?  Vulcans?  Trekkers?  Nerds?  Geeks?  Tell me, exactly, who’s it going to hurt?  Ooooh, maybe companies who make LLAP toys will have issues.  Will they get confused?  Oh, I feel so sorry for them.  Let’s flash the V for Orville sign at them to make them feel better!  Maybe next we’ll take Khaaaaaaan and mix it up even more!”

Star Trek producers at CBS weren’t exactly thrilled by the news, but they countered with a simple truth, “Let them take the LLAP hand sign.  Let them use our hand gesture.  We can all use hand gestures, and finger gestures, can’t we?  Sometimes, the fewer fingers are better than the many fingers – if you know what I mean.”  Yes, we think we do know what you mean, and we can only say, “Live Long & Prosper” sci-fi fans, no matter what hand gesture you choose to use!