I realize we kinda already have a thread on this, but as that thread was set up specfically to discuss a now-less-than-accurate prerelease rumor, I think having a proper, dedicated thread for the full show is fitting.
Thus far, I feel like it probably would have benefited from a traditional 2 hour pilot, since it's trying to catch us up on the new status quo and set up the plot, which is too much to ask for from a 45 minutes episode (granted, it's not always needed. Orville didn't have one, but Orville was also running with "like TNG unless stated otherwise" as the starting worldbuilding so I guess it didn't really need that).
Thus far, I feel like it probably would have benefited from a traditional 2 hour pilot, since it's trying to catch us up on the new status quo and set up the plot, which is too much to ask for from a 45 minutes episode (granted, it's not always needed. Orville didn't have one, but Orville was also running with "like TNG unless stated otherwise" as the starting worldbuilding so I guess it didn't really need that).