The Orville creator Seth MacFarlane clarifies the status of a potential fourth season for his Star Trek-inspired comedy adventure series.
“All I can tell you is that there is no official death certificate for ‘The Orville’,” MacFarlane said in an exclusive interview with The Wrap while promoting his upcoming Ted prequel series for Peacock. “It is still with us. I can’t go any further than that at the moment. There are too many factors.”
Conceived as a spec script, MacFarlane’s The Orville evolved from what was perceived by critics as a Star Trek parody to an ambitious sci-fi space opera balancing humor and drama. Originally aired on Fox for two seasons from 2017 through 2019, the series migrated to Hulu in 2019. However, production on the third season was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and did not arrive on the streamer until August 2022 under its new title, The Orville: New Horizons.
While Disney never officially announced whether or not The Orville would be renewed following the release of the third season, the cast were released from their contacts to pursue new acting opportunities after production wrapped in 2021. Though cast members, including Scott Grimes, have echoed MacFarlane’s desire to get the show back up and running very soon.
“I do know that we are still talking about it. It’s not dead in any sort of way whatsoever. It’s just about when, where and how and building the stuff again,” Grimes said. “I’m excited because it’s one of the greatest things to work on. So I just have my fingers crossed. And I know Seth wants to do it and that usually holds a lot of power. And I hope he gets to because it’s one of his babies that he just loves and it’s a blast to work on.”
What is The Orville about?
The official synopsis for The Orville: New Horizons reads: “Seth MacFarlane’s epic space adventure series ‘The Orville’ returns exclusively as a Hulu original series. Set 400 years in the future, ‘The Orville: New Horizons’ finds the crew of the U.S.S. Orville continuing their mission of exploration, as they navigate both the mysteries of the universe and the complexities of their own interpersonal relationships.”
All three seasons of The Orville are now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
