It’s been over four years since we’ve had a new season of Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi comedy series The Orville, and many assumed it was all over. But via The Hollywood Reporter, its creator has confirmed that the show is not only alive, but a 10-episode fourth season has scripts already written. It’s only a matter of making his schedule work to film the new series. The Orville began its life on the Fox network in 2017, before moving to Hulu in 2022 for a third season. Although MacFarlane has hinted at the show’s return, what he told THR at the season 2 premiere of Ted was far more concrete. Here’s what he had to say:
I will be honest with you: Season four is written. It’s just a question of when we have the time to produce it. The 10 scripts are done. I’m the problem. It’s [a matter of] when I can make that my year, with all the other stuff we have in the works. But we can hit the ground running when it happens.
Even though the original cast was only contracted for three seasons, it seems that everyone involved intends to return. MacFarlane himself starred in the series as Captain Ed Mercer. And the rest of the cast included Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes, Jessica Szohr, and Anne Winters. The cost of the series has also been a factor. McFarlane said in recent years, “It’s not an inexpensive show to produce. It requires an ambitious budget. But the flip side of that is, it’s no more ambitious than half the other streaming shows on television.”
Debuting the same year as Star Trek: Discovery, many longtime Trekkers preferred the old-school vibes of The Orville. Even if it is inherently a comedy series, making light of classic Star Trek tropes. The Orville nevertheless found a devoted following, many of whom have been waiting for it to return. Now it seems it’s just a question of when, and not if. Hey, MacFarlane’s own perennial Family Guy once went three years off the air. And it came back, then never left. So we expect McFarlane to pull the same trick this time.