This announcement shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but it has just been confirmed that Fox is bringing ‘The Orville’ back for a third season! Seth MacFarlane‘s love letter to “Star Trek” started as a cheesy comedy and while some of those elements remain, it has grown into a more serious and fun science fiction series. Now, fans are going to get at least one more outing with the crew of the USS Orville!
RELATED: To Boldly Joke: Seth MacFarlane Talks Fine Line Between Comedy And Drama On ‘The Orville’
The series had quite a few eyes on it with 3.16 million total live viewers combined with a 0.75 in the 18-49 demographic it hit the sweet spot for commercials. On top of that, the show gained a $15.8 million TV tax credit for the third season which was up $1.3 million from season 2. This was a nice bonus that was nothing to scoff at.
If you’re unfamiliar with the series, it takes place 400 years in the future and revolves around the crew of the U.S.S. Orville. It is a mixture of science fiction, comedy, and drama as the crew of humans and aliens have to navigate not just space but their internal tension.
Previously of the series, MacFarlane stated that:
“When we began this, it was designed to be a little bit more of a hybrid, straddling the line pretty evenly between comedy and drama. I have been a big sci-fi fan since I was a kid. I think secretly that was the show I wanted to do, but I figured there’s no way in hell anyone would swallow that from me…With an hourlong show, in order to sustain it, you have to have real stakes. That was my fear at the beginning. If people aren’t with us on that side of it, we’re probably not going to last very long. But they were, so we really leaned into that.”
While MacFarlane created, wrote, and starred in the series as Captain Mercer, it also included Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes, Peter Macon, J Lee, Mark Jackson, Chad L. Coleman, and Jessica Szohr. Joining the creator as executive producers were Brannon Braga, David A. Goodman, Jason Clark, and Jon Cassar.
Directly after linking to the third season announcement, Palicki cheered on the good news by sharing:
— Adrianne Palicki (@AdriannePalicki) May 11, 2019
Producer Tom Costantino had the perfect response to the news with this perfect callback:
Play with sound. @TheOrville #TheOrville @SethMacFarlane @planetary_union pic.twitter.com/mhNFoFZxwa
— Tom Costantino (@TomCostantino) May 11, 2019
Are you excited to see that ‘The Orville’ will return for a third season or are you wondering how it has made it this far? Have the more serious plots been working for you or did you prefer the original, more comedic elements? Which plot points are you hoping we’ll see continue into the next season? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Source: Deadline
