At the SDCC panel for ‘The Orville’, series creator Seth McFarlane announced that the comedy would return in late 2020, but to a new home. The series is shifting to Hulu for its third season, from FOX where it has aired for two. Fox renewed ‘The Orville’ in May, but as Deadline reports the show has “evolved and production timelines have pushed delivery.” Keep in mind, McFarlane is still responsible for delivering ‘The Family Guy’. With his heavy workload, plus the extensive special effects work necessitated by ‘The Orville’, it became clear that the show wouldn’t be ready, even by midseason. So, instead, the third season will go directly to Hulu later in the year. Seasons 1 and 2 are already available to stream on the service.
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McFarlane issued a statement to explain the change:
“’The Orville’ has been a labor of love for me, and there are two companies which have supported that vision in a big way: 20th Century Fox Television, where I’ve had a deal since the start of my career, and Fox Broadcasting Company, now Fox Entertainment, which has been my broadcast home for over 20 years. My friends at the network understood what I was trying to do with this series, and they’ve done a spectacular job of marketing, launching and programming it for these past two seasons. But as the show has evolved and become more ambitious production-wise, I determined that I would not be able to deliver episodes until 2020, which would be challenging for the network. So we began to discuss how best to support the third season in a way that worked for the show. It’s exactly this kind of willingness to accommodate a show’s creative needs that’s made me want to stick around for so long. I am hugely indebted to Charlie Collier and Fox Entertainment for their generosity and look forward to developing future projects there. And to my new friends at Hulu, I look forward to our new partnership exploring the galaxy together.”
Unlike shows on cable and streaming, network shows can’t really take a year off between seasons. Those primetime slots have to be filled. At least, from McFarlane’s description, ‘The Orville’s budget won’t drop as a result of this change.
If you are a fan of ‘The Orville’, how do you feel about the delay and change in outlet? Will it be worth the wait for them to take their time and deliver the show later?
