‘The Orville’ Season 3 May Be On Its Way
By Ariel Fisher/Aug. 6, 2021 4:40 pm EST
Good news, fellow Orvillians! Not sure if that’s what fans of The Orville are actually called, but, let’s roll with it. According to Hulu’s head of scripted originals, Jordan Helman, the best Star Trek series that isn’t technically Star Trek could be coming back for its third season sooner rather than later.
Welcome Aboard The Orville
If you’re unfamiliar with The Orville, here’s everything you need to know. The hour-long series was created and written by Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, A Million Ways to Die in the West) as an unabashed love letter to Star Trek. Set 400 years in the future, it takes place aboard the U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory spaceship that sets out to chart as-yet uncharted space. Antics invariably ensue — sometimes silly, often touching and eye-opening.Along for the ride is an excellent crew: Deep Space Nine veteran Penny Johnson Jerald is the ship’s chief medical officer, Dr. Claire Finn; Scott Grimes is helmsman Lt. Gordon Malloy; J. Lee is Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr, the Orville’s navigator-turned-chief engineer; Peter Macon is perhaps the fan-favorite, Lt. Cmdr. Bortus; MacFarlane is Captain Ed Mercer, and Adriane Palicki is the Orville’s First Officer, Commander Kelly Grayson. Admittedly, this is just the tip of the Orville’s crew manifest, and they’re all incredible. Just don’t step on Yaphit (Norm MacDonald).It started out with MacFarlane’s signature sense of humor (which appeals to some and not others, let’s be honest) front and center, poking fun at itself and its theoretical predecessors. But while its tongue was firmly in cheek from the get-go, it progressively evolved into a serious science-fiction show off its own well-earned merit. As MacFarlane said at the TCA’s in 2018:
“The show was experimental in a lot of ways. Tone was the biggest experimental part of it. What we found was that we can lean a little more heavier into the science fiction and not have to worry so much about knocking out a joke every page.” That really is the best way to manage your expectations for the series. It starts with a lot of humor packed into each episode, progressively recognizing it doesn’t have to try quite so hard to keep audiences interested. The Orville winds up offering some of the best non-Star Trek episodes outside of DS9 (in this relative Trek neophyte’s opinion). Orvillians (let’s just keep it going, why not?) have a lot to look forward to if — fingers crossed — season 3 is as close as Helman seems to suggest. We’ll keep you updated on the series’ third season as more news comes our way.
‘The Orville’ Season 3 May Be On Its Way
By Ariel Fisher/Aug. 6, 2021 4:40 pm EST
Good news, fellow Orvillians! Not sure if that’s what fans of The Orville are actually called, but, let’s roll with it. According to Hulu’s head of scripted originals, Jordan Helman, the best Star Trek series that isn’t technically Star Trek could be coming back for its third season sooner rather than later.
Whatever Happened to The Orville Season 3?
Welcome Aboard The Orville
If you’re unfamiliar with The Orville, here’s everything you need to know. The hour-long series was created and written by Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, A Million Ways to Die in the West) as an unabashed love letter to Star Trek. Set 400 years in the future, it takes place aboard the U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory spaceship that sets out to chart as-yet uncharted space. Antics invariably ensue — sometimes silly, often touching and eye-opening.Along for the ride is an excellent crew: Deep Space Nine veteran Penny Johnson Jerald is the ship’s chief medical officer, Dr. Claire Finn; Scott Grimes is helmsman Lt. Gordon Malloy; J. Lee is Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr, the Orville’s navigator-turned-chief engineer; Peter Macon is perhaps the fan-favorite, Lt. Cmdr. Bortus; MacFarlane is Captain Ed Mercer, and Adriane Palicki is the Orville’s First Officer, Commander Kelly Grayson. Admittedly, this is just the tip of the Orville’s crew manifest, and they’re all incredible. Just don’t step on Yaphit (Norm MacDonald).It started out with MacFarlane’s signature sense of humor (which appeals to some and not others, let’s be honest) front and center, poking fun at itself and its theoretical predecessors. But while its tongue was firmly in cheek from the get-go, it progressively evolved into a serious science-fiction show off its own well-earned merit. As MacFarlane said at the TCA’s in 2018:
“The show was experimental in a lot of ways. Tone was the biggest experimental part of it. What we found was that we can lean a little more heavier into the science fiction and not have to worry so much about knocking out a joke every page.” That really is the best way to manage your expectations for the series. It starts with a lot of humor packed into each episode, progressively recognizing it doesn’t have to try quite so hard to keep audiences interested. The Orville winds up offering some of the best non-Star Trek episodes outside of DS9 (in this relative Trek neophyte’s opinion). Orvillians (let’s just keep it going, why not?) have a lot to look forward to if — fingers crossed — season 3 is as close as Helman seems to suggest. We’ll keep you updated on the series’ third season as more news comes our way.
That really is the best way to manage your expectations for the series. It starts with a lot of humor packed into each episode, progressively recognizing it doesn’t have to try quite so hard to keep audiences interested. The Orville winds up offering some of the best non-Star Trek episodes outside of DS9 (in this relative Trek neophyte’s opinion). Orvillians (let’s just keep it going, why not?) have a lot to look forward to if — fingers crossed — season 3 is as close as Helman seems to suggest.
We’ll keep you updated on the series’ third season as more news comes our way.
