Creator, writer, and star of “The Orville” Seth MacFarlane has added even more to the confusion about the show’s future. In 2023, he said odds for renewal were “50-50.” We haven’t had a lot of news about the series since then. But, we do know it ISN’T canceled, but it isn’t renewed either.
“All I can tell you is that there is no official death certificate for ‘The Orville’,” MacFarlane told The Wrap. “It is still with us. I can’t go any further than that at the moment. There are too many factors.”
Co-star Scott Grimes chimed in to remind viewers many of these conversations began before the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Now that both strikes have concluded, they are clearly not one of the factors MacFarlane is referencing.
“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.”
Both MacFarlane and Grimes’ comments come after co-star Adriannne Palicki said she was “no longer doing that” when asked about the show on Michael Rosenbaum’s “Inside of You” podcast. Afterward, she clarified that she “truly doesn’t know the answer” as to whether “The Orville” will return.
“I think there’s talk that it could possibly be something that certain people want to do but it’s a really difficult show to do,” she said. “We shot 33 episodes in six years … it became an actual real issue because there would be so much time in between seasons because Seth wanted to write everything himself. So, it would just take so much time. At one point, we were like we have to fight the studio to give us a holding fee or something because J. Lee was eating saltines and Gatorade at one point because we just couldn’t afford anything. It was horrible.”
Another major hurdle for the series has been its shifting platforms. The show started and ran for two seasons on Fox. Then it jumped to Hulu for its third season deemed, “The Orville: New Horizons.” In the past, MacFarlane has also pointed out that misconceptions about the show may be part of the issue. Many assume it will be a straight-up comedy and are confused/disappointed to find a more “Star Trek”-esque style sci-fi series.
“The Orville: New Horizons”’s producer 20th Television along with its host platforms Disney+ and Hulu have yet to comment on a new season.
