On Thursday, July 14 The Orville: New Horizons debuts its seventh episode, titled “From Unknown Graves,” which returns to the Kaylon storyline. We have a sneak peek plus an update on season four from Seth MacFarlane and details on The Orville at Comic-Con.
“From Unknown Graves”
Synopsis:
The Orville discovers a Kaylon with a very special ability.
Preview video:
Inside The Orville
They also released an inside look at last week’s episode with commentary from cast and creatives.
MacFarlane says season 4 is up to Disney
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, show creator and star Seth MacFarlane talked about the chances for another season:
THR: I know the process of getting to a fourth season is complicated, as the actors’ contracts are up after this season. But given that there continue to be various topics to tackle with a show like this, including the recent Roe v. Wade decision, do you find yourself hoping for another season?
MacFarlane: I would love it. I know the entire cast is hoping for it. It’s a big question mark for a lot of reasons. 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. It really is going to depend on audience response, on whether the show gets discovered. I still think there are a lot of people who just don’t know that we’re out there and don’t really quite know what we are. And when people sit down and watch the show, they’re almost always surprised, and it almost always upends their expectations. Probably because it’s me (laughs), probably because most of what I’ve done in the past has been very different, but it’s dependent on audience response. At the end of the day, it’s a business. It’s dependent on whether we’re worth something to Disney and to the platform that we’re on.
Season three of The Orville will wrap up on August 4th with the 10th and final episode.
The Orville at Comic-Con
MacFarlane will be bringing The Orville back to San Diego Comic-Con for a panel at 3:00 PM on Saturday in Ballroom 20. Here is the official description:
From Emmy Award–winning executive producer and creator Seth MacFarlane, The Orville is finally back for season 3 and on HULU. The full crew of the U.S.S. Orville—Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes, Peter Macon, Jessica Szohr, J Lee, Anne Winters, Mark Jackson, and Chad L. Coleman—plus executive producers David A. Goodman and Brannon Braga and co-producer Tom Constantino talk on all things Orville and offer an exclusive first look at an upcoming episode from season 3.
TrekMovie will be there to report on any news coming out of the panel.
Keep up with all The Orville news and analysis on TrekMovie.
I did watch the first season of this Trek rip-off, but although I like things like Family Guy, I find Seth MacFarlane himself insufferable.
I did watch all the episodes up until now and while it played it a little safe in the first season – though not nearly as bad as Strange New Worlds – it was still pretty enjoyble before it got really good in the second and downright amazing in the third season.
But even in the first season – apart from the pretty weak pilot – the writers found ways, give the recycled plots new messages or explored different aspects of the story.
MacFarlane is probably the weakest part acting wise but it’s not terrible
It’s evolved quite a bit since the start. They rely far less on humor now and really pursue solid SF adventure plots. It really feels like something out of Trek from, say, the late 90s.
You can call it a rip-off but it’s providing something to many fans who aren’t getting it from Trek these days. In some ways it feels more genuine than the current offerings from CBS.
Couldn’t disagree more. I don’t equate this show to Star Trek beyond it being an obvious up-yours from MacFarlane because he didn’t get the chance to do it himself. I’m really loving Strange New Worlds – that has given me the Trek I’ve wanted to see for a very long time. I enjoyed to a lesser extend Discovery and even less so Picard, I will be pleased to see those wrap up after one more season.
But I don’t begrudge anyone who enjoys The Orville, life is short so each to their own.
I assumed when you said you watched the first season, you meant you only watched the first season. The show has evolved and it does appeal to a lot of Trek fans. You can disagree all you want but I’m not sure what you’re disagreeing with.
I wish we could edit our posts.
Okay, I see what you meant by disagreeing. Still, it works for me.
Says the person who admits they only watched S1, but is now providing all of these negative comments on an ep towards the end of S3.
OK, whatever, dude.
S3 is a completely different show, so your review is way out of date, my friend.
I know this is ridiculous, but this show’s fans on social media (obsessed with insulting the new Star Trek shows and their writers/actors) have totally turned me off wanting to check out this show. Just seems like a very toxic fanbase. I saw 1-2 episodes in season 1 when it first aired but didn’t stick around.
I feel exactly the same way.
Well it’s not hard to see, why you would compare the two. Especially since Season 1 and 2 ran on the same days as new discovery episodes and Season 3 with the Strange new worlds episdodes. Especially since Strange New Worlds had a lot of the same Problems the first Orville Season had.
But theres allways a line between valid critizism and just shitting on everything, which gets old really fast.
There is probably >99% overlap between Trek’s and Orville’s fanbase.
This new season has completely shifted the tone of the show to a more serious scifi romp with occasional humor. It’s really tried to solidify lore by digging into its alien races and giving some real drama for these characters. I think it’s worth diving into.
It was MacFarlane’s vanity project to flip the bird at Paramount/CBS for not giving him the gig. No wonder it’s developed a toxic fans when it was created as a direct opposition to Star Trek.
However, toxic fandom is a widespread problem now, not just with Star Trek/Orville.
Wait, MacFarlane wanted some CBS gig? Which one?
I assume he wanted to bring Star Trek back in some form.
Some Googling tells me he said in an interview back in 2011 that he would love to see (and be part of) Trek getting rebooted in a more 90s style. He also said he didn’t have any reason to think it would happen and that he wasn’t actually part of anything like that.
Given the people helping him make Orville, I would say a lot of former Trek talent feels the same way.
The show has evolved so much since the first couple of episodes, that I wouldn’t let a few outspoken folks let me be manipulated into missing out on what feels like such a refreshing and yet familiar take on the 24th century.
I hope you’ll be able to give it another whirl someday, and might actuality enjoy it, too! And that’s from somebody who absolutely LOVES DS9, TNG, and VOY, and likes TOS, ENT, LD, and SNW quite a bit as well. 🖖😊
Simple solution: Ignore the ‘toxic fanbase’ and enjoy it as-is.
The day I let anyone on a web site or social media influence what I like or dislike is the day I will cord cut everything and move to an island.
Stand proud with your opinions and watch what you want to watch, and like or dislike what you personally don’t like. If you don’t like some group-think BS on the internet, F em and move on from paying attention to that group.
MacFarlane’s cartoons are not for me, and I’m still dubious about his live action acting (and his albums and that Oscar gig…), but every time I watch an interview with him I think how much fun he’d be to just talk to and geek out with. He has such a deep understanding of film and tv history and passionately cares about a lot of the same pop culture that I do, and he’s genuinely a smart and funny guy in a casual setting. I begrudge him nothing for getting to make his dream show, and a lot of times it’s been pretty damned entertaining.
Yeah … to me he’s the only real weakpoint that show still has in its third season. He’s perfectly fine as an Actor but especially in the last two episodes he – as a director – managed to get such amazing episodes out of his actors that his own performance really stood out.
Then again … if you got the chance to actually do your own “Star Trek” Show, why wouldn’t you play the captain? :-D
I have loved The Orville from the very beginning and am happy to recommend it to any Trek fan. I have yet to have someone come back and say they didn’t enjoy the show.
As the show has dug deeper and deeper into straightforward science fiction it’s offering fresh, provocative perspectives on classic Trek tropes as well introducing new ones of their own. I was blown away by the way the time travel story played out in last week’s episode, and they have been taking on issues of gender and radicalization in a way that harkens back to the way TOS addressed contemporary issues more directly than we’ve seen in other new Trek series.
It has never been a sendup or satire of Star Trek, despite what one will often see in reviews and comments, it’s a loving tribute to the franchise from a different era — just with jokes (in the first two seasons, anyway) and I really hope they get another season or two (or three).
I couldn’t agree more! It’s well worth checking out, and I’ve successfully recommended it to both Trek fans and those that haven’t cared much about sci-fi at all. So far they’ve all gotten back to me, saying how much they enjoy the ride!
People still on the fence, or those that just reject it because of what they read online, really should give it a chance! You can tell that the folks behind the show truly love what they’re creating, and IMO they do it both very timely and well. 🙂👍
I didn’t like S1 at all, thought S2 was mediocre, but S3 it’s a home run. It’s finally turned into serious Star Trek and is no longer a juvenile comedy-satire like the disappointing Lower Decks.
I’m in 100% now, and hopes it gets renewed for a fourth season.
The weaker episodes of this season have been the ones that Seth *didn’t* write.
Never would have said that in Season 1.
I loved the first 2 seasons.
It was a unique blend of Star Trek TNG and humor. It covered some moral issues like TNG did, and did them rather well while remaining entertaining and light hearted.
Season 3 lost the humor that made it have its unique feel leaving it feel like a TNG knockoff with a bigger special effects budget that’s not as well written since the humor is what made it so great and different to begin with.
I’d rather have the season 1&2 Orrville back than see it cancelled, but season 3 has been rough.
If anyone at Disney is listening, I’d say to keep it on as long as possible… it’s one of the very few reasons that I have Hulu
I don’t know if I can say I *love* The Orville, but I do enjoy it. They’ve obviously dropped the spoof aspect of it and have gone almost totally full blown sci-fi drama. The directing, exterior SFX shots – all of it shows a much different tone, and a higher level of production value.
MacFarlane is about as opposite as one can get to me, politically. But I’ve always respected the man, and his reasoning behind his views. And I respect his presentation of his views (both for and against something) – he does so without the seething vitriol so prevalent in our society today.
I hope he gets his fourth season. It’s clearly a labor of love, and I’m all for more of this, and less of most everything else on TV nowadays.
Orville somehow makes characters with different positions and values be able to debate those values without turning them into juvenile jerks. Okay, maybe with the exception of Charly — I’m still waiting for her to grow on me.
Wow, this season is basically a live action Star Trek series — what an improvement!
They’ve successfully taken a rather piss-poor comedy-satire version of the Star Trek and morphed it into a real Star Trek-like series that I am finally enjoying.
Other series’ could learn a lot from this evolution (yeah, I am talking to you, Mike MacMahon).
While I am not big fan of Seth or the show, I have found that this season it has been so much better. The weakest point of the show is MacFarlane’s acting. The rest of the cast is good… Scott Grimes continues to be the strongest of the cast. Last week’s episode showed his range.
The first 2 seasons were almost unbearable to watch with Family Guy type humor which actually made me stop watching a few episodes here and there. But this season, the writing is so much stronger and every episode allows the cast to have their moment in the spotlight.
Now, if MacFarlane could only find a way to kill off or promote Ed (so that he only has cameo shots) – the show would be fantastic.