Hulu Still Not Ready To Announce A Decision On The Future Of ‘The Orville’

The third season of The Orville, Seth MacFarlane’s homage to Star Trek: The Next Generation, wrapped up last August. Fans have been waiting for any news about a possible future for the series and now an executive for Hulu has finally said something about the show.

Hulu exec talks The Orville

The latest update comes from TV Line who caught up with Craig Erwich, who heads up streaming originals for Hulu and Disney, at the recent TCA event. While speaking highly of the show, the executive didn’t have a definitive answer about the future:

We don’t have anything to share right now. It’s a great show and I know that the fans loved having it back in their lives. And Seth [MacFarlane] did a great job, uniquely as he can, in front of and behind the camera. But we don’t have anything to share right now.

For fans hoping to see a continuation of the series, this at least isn’t a definitive “no.” After the second season wrapped up on Fox in 2019, the show made the jump to streaming on Hulu. Branded as The Orville: New Horizons, the third season didn’t arrive until 2022 due to pandemic production delays.

Dr. Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald), Capt. Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane), and Issac (Mark Jackson) in season three finale  “Future Unknown”

Creator and star Seth MacFarlane has been busy working on a new Peacock TV series based on his Ted movies, but he still remains hopeful about returning to space. His Twitter page still carries Orville branding, and his tweets are primarily in support of the show and the team behind it, and he often retweets fans of the show. Responding to a tweet about the wait for a renewal last month, MacFarlane said:

We’re hoping just like you! It’s an expensive show in a tough streaming climate, so we’ll see. Our hearts are still in it though, make no mistake. We’d love to do more.

MacFarlane has previously stated that the best way to support the show is to watch it on streaming. All three seasons of The Orville are available in the USA on Hulu and Disney+, and on Disney+ internationally.


Keep up with all The Orville news and analysis on TrekMovie.

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I just hope season 3 gets a physical release. I need it for my collection, season 1 and 2 are getting lonely on my shelf.

Agreed!

Physical releases are going away like the Dodo.

Hello.. nice to meet you. 😉 😜 🦆 lol

You can find Season 3 on Blu-ray at eCrater.

That’s a bootleg from Russia, to be clear.

In Russia, TV watches you.

In United States, anybody can find a party: in Soviet Russia, party always find YOU

Will Disney allow a physical release. Literally none of Star Wars content is available beyond the theatrical films.

I had high hopes for Season 3, after being very turned off by Season 1. I’d heard the third was a step up in the story department, but could barely get through an episode.

It’s attempt to ape Next Gen distracts far too much from otherwise compelling ideas, and I cannot get past McFarlane, who basically turns it into what feels awfully like a parody fan film. His obvious fan-wankery rubs off on the rest of the cast, and their performances suffer for it.

Can’t blame those who enjoy it though, it’s definitely got a good kernel of something… but if it wants to attract a wider audience, my gut says McFarlane has to go.

Wow; I thought it was fantastic. And I don’t just mean platitudes. I mean how alliances and allegiances changed throughout the season in such an organic way.

Maybe those stories are good. I watched some reviews from critics I trust, and was intrigued. I slapped on an episode with a premise I thought would hook me, and I made it maybe 10 minutes before turning it off.

For me, it’s just a highly polished fan film. In a vacuum, I can step back and say see how it’s not much different than ’90s Trek. But there’s something about it — and it starts with captain McFarlane or whatever his name is on the show — that just gives off a “wannabe” vibe. The acting, the dialogue, it feels like someone just copying, rather than just creating something new.

In a way, it’s kind of like the first season of TNG, which was clearly just trying to be TOS, and that DID NOT WORK. It wasn’t until it found its own identity that it took off.

Or perhaps, Orville is proof that I would not enjoy ’90s Trek if it were on today, and I didn’t grow up with it. Perhaps my continuing enjoyment of TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT is because of my nostalgia for it.

Whatever the case, I can’t get into The Orville. I am sad about that too, because in theory it seems like something i’d get into.

I completely agree. Though for me the less it became like Galaxy Quest the less interested I became. I don’t think season 1 was a masterpiece or anything, but at least it was doing something unique on television. Across season 2 the show grew more serious and I became bored. Finally, I couldn’t get through the premiere of season 3. It was dull, indulgent, and self important. The runtime of every episode has streaming bloat. Just not interested anymore.

Also, SNW fills the trek niche I’ve been missing but in a way that feels fresh not in a blatant copy of TNG’s tone and production style.

Anyway, I don’t wish to be badgered by anyone. I just don’t like it okay!?

It’s okay. I couldn’t even be bothered to watch S3.

What’s really interesting to me is McFarlane himself. Have you seen those fan films he made with his friends when he was a kid? You can find them on youtube.

When you watch them, and then watch him in Orville, he’s giving literally the exact same performance. He’s a bad actor doing a bad impression of Trek, although I was amused by it because every time he delivers a line you can practically see a little smile where you know he’s thinking “damn, that was cool, i’m just like Captain Kirk!”

I don’t want to trash Orville. I don’t like it, but I know it has loads of fans, and I respect that. Power to the people who love it. For their sake, I hope it gets more seasons.

You weren’t kidding. The performance is precisely the same. Thank you for showing me this. It’s quite illuminating.

The Orville was his vanity project. It was given to him to stop him from leaving Fox and going over to Netflix.

Yes, I’ve heard this, and it’s plainly obvious. I’m glad he gets to have fun, and I suppose it has its fans, so no harm, no foul.

I gave it a couple of episodes in season one. That’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back. Saw nothing on the trailers here that gave me reason to get a D+ subscription.

Not to defend “The Orville,” but if that was your standard in watching Trek you’d have never gotten past ‘The Naked Now.” Sometimes shows take awhile to find their groove, that’s all.

McFarlane isn’t an actor and it shows. He’s the main reason I never watched the show.

This really is the crux of the problem. He’s affable, but not particularly polished.

I disliked the first half of season 1. I’ve enjoyed most of season 2 and season 3, particularly when the focused on some hard sci-fi stories, such as the planet of the astrologers, the flatland aliens, the social-media planet, and the whole political situation with the Moclans and the Kaylon. (The Kaylon’s conversion to allies came far too quickly, though.)

The acting is not up to Trek standards, though, possibly with the exception of Adrianne Palicki. With Macfarlane, I am reminded of Star Trek New Voyages, where James Cawley was obviously having a blast by fulfilling a childhood dream of playing James Kirk.

McFarlane is not a good live action actor, but he improved in season 3. He’s affable, but his being the lead smacks of a big kid living his childhood dream mixed in with a hefty dose of ego from one of the highest paid people in Hollywood. As a creative, he’s very earnest when it comes to this show and sometimes tries things that aren’t as thought-provoking as he thinks, but so much of Star Trek is about nobly missing the mark.

So it’s a mixed bag, and The Orville often apes 90s Trek too much, but it’s become its own thing, has done some very engrossing and epic stories the last 2 seasons, is employing a lot of talented Trek veterans, and represents a genre of space sci-fi which is too rare on TV. As someone who loves Star Trek as much as he does, I can’t begrudge a sibling series that’s trying to carve out more space for us all. I hope the show gets to continue.

Try Season 2. Season 3 builds on a bunch of (good) stories from 2. And maybe try getting through an episode before having a gut opinion on an entire series.

Glad you don’t blame folks who enjoy it. I’m one. It’s not a perfect show, but when it works, it‘s pretty fantastic.

The big budget for Season 3 was a problem, IMO – it did become a little self-indulgent. I think S2 has been peak Orville, so far.

I’m glad you enjoy it, but it’s not for me, and I won’t be trying again. I gave it two shots, and hate it both times.

I agree with you, when it works (and for me, it does most of the time in season 2 and 3), it IS pretty fantastic! I’d LOVE for them to get to do a fourth season!

I’d like to see it come back.

So would I! LOVE it, actually. 🤞😍

Come on HULU….get on with it!!!

I enjoyed the last season. I get the impression, public quote aside, that he just isn’t interested in it anymore.

He wants to do it very badly. But it’s an incredibly expensive show to produce and the ratings don’t justify the current price tag. Disney/Hulu would only do it to maintain their relationship with him, but only then at a price point that makes sense for a streaming platform (btw, he was the one that forced the move to Hulu, not Disney/Fox).

It took 3 years between seasons 2 and 3 due to covid so I’m guessing a lot of people just moved on by then or probably didn’t know the show was still on. I watched it, but not until after the season was over to binge it.

That’s interesting to me. I would love to know if long lags due to Covid had a real tangible affect on a fanbase. Perhaps if it had been a bigger series, it could have maintained its following better.

On the flip side, perhaps if they’d waited an additional couple of years and made a big deal about its return? I enjoy thinking about that aspect of the industry.

I think it had some. I mean even for me, I kind of lost interest by the time the show came back. The only reason I watched it because the season 3 reviews were good but I didn’t even watch it until after the season aired.

Orville was always more of a cult show, like Star Trek back in its day and there are clearly loyal followers who adores it to death because it does feel like Star Trek of old, but they are also in the minority. But yeah I would be all for a fourth season to happen but not holding my breath at this point.

Anyone remember when McFarlane wanted to be the next Frank Sinatra? 🤣

Stick a fork in it.

Come on, Disney, please renew The Orville!

I last watched the episode wherein the alien lady Trump gets elected and then the captain realizes he had a child with the alien lady Trump. What would you do if you had a child with a Trump alien? This is a show that isn’t afraid to ask the relevant pressing questions of now.

I thought the show was a big improvement after every season. I thought first season was OK; but lacked for me overall Season 2 I really liked it with a few issues but season 3 was fantastic.

And this show is really well liked. It has a 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s pretty insane. It surpasses every Trek show minus TNG and TOS which its tied with both and a point higher than DS9. That says a lot. Unfortunately it’s not enough people watching but the people who loves really loves it.

I’m a big fan as well. Did the same thing, waited until S3 was over and binged it.

I haven’t watched season 3 yet. Did they end it with a satisfying ending if that was the series finale, or was it one of those cliffhanger situations that will never be resolved if the series is cancelled?

If the season 3 finale has to be the series finale, there’s absolutely enough closure in it for that to work.

Sorry I’m late but Ian already said what I was going to say. But without spoilers, it’s closed enough to feel like an ending basically. I think they knew there was a good chance the show would be done and did just enough to feel that way.

I know we use RT for audience ratings and such, but I don’t think any of those scores hold much water. More often than not, what you get is mostly input from a show’s biggest fans, or from the toxic segment of the fanbase who want to trash it. It’s never a true representation of how well-liked a show is.

At best, those scores only tell me that Orville’s fanbase loves Orville about as much as DS9’s fanbase loves DS9. Which is a nice bit of info: it has a passionate fanbase. That’s good knowledge. but it certainly doesn’t mean it’s more broadly liked than other shows.

Dude I’ve had theses conversation a hundred times lol. I’m not suggesting more people like Orville than Star Trek. I get that, the only point being made the people who watches it and likes it really like it, that’s all. And again, this rating is reflected everywhere. Orville also has an 8.0 on IMDB. The other Trek shows currently that high are TOS, DS9, TNG and SNW. I’m not saying there are more people who like Orville than Voyager or Prodigy just because it has a higher rating than those shows, I’m only saying it’s a really popular show for Orville fans just like Star Trek is for it’s fans; ie, people watching it doesn’t think it suck. The complete opposite in fact.

And I’m guessing the overwhelming majority of people who watch the Orville are also Star Trek fans obviously and why I compared it. In fact, we’re only talking about this show now because Trekmovie has made it part of the board. The Orville is the only non-Trek show that has it’s own section here. That says a lot how much traction the show has gained in the Trek community.

I’m not arguing with you. It’s all good.

OK no worries! :)

What has been interesting to me is I know several people who do prefer The Orville to Trek. I had several friends who came to me after watching Orville on Fox asking about Trek episodes they should watch because Orville inspired them to watch Trek.

Long story short they remained Orville fans but didn’t jump on the Trek bandwagon. Each of them is a millennial.

Oh yeah that’s certainly true. It also didn’t help when both the Orville and Discovery premiered the exact same time and not only do you have Star Trek shows for the first time in a decade, they are wildly different in every way, so nerds do what they do best, pretend like only one show could exist and took sides. And lots of people who originally hated Discovery gravitated to the Orville because it was giving them the Star Trek that Discovery wasn’t.

As someone who wasn’t a huge fan of either show in its first season, I thought it was all much ado about nothing and I thought it was great to have both on because it gives people variety. And I admitted, I thought Discovery probably went TOO far off the reservation for some so it was nice to have something like the Orville until a different, more traditional Trek show came around for them, like SNW eventually did.

I really like the Orville more today but for me it’s still not Star Trek so it’ll never be ‘better’ for me but it doesn’t have to be, as long as it’s good IMO.

No decision is a decision, folks. It’s done.

Sadly agree. I think the writing has been on the wall for awhile. Would love to be proven wrong. It’s really a great show IMO.

I thought I’d read somewhere that both front of and behind camera talent didn’t have any contracts renewed. More handwriting on the wall.

Yep, I remember reading the same thing at the beginning of season 3. It doesn’t mean they can’t come back but they are obviously releasing them for a reason.

I also heard that the never filed for tax credits

Most networks don’t renew shows with low ratings. This show was given to McFarlane to boost his ego and keep him from jumping ship to Netflix. They gave him a three season deal and they had to dump it over to Hulu after one season because of the bad ratings on Fox.

In Australia season 3 of Orville is on SBS Ondemand for the first 12 months before it will join season 1 and 2 on Star section of Disney+

The Orville was a real welcome surprise for me. I thought I’d be annoyed by the try-hard knock-off TNG vibes, and Seth McFarlane’s brand of humour which can oftentimes suffer from being really overworked. But I found most of it charming and fun once it hit it’s stride. I started watching it just as season 3 had began to air, so I had a chance to binge the first 2 seasons which I got through in no time.

I genuinely grew to enjoy the show and the cast of characters for what it is. It was interesting to see the tone of the show shift into a more serious one, and it evolve into quite a big-budget series with long, well-crafted episodes that took advantage of the streaming nature of television, something I wish Star Trek would do. And the stuff with the Moclans I found particularly interesting, although sometimes there has been really questionable decisions made but I applaud the effort anyhow. I definitely never expected them to go that far into exploring a topic around trans identities, and which also somehow culminated in a really unexpected cameo from Dolly Parton which was, again, a surprise, and who doesn’t love Dolly?!

A final season to tie up loose ends, particularly with Ed’s child, would be welcome so I hope they get that chance.

As I said on another site, Orville is the best non-Trek Star Trek show out there. It is produced and directed by Trek veterans, numerous Trek actors have appeared over the three seasons, and many stories are surprisingly compelling and well written. I enjoy this more than any of the five Trek shows currently in production. It harkens back to 90s Trek in a number of complimentary ways, and like the best Trek of old it tackles many of today’s issues head on. Allegory is alive and well here.

One aspect that I enjoyed probably more than most is the clever use of music in many episodes. The episode with Singing in the Rain is wonderfully directed and edited, another episode featured a full orchestra, and several cast members get to show off their singing talents. Even Dolly Parton gets a song! Yet Star Trek is not a musical series. It is a ship of imperfect people dealing with human issues that makes them relatable. We care about their journey, character growth, and what happens with them.

Brannon Braga, Jonathan Frakes, and Andre Bormanis have all contributed to this show. Orville is a ship and crew with optimism, something mainstream Trek seems to have mostly forgotten.

The music was often very nice, but I thought a bit overused by the end. I’m afraid I started hitting the fast forward button whenever Scott Grimes would pick up a guitar.

Do you remember Scott Grimes in an episode of TNG when he was a teenager? Pretty interesting.

I had to look it up. The sickbay clip is worth it for the double entendre alone. But thank goodness these were deleted. ;)

It’s wild how much his acting in those little scenes is similar to his bread and butter now. Like a couple of my friends who at 12 talked like they eventually would at 40.

First thing I ever saw Grimes in was a 1987 TV movie shown on PBS, a loose adaptation of The Frog Price with Shelley Duvall and Elliot Gould playing his parents as he tried to figure out how to help the titular frog. He was maybe 15 or 16. I did a double take many years later when I realized that was him.

Joel McNeely is a great composer. I have always liked him since the young Indiana Jones Chronicles. And i loved his soundtrack for Star Wars Shadows of the Empire.

The Orville is far from perfect, but it is a lot of fun and a great homage to TNG. It has continually improved in quality from season to season, with season 3 being a huge step up in production quality, so I would love for it to get renewed for at least a 4th season (preferably more!).

With that being said, as strong as season 3 was, I kinda miss the more overt humor from season 1. The humor didn’t always work, and could be a bit clunky or even cringe-worthy at times, but when it did work it was great, and was a great way to make it more than just a TNG homage.

Not one Episode of season 3 used its overlong runtime well. Some nice ideas, Sure. However… Streched Like chewing gum.

And also… The orville was so refrshing because it brought humor in to the mix.

I Just need to think about the Smoking moclans to smile. this season wasn’t funny.

Overlong episodes are often a problem in the streaming era. Even Strange New Worlds sometimes has me checking my watch. On the other hand, I often can’t understand how some shows will have what seem to be pivotal deleted scenes when there is no mandate to cut the run time down for advertisers.

It’s dead, Jim.

If it never comes back, I’ll always wonder if they intended to bring Malloy’s past family back. The fact that the egg sandwich reappeared indicated to me they had a plan.

Quite frankly I’m very happy with the way the show concluded with Season 3 and would be happy if they left it at that. A season 4 renewal is extremely unlikely, now more than ever. But Season 3 was a fantastic send off for the show and they pushed the premise as far as they could.

It’s weird how the higher production values helped turn me off to the show. I loved watching big space battles from RotJ and STARSHIP TROOPERS and suchlike, but these CGfests don’t deliver eye candy anywhere near as tasty, and for a show that has occasionally demonstrated respect for science, the fireballs in space approach is especially unappetizing for me.

This constant need to be flying in and out of windows on ships is like Robert Zemeckis on acid, and Zemeckis in any form is not all that palatable to me.

They need to completely drop the android relationship thing. They keep going back to it and it’s cringe.

A show that could have been so much more had the old trek fandom not hijacked it. Instead it’s a clone of TNG done poorly.

Let it stay dead unless they plan to reboot it, then try keep it original and not TNG 2.0 for those still stuck in the 80s & 90s

I loved the first two seasons as the stories, production design, everything about it feels like the STAR TREK I grew up with. They actually take time to talk and have discussions instead of just rushing from one action beat to the next. I wasn’t aware season three was available on D+ until recently and have beeb binge watching it and loving it even more than the first two. I truly hope it gets a fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh season!

Don’t take off the best sci fi show since star trek!