Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville returned for a third season after the show became available for streaming on Disney+ following the Fox merger. While the show continued to be popular, and the cast was certainly up for more adventures on board the Star Trek-inspired spaceship, there has been no word on whether a fourth season will go ahead. In a recent interview with TV Line, Hulu, ABC Entertainment, and Disney Branded Television Streaming Originals president Craig Erwich finally offered an update on the future of the series, but it isn’t one that gives fans much to go on one way or the other. He said:
"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."
While there were never any guarantees of The Orville getting a fourth season, and in many ways, it looked at one point like a third was out of the question, there are many fans of the show who are still hopeful of seeing the crew of The Orville taking flight one more time. With the first three seasons streaming on Disney+, that fan base is only likely to grow as more people discover the show. Whether that will help with any potential renewal, however, is something that cannot yet be said.
Seth MacFarlane Was Cautious About Talking Renewals for The Orville
In interviews at the time of The Orville’s arrival on Disney+, creator and star Seth MacFarlane was split over whether the show would get the chance to return again or not. Speaking at the time, he commented:
“There’s some trickiness [in making another season]. But, look, the actors are the easy part. [The trickier part is,] 'How do I work it into everything else that’s now going on?' I will say that I get as emotionally invested in the show as any of the fans, so I will find a way to do it if there is a Season 4. [The renewal odds are] 50-50. My hope is that when the show drops on Disney+, the people who haven’t yet discovered [The Orville] will suddenly give it a chance. That’s a potential game changer for us. I think that creatively and audience-wise, when people sit down and give the show a chance, it upends their expectations. The biggest burden with the show is preconceptions. People think it’s one thing — there are people out there who think it’s a sitcom — and when they sit down to watch it they realize it’s something completely different. Once you get people’s eyeballs on it, the show does the work, its speaks for itself, and people tend to be hooked.”
Of course, while The Orville currently hangs in limbo, MacFarlane is already working on another TV project in the form of his Ted series, in which he will once again provide the voice of the titular foul-mouthed teddy bear. That series is expected to arrive on Peacock later this year, by which time, The Orville’s fate may have been decided one way or the other.