Following the move from The Orville to its new streaming home at Hulu, where it has been dubbed The Orville: New Horizons, the future of the sci-fi series remains unclear. For the fans of the series, the hope is that enough people will be tuning in to encourage a season renewal for more episodes at Hulu. Series creator Seth MacFarlane has been open about wanting to do more seasons but has noted that this will be up to Disney to decide.
In a new chat with TVLine, MacFarlane provided an update on the show's renewal prospects. He admits that there would be some challenge in assembling everyone in the cast back together for another season, especially given his own hectic schedule. Even so, MacFarlane is just as hooked on the series as the fans, so he'd make it happen if the order comes in for a fourth season.
“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.”
Coming to Disney+ Could Help The Orville Get Renewed
MacFarlane goes on to suggest that the renewal could really go either way with 50-50 odds, but for what it's worth, a new development could help boost viewership enough to get season 4. The Orville will be coming to Disney+ in just a few days time, and with the series becoming available to viewers of another streaming platform, that just might bring in enough new fans to secure the renewal.
“[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 its 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.”
The first two seasons of The Orville had originally run on Fox from 2017 to 2019. It was then announced that the show would be moving to Hulu with the new name The Orville: New Horizons. The third season premiered in June and just wrapped up its 10-episode run this month. It will be coming to Disney+ on Aug. 10, 2022, with all three seasons being made available to watch on the Disney streaming platform.