The Orville spoilers follow.
The Orville has grown tremendously across its first three seasons, evolving from a throwaway Star Trek parody to one of the best sci-fi shows on TV in quite some time. And all during a big network change to boot.
But now that season three, subtitled 'New Horizons', has come to an end, what's next for the crew of the USS Orville?
No official season four announcement has been revealed just yet, but according to creator Seth MacFarlane, there's a 50:50 chance that a renewal could still come.
"My hope is that when the show drops on Disney+, the people who haven’t yet discovered it will suddenly give it a chance," MacFarlane told TVLine. "That’s a potential game changer for us."
Assuming that you all now go watch The Orville on repeat in a bid to improve its shot at a fourth season, here's everything you need to know about future episodes on Hulu and Disney+.
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The Orville season 4 potential release date: When will it air?
At the moment, it's not a question of when – because as of February 2023, there has been no official update on whether we'll get a fourth season of The Orville.
We do know, however, that MacFarlane and co. are already on standby, ready to get back to shooting as soon as they are given the green light.
The show's creator told The Hollywood Reporter: "I would love [a season four]. 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."
He added: "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.
"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."
Worryingly for fans of The Orville, the powers that be don't seem to be moving in the direction of a follow-up season. Craig Erwich, ABC Entertainment's President for Hulu & Disney Branded Television Streaming Originals, was very vague during an interview with TVLine when discussing Orville's season-four future.
Erwich 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.
"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."
Not exactly the double thumbs-up fans were hoping for.
The above means that production on The Orville season four hasn't started yet, but if a renewal comes soon, then new episodes might end up appearing as early as 2024.
Remember, MacFarlane is a busy guy with all his other shows – and with the budget needed for this, production might take longer than the usual 12-18 months that TV fans are used to.
The Orville season 4 cast: Who will be in it?
If The Orville does suit up for another mission, expect to see most of the following jump aboard again for season four:
• Seth MacFarlane as Captain Edward 'Ed' Mercer
• Adrianne Palicki as Commander Kelly Grayson
• Penny Johnson Jerald as Dr Claire Finn
• Scott Grimes as Lieutenant Gordon Malloy
• Peter Macon as Lieutenant Commander Bortus
• J Lee as Lieutenant Commander John LaMarr
• Mark Jackson as Isaac
• Jessica Szohr as Lieutenant Commander Talla Keyali
• Giorgia Whigham as Lysella
One crew member who won't be returning anytime soon though is Ensign Charly Burke, played by Anne Winters. In the season three finale, she ended up sacrificing herself to save Kaylon emissary Isaac, so she's basically a goner, unless flashbacks come into play.
During an interview with TVLine, MacFarlane explained why Charly's death happened when it did, saying:
"Part of the thing that maybe makes it feel [like it happened] a little bit quickly — and it’s one of the reasons I wrote the novella — is there was another episode that was supposed to be in between Midnight Blue and Domino.
"We were all at a point where we just wanted to get this f**king thing on the air," he continued. "We would all joke, 'Are we just going to be making this show for the rest of our lives and it will never go out on the air?'"
"We were out of gas," he added, "and the prospect of shooting another episode — particularly one as ambitious as Sympathy for the Devil (now a novella)… we just didn't have anything left."
The Orville season 4 plot: What will happen?
In many ways, the season three finale, titled 'Future Unknown', could represent a perfect end to the show. Many of the big plot-lines are resolved there, including the Kaylon war, and Claire's marriage to Isaac, which brings a sense of finality to season three.
However, there's always space for more adventures if the USS Orville does venture out again into the unknown. After all, it feels like Lysella's story aboard the ship has only just begun now that she's joined the crew.
Chatting to Decider after the finale aired, The Orville creator Seth MacFarlane explained why there's potential for more episodes if enough people stream it on Disney+:
"When people do give it a chance and sit down to watch the show, they’re almost invariably surprised and caught off-guard. 'Oh, wow, this is completely the opposite of what I thought it was going to be… in a good way!'" he said. "And I think if we can get enough of those folks giving us a chance, the rewards will be in the form of a season four and perhaps beyond.
"So it's really in the hands of the audience," MacFarlane continued. "Because it is a business. The show is expensive to produce, it needs to justify its own existence with audience enthusiasm and viewership. So hopefully Disney+ will give us that chance."
If that doesn't work out, then maybe some Orville crew members can hop over to American Dad instead. Both shows were created by MacFarlane, after all, and just recently at Comic-Con, American Dad showrunner Matt Weitzman addressed that very scenario to us:
"We're thinking about hiring Scott Grimes on the show," he joked in reference to the fact that the actor appears on both series. "Mike Henry, who's on that show, is a recurring character on our show."
"I'm not necessarily looking to do that," Weitzman added. "It's kind of whatever works. We won't look for that, but if it works it works."
The Orville season 4 trailer: When can we see it?
When The Orville season four reveals new footage, expect Digital Spy to boldly go henceforth and share said footage with you all as soon as it becomes available.
The Orville streams on Hulu in the US. In the UK, you can watch it on STAR on Disney+.
20th Century Fox The Orville season 1 DVD
20th Century Fox The Orville season 2 DVD
20th Century Fox The Orville seasons 1-2 DVD
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
