Want The Orville Season 4? Seth MacFarlane Has Good News
The Orville Season 4 hasn't been picked up for a Season 4 yet, but series creator and star Seth MacFarlane is optimistic that it's going to happen.
The fate of Hulu’s The Orville remains murky, but Seth MacFarlane is “cautiously optimistic” about Season 4 of the Star Trek-inspired series. TrekMovie.com reported a tweet by MacFarlane that responded to a fan’s hope for the series, though the show’s star and creator admitted that the renewal is still up in the air.
The Orville Season 4 is at the mercy of strategic shifts happening across the entertainment industry. Streamers that were producing content with reckless abandon just two years ago have tightened their purse strings. Disney’s cost-cutting has sent shockwaves through its expansive portfolio, which includes the home of The Orville, Hulu.
Performance standards for streaming shows have also changed. Not only do shows cost money to make, but they cost money to keep, which is why even beloved shows are disappearing from popular streaming services. The Orville will need a strong case to justify season 4.
The show has been a surprise hit among its fans, who rated it very highly. The Orville boasts an 8/10 audience rating on IMDb and an 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. But fan reception is only one piece of the renewal puzzle; the show’s budget, residual costs, and new and legacy subscriber impact stand between The Orville and Season 4.
Despite the uphill battle facing the show, the update from Seth MacFarlane comes as a welcome sign for fans. Series actor Chad Coleman also gave a hopeful update, telling CinemaBlend, “We think it’s gonna happen, but it’s still up in the air.” MacFarlane and Coleman had more positive tones in their updates than Hulu & Disney Branded Originals President Craig Erwich did in January.
“We don’t have anything to share right now,” Erwich said in his bleak update about The Orville Season 4. That is still basically true; Seth MacFarlane’s latest Twitter activity still admits that The Orville is up in the air, but it breaks the silence enough to let fans know that those involved still care about the show.
As Seth MacFarlane awaits the return of The Orville for Season 4, the busy creator is at work on a number of other projects. In addition to his regular duties on Family Guy and American Dad!, MacFarlane is developing a TV series based on his Ted films, as well as an adaptation of the graphic novel The Shrouded College.
Set at Peacock, The Shrouded College is a series of adventure/horror stories following secret agents from the titular organization, a crumbling institution embroiled in a supernatural cold war. The book’s creators, Charles Soule and Will Sliney, have worked on several A-list comics for Marvel and DC. They will bring their impressive pedigree along as serving as executive producers on the series.
The Orville has punched above its weight since it started, and fans on Twitter are demanding Season 4. Vocal fanbases have moved mountains before and could do it again for The Orville. As Seth MacFarlane said, they will have to do so in an unprecedented and tumultuous time in the world of entertainment, but uncharted territory is The Orville’s specialty.
