Seth MacFarlane should be pleased that his most successful live action TV series — he’s done amazingly well with adult animated series (Family Guy, American Dad) — is an homage to Star Trek called The Orville has made it three full seasons.
The first season reviews were rough, but season two was nearly universally praised. Season three is in the can, awaiting streaming release to Hulu later in 2020.
The series, which MacFarlane touted as a passion project for many years prior to its inception, is a sci-fi dramedy strongly influenced by Star Trek. Set approximately 400 years in the future, the show follows the crew of the USS Orville, as they adjust to life in space, while constantly dealing with various cosmic threats. MacFarlane currently stars alongside the likes of Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, and Scott Grimes. The show has also had cameos from high profile actors such as Charlize Theron, Ted Danson, and F. Murray Abraham.
Season 3 of Seth MacFarlane’s ‘The Orville’ To Be Its Last –
I’ve watched only the first few episodes of the first season. Not enough watched to formally review it, and not sure it will be reviewed here at all, but have overall liked what I’ve seen so far. There is a clever mix of pop culture with sci-fi and it’s clearly poking some fun at the genre. It’s better TV Star Trek than anything I’ve seen from Star Trek, including Discovery and Picard. I’ve also heard good things about the more serious sci-fi space TV series The Expanse, which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, but haven’t watched that yet.
The Orville has a clever looking design with three propulsion motors of some kind that light up and bam! — warp speed. The alien races costumes, makeup and planetary backgrounds are done well. The ship interior design is solid and the crew uniforms, blue with some sort of hierarchy for ranking displayed. The special effects and music are solid and fit the show well. Again, I’m digging it so far.
I’m going to watch more. Probably take me a little while to get through the first two seasons, because I’m soaking thee episodes in, but plan to keep watching.
Anybody else reading watch The Orville? Did/do you like it? Looking forward to season 3?
Movies, Movies, Movies 
It’s a fun show that feels more like Star Trek than the current crop of Trek does.
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