What is The Orville?

The Orville is a new comedy series coming to Fox from Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted) and director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Jungle Book). It’s a parody of Star Trek that follows the adventures of the U.S.S. Orville, a spaceship exploring the universe.

Ed Mercer (MacFarlane) is reluctantly given command of a ship and sees it as a chance to get over his bitter divorce. Only the first officer assigned to him is his ex-wife, Kelly Grayson. Kelly is played by Adrianne Palicki who was previously in Marvel’s Agents of Shield and Friday Night Lights.

Joining Ed on his ship are a selection of eccentric and strange aliens, including some living jell-o and a robot that thinks living creatures are inferior.

It will be interesting to see how this series performs, there isn’t currently a Star Trek show on TV (Star Trek Discovery is coming soon) and Galaxy Quest is such a good parody of the series that the director of the reboots, J. J. Abrams said, ‘By the way, I think we've all gone on record as saying one of our favorite Trek films is Galaxy Quest.’

MacFarlane has revealed that the series isn’t pure comedy, he told AP

‘It probably has more in common with Star Trek than Futurama. It is an hour-long show so we have to tell a story…The show is being promoted leaning on the comedy – and we like the promo a lot – but I think people will be surprised that we are digging a little deeper. We are servicing the science fiction aspect as well.’

If the series is anywhere as strong as the trailer it’s going to be great.

The Orville Trailer

The Orville Cast

Seth MacFarlane / Ed Mercer

Ed Mercer is a not very successful captain who finally gets offered a ship because no-one else is available. He’s delighted and sees it as a fresh start for him.

Adrianne Palicki / Kelly Grayson

Kelly is Ed’s ex-wife, a far more competent officer than Mercer.

Scott Grimes / Gordon Malloy

Gordon is one of the best pilots in the fleet but has been held back by his problems with authority, and his drinking habit. He is Ed Mercer’s best friend.

Penny Johnson Jerald / Dr Claire Finn

Dr Finn as extremely experienced physician. Penny Johnson Jerald has previously appeared in lots of shows including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Kasidy Yates

Peter Macon / Bortus

Bortus is an alien from single-sex species. Peter Macon previously appeared in Shameless as Dominique's father.

Mark Jackson / Isaac

Android from a machine based society that thinks biological life-forms are inferior.

J.Lee / John Lamarr

Navigator with great sense of humor, he has previously worked on The Cleveland Show as well as Family Guy.

Halston Sage / Alara Kitan

Security officer from a planet with high gravity so she is incredibly, freakishly strong. Halston Stage previously appeared in the film Neighbors with Seth Rogen and Zac Efron.

Norm MacDonald / Yaphit

An easy-going gelatinous creature. Norm MacDonald is a stand-up legend who has previously appeared on Saturday Night Live as well as various films including Dirty Work and Billy Madison.

What is the plot of The Orville?

Ed Mercer is given his dream assignment. He will be the captain on the exploration vessel The USS Orville. He gathers together a crew, only to have his ex-wife assigned as his first officer.

Their first job is to deliver supplies to a science station on Epsilon 2. When they arrive the scientists beg for protection. The scientists have created a ray that causes things to age and turn into dust and the fearsome Krill want to steal it and turn it into a weapon.

What is the release date of The Orville?

The series is set to premiere in Fall 2017