Star Trek Alum Robert Picardo Returning to ‘The Orville’ in Season 2

A fan favorite Star Trek actor will be returning to Fox’s The Orville for the show’s second season.

That actor is Robert Picardo, who played the Emergency Medical Hologram called The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager. Picardo appeared in a first season episode of The Orville and creator and star Seth MacFarlane revealed that Picardo would be coming back for more in Season Two.

“GREAT work on The Orville today from [Halston Sage], [Robert Picardo], and [Jon Cassar] and the rest of the team!” MacFarlane tweeted. “Stay tuned!”

Jon Cassar is a director whose television work includes Revolution, Continuum, Nikita, Fringe, Person of Interest, Terra Nova, The Kennedys, and 24. Halston Sage is one of the stars of The Orville. She plays Lt. Alara Kitan, the head of security on the ship.

Picardo appeared in the first season episode “Firestorm.” In the episode, Alara freezes in place when she stands before an open flame en route to rescue a crew member trapped under a bulkhead in engineering. The officer dies and Alara blames herself.

In an attempt to understand why she reacted to the fire the way she did, Alara calls her parents on her home planet of Xeleya. She speaks with both her mother and her father. Her father is played by Picardo.

In addition to playing The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager, Picardo was also nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years, and appeared in another popular science fiction franchise, Stargate, as Richard Woolsey.

The Orville recently added another Star Trek veteran, Joe Menosky, as an executive producer in season two. The series also added a couple of new faces to the cast, including Jessica Szohr as a new series regular and Chris Johnson in a recurring role.

The Orville was Fox’s biggest premiere since Empire and was soon renewed for a second season.

“Once again Seth has struck a powerful chord with viewers,” said Michael Thorn, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company in a statement when the renewal was announced. “He has delivered a series full of optimism, drama and his trademark humor. We want to thank him and the rest of the talented cast, as well as the producers and crew, for an incredible first season. We can’t wait to see where The Orville travels in the second.”

The Orville Season Two will premiere in late 2018.