The Orville Star Addresses Sci-Fi Masterpiece’s Return After Unexpected Season 4 Update [Exclusive]

Almost four years ago, The Orville‘s Season 3 ended, and then… nothing. Creator Seth MacFarlane confirmed there’d been no cancellation, but the fourth season simply never materialized, and old-school sci-fi fans who loved MacFarlane’s Star Trek-riffing series have been somewhat left in the dark since. Excitingly, though, MacFarlane broke cover recently on the Ted Season 2 press tour to confirm there was hope.

MacFarlane told THR that The Orville Season 4 has been written, though he did seem to suggest that the production would require balancing schedules. And now, we’ve got exclusive word from one of his Orville crewmates on the show’s possible return. Scott Grimes, who plays Lieutenant Gordon Malloy, as well as patriarch Matty Bennet in Ted spoke to ComicBook on the same press tour and revealed his enthusiasm: “This show is absolutely not dead or over, as far as I’m concerned. I would drop everything right this very second and run to that set when it is finally announced.”

The Orville Season 4 Progress Explained

Grimes answered the question of whether he had an update on The Orville, which we asked before MacFarlane’s script revelation to THR, so we got the front-line reaction to what Captain Ed Mercer himself had said. Grimes seems to have been shocked: “Funny enough, I do. I have an update because Seth and I were just together about 10 minutes ago. I turned to him when he said something. I went, “Why did you say that?” And he said, “We are allowed to say that!” My update is that the scripts are written. That’s the update I can say. Now that doesn’t mean anything. I know everybody involved wants to do it. I know that the scripts are there. We are excited, but that’s what I’ve got. That’s at least something.”

So while we have a positive update on progress, this might not be as tangible as you might expect when hearing about completed scripts. But at least we know what the hold-up is, as MacFarlane confessed he’s the issue: “The 10 scripts are done. I’m the problem. It’s [a matter of] when I can make that my year, with all the other stuff we have in the works. But we can hit the ground running when it happens.”

Not content with his ongoing animated empire, MacFarlane also executive-produced this year’s remake of The Burbs, which may return, and he’s adding a Ted animated sequel series. Juggling three animated shows in which he plays main characters – Ted, plus Stewie and Brian in Family Guy, and Roger and Stan in American Dad – is nothing to be sniffed at, and adding in a 10-episode run for The Orville sounds a challenge. Let’s just hope he’s able to pull it off soon, because it’s already been too long.

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