It’s been a long wait, but Orville He finally returns for his third season in June, bearing the new title Orville: New Horizons. Creator Seth MacFarlane is back in the captaincy as Ed Mercer. With the long gap between seasons, the jump from Fox to Hulu, the new title, and the spin-off, sometimes comically, the third season of Orville It would have been a whole new beginning for the show. Instead, the season premiere doubles down on dealing with the fallout from season two’s Kaylon invasion. ComicBook.com had the opportunity to ask MacFarlane why he and his collaborators decided to dig deeper rather than start over.
“It was just better storytelling,” MacFarlane says. “The show in season one started out as an experiment, a hybrid in many ways, between drama and comedy, and like any show in season one, it was finding its legs, and the more we got to know the characters and the more the characters were fleshed out, it became clear that we could really rely on characters The characters are in the comics and we don’t have to worry about writing lines of text on every page and we really like the fact that we were a true sci-fi show, which we always have been, we pressured ourselves at first to keep this flat of comedy somewhat present. And I repeat it again, I’m going to get closer to what we have now but that’s just that, with any show, it takes a few seasons for you to find it really cool.”
Of the two episodes we saw in the new season that we saw before talking to MacFarlane, the move to Hulu has had a noticeable impact on the series. Episodes are longer, with the two episodes we’ve seen running over an hour. Some of that extra runtime goes toward great digital footage of show ships that might not have been possible on a network TV budget.
“Certainly on a visual level, the visual effects this year, I think, are comparable to anything I’ve seen on TV, especially as the season goes on,” MacFarlane says. “The team has done a great job on all of these things and I think people are going to be really shocked by the scope of this thing as the season progresses.”
He continues, “From a storytelling point of view, it’s a lot better for me because my biggest problem, in particular, the prevalence of streaming programming, there are some talented writers working on network dramas, but the problem is that you have to cut everything down to 43 minutes.” Exactly. That’s not how storytelling works. It’s not. Not every story wants to be the same length and if you have a really great scene, it’s emotional and you take your time in. The audience feels something, you might have to cut out something that doesn’t have to be cut Now, there’s a system, at the same time, on the other side of things. You don’t want to get bogged down at the point where your audience is bored. But for a show like this, being able to be cinematic and take the time to set the mood It’s something you can’t do on the network because you’re so constrained by that time limit, that to me more than anything lse was the most satisfying thing about this move.”
Some expectations come with being on a streaming service because these services have trained audiences to expect sequential stories like feature films. However, MacFarlane hopes to maintain the episodic storytelling of OrvilleThe first two are intact.
“It’s a bit of both,” he says. “We want each episode to feel like a feature film of its own, but in some ways it’s a bonus for people who stuck with the show right from the start. There are so many stories that, really, are a richer viewing experience if updated in seasons one and two. So for any Someone saying, “I’m going to watch season three,” I would say get ready for season one, season two, you won’t be disappointed.”
However, the episodes share a thematic connection, which MacFarlane feels will resonate with viewers. “If there’s one single line that I think keeps popping up over the course of the season, it’s the challenge and quest to find ways to live with and coexist with people whose beliefs and lifestyles are fundamentally different from yours and their lifestyles,” MacFarlane explains. “The challenge of coexistence, especially at this point in time, in our society is very relevant, but important in an age when everyone is angry at each other. How do you find the threads of communication that allow you to maintain a functioning civilization? This is certainly something that is an essential part of The season, I think.”
Orville: New Horizons Premieres on Hulu on June 2nd.
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