Every sci-fi and fantasy show you should watch in 2022

The Orville season 3 — Hulu — June 2

After a long wait, The Orville will finally be returning with its third season this year as well. Season 2 of the Seth MacFarlane Star Trek parody finished airing all the way back in 2019, which feels like it may as well have been another lifetime ago. I’ll be honest, I forgot The Orville even existed until we were compiling this list.

But it does, and it’s coming back, and that’s awesome! The Orville was a fairly unique show: one part comedy, one part sci-fi saga, and one part call back to the sort of thought-provoking adventure-of-the-week fare that originally made Star Trek so enjoyable. MacFarlane’s unique brand of comedy fit the medium really well, and he was great fun to watch as Captain Ed Mercer. The rest of the crew, including an impressive array of often ridiculous aliens, were fantastic as well.

The Orville flagged somewhat in its second season, relying a bit too much on its clearly impressive special effects budget rather than the sharp storytelling that made the first season such a breakout success, but it was still far from a flop. This might be one of those instances where the long gap between seasons could really work to the show’s benefit. MacFarlane and his team have had almost three years to polish up their next outing on the USS Orville. Who knows what strange worlds await?

The show is also being rebranded for its third season as The Orville: New Horizons. Though initially slated for a March release, The Orville’s premiere has since been changed to June 2. — Daniel