Some shows have all the luck. For instance, Amazon committed to multiple seasons of big new shows like The Wheel of Time and The Rings of Power before their first seasons even aired, and both of those shows got some fairly heavy blowback. Meanwhile, there’s a show like The Orville, whose third season got near-universal love from critics and fans, and we still don’t know if it’s coming back. Where is the justice, I ask you?
The Orville is currently bedding down over at Hulu, but we don’t know if Disney has renewed it for a fourth season. As he revealed on Twitter, creator Seth MacFarlane is waiting to hear a decision like the rest of us:
We are currently awaiting season 4 news! Thanks to the fans for the continued support! https://t.co/KSfrCRuFdd
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) November 15, 2022
And The Orville isn’t the only sci-fi show stuck in limbo…
J. Michael Straczynski says Babylon 5 reboot not yet dead
In the ’90s, Babylon 5 was one of the most popular, ground-breaking science fiction dramas around. Nearly every episode was written by creator J. Michael Straczynski, and the show pioneered the long-form serialized format very in vogue among genre shows today.
That’s why it was so exciting to hear last year that Straczynski was planning a reboot of Babylon 5 for The CW…but that was before The CW was bought out by Nexstar, which preceded to gut pretty much all of the network’s original programming. The Babylon 5 reboot was delayed, and fans could be forgiven for assuming it dead.
And it might be, but Straczynski is out here on Twitter reminding people that we don’t know yet. Like The Orvilla fans, Babylon 5 fans are just waiting for news:
-- and when it does I'll get it out as soon as possible or at minimum let you know that something has been decided. Through 30+ years of rumors and online nonsense I've always dealt straight with the B5 fan community. Waiting is hard, but wait we must until *something* is decided
— J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) November 13, 2022
The Orville and Babylon 5 are both great shows. As the firehouse of expensive genre content begins to slow down, I hope both of them eke out places for themselves on TV.
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