Seth MacFarlane keeps hope for The Orville season 4 alive: "The show is not dead"

The Orville aired its spectacular third season, subtitled New Horizons, back in 2022; since then, fans have been in a state of limbo about whether the comedic sci-fi drama would be returning for a fourth outing. Hulu has yet to confirm anything one way or the other, and without an official cancelation or renewal announcement, that leaves us mostly parsing over the comments made by various people associated with the show for signs of hope.

Most recently, we had two conflicting tones: first, from Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), who said on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast that she was "no longer doing" The Orville. When pressed about whether the show was canceled, Palicki admitted that she “truly doesn’t know the answer to that.”

Palicki went on to detail how difficult it was working on The Orville, primarily because of the long wait between seasons. "It became an actual, real issue because there would be so much time in between seasons because [creator Seth MacFarlane] wanted to write everything himself."

“At one point, we were like, ‘We have to fight the studio to give us a holding fee or something," she continued, adding that her costar J. Lee (Lt. John LaMarr) reportedly was getting by on “saltines and Gatorade” during part of production.

But lo! It seems that Palicki was perhaps more concerned about the saltines and Gatorade than J. Lee himself, because barely a week later he was stoking fans' hope for season 4 on Twitter. “#LaMarrLifts #TheOrville #Loading," the actor tweeted out, accompanied by a gif saying "Job's not finished."

Is The Orville canceled? Not according to creator Seth MacFarlane

That brings us about up to speed. Now creator Seth MacFarlane is weighing in, and his message is both measured as well as optimistic.

“I’m trying to remember what the exact, well-worded politic statement was that Hulu put out…,” MacFarlane replied when put on the spot about The Orville season 4 by TV Line. That statement, for the record, was made back in January of 2023 when Hulu originals chief Craig Erwich said, “It’s a great show and I know that the fans loved having it back in their lives. And Seth did a great job, uniquely as he can, in front of and behind the camera. But we don’t have anything to share.”

“All I can say is the same thing that Hulu said, which is the show is not dead,” MacFarlane finally answered TV Line. “Nobody has told me that it’s dead from the network, so we’re proceeding under those auspices.”

The Orville: New Horizons featured an ending that felt like a perfect capstone to the season, but which absolutely left room for future stories. We'll hang on waiting for more updates, but given how much time has passed between seasons, you have to hope that someone at Hulu makes the call already so we can all stop wondering whether we'll ever get to fly on the U.S.S. Orville again.

But hey, if you're really itching that bad for another run, there's always time for a rewatch. All three season of The Orville are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.

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