When Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville launched on Fox in 2017, many dismissed it as a Star Trek spoof. However, viewers soon found the show was an homage to Trek which stood on its own feet. At the recent Indiana Comic Convention, longtime Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes — who played Riker in The Next Generation before going on to direct many episodes of other series — explained the credentials behind the show’s pedigree.
As part of a Star Trek: The Next Generation panel — featuring Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Denise Crosby — a fan asked the stars about their opinion of The Orville. Frakes was quick to praise the critically acclaimed show, highlighting the love with which MacFarlane created the space drama.
"Seth MacFarlane is arguably our biggest celebrity fan. He hired Brannon Braga, who worked on a lot of our best stuff. He hired me to direct. He hired cinematographer Marvin Rush. He brought in Robbie Duncan McNeill to direct a couple of episodes. He really leaned into the Next Gen pedigree,” Frakes explained.
Frakes directed two episodes of the space comedy drama, including one of the show’s most praised episodes, “Sanctuary.” The second season episode explores the Moclan alien species and their seemingly all-male culture. Exploring themes of gender, prejudice and misogyny, “Sanctuary” showed The Orville’s commitment to meaningful, significant and timely storytelling, something which Frakes also touched on in his answer:
"I think people thought it was going to be silly—and it was, but it also had a lot of lore and depth. He's a great storyteller, and he knows exactly what he wants."Jonathan Frakes
Frakes is not alone in his praise of The Orville; MacFarlane’s show was praised by critics for tackling many real-world issues including racism, sexuality, and capitalism. The show overcame the assumption that it was just a silly Star Trek parody.
Starring MacFarlane as Ed Mercer, Captain of the USS Orville, an exploratory ship in the Planetary Union, The Orville excelled at its own world building away from its Star Trek inspiration. The crew of USS Orville was made up of a mix of human and alien crew members including a green amorphous blob species, called Gelatin, and a race of artificial intelligence robots, known as the Kaylon.
While Jonathan Frakes did not appear onscreen in The Orville, several of his Trek co-stars did. Star Trek: Voyager cast members Tim Russ (Tuvok) and Robert Picardo (The Doctor) both made guest appearances, and Frakes’ onscreen wife, Marina Sirtis (who played Deanna Troi in several Trek outings) played a school teacher. Frakes revealed in a 2019 TrekMovie interview that he had been behind the casting of Sirtis.
“Seth and I had looked at casting tapes for this character and I said, 'I like so and so,' and he said, 'I kind of did too,' but we weren’t blown away. And he asked, 'Isn’t there somebody from your show?' And I said, 'obviously Marina could do this part.' He said he was thinking he should hold off until he found another part for her but asked what I thought, and I said Marina would LOVE to do this part.“
However, no amount of nostalgic cameos will make-up for poor writing, as Frakes expanded on in the same interview. “If the story isn’t there and the script isn’t tight and the logic interested (sic) addressed, and canon on both shows as well. Orville doesn’t have Star Trek’s canon, but it has its own canon and its own set of rules and those rules are part of what the audience, the producers, the directors, and the actors count on. So, on both shows the world is essential. This sounds like a cliché, but it is about the family on both shows. That’s what made Next Gen successful.”
The “found family” element is one of The Orville’s most successful components, with fans loving the relationships between Mercer and his ex-wife and First Officer Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palecki), best friend Lieutenant Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes), and crew members Bortus (Peter Macon), Lieutenant John LaMarr (J Lee) and Doctor Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald).
Originally airing on Fox, The Orville was cancelled after two seasons before being picked up by Hulu for a third season, which began filming in 2019. COVID shutdowns delayed completion of the third season until 2021, with the 10 episodes airing in 2022.
Although no statement has even been made on The Orville’s cancellation, no further filming has taken place, though star Scott Grimes said that a fourth season was forthcoming in 2025. And then Adrianne Palicki poured cold water on that, so it's really anybody's guess.
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h/t Collider