Ever since The Orville wrapped up its third season all the way back in 2022, we've been dying for news of a follow-up. Dubbed The Orville: New Horizons, season 3 was such a step above everything that had come before that it was mind-blowing. Not only was it a great season of Seth MacFarlane's comedic sci-fi drama, it was also just one of the all-around best seasons of science fiction television of that year. Alas, it was also a big, expensive season of television that took more than two years to produce, and Hulu did not rush to give season 4 the green light.
But hope has remained alive for the past several years. Whenever The Orville comes up in interviews, its cast has kept that torch burning. Lead star and general creative force behind the series Seth MacFarlane (Ed Mercer) reassured fans in early 2024 that "the show is not dead," and a few months later added that "there will be more" of The Orville. Peter Macon (Bortus) said in May of 2024 that the show "still very much alive." And then we got our most hopeful update yet when Scott Grimes (Gordon Malloy) reportedly told fans at a Star Trek convention that season 4 would start filming in early 2025.
We're now over a third of the way into the year, and so far there hasn't been a peep about The Orville firing up its engines for another season. The Orville has been in limbo for a long time at this point, and according to a new update from star Adrianne Palicki (Kelly Grayson), hopes for the show's return "just went away."
"I don't know that there's going to be a fourth season"
Palicki is currently out on the press trail for her new movie, The Salamander King, but sometimes reporters like to sneak in a question or two about an actor's other projects while they have the chance. MovieWeb caught up with Palicki at the Dallas International Film Festival and asked whether she would come back for The Orville season 4. The outlet notes that she seemed cautious about how she worded her answer. "That would be a conversation, if that was going to be a thing," she replied.
"You know, right before the strikes, that was definitely a conversation that Seth and I had," Palicki continued. "He called me and asked if I would do it, and it was a possibility, and then the strikes happened. It kind of just went away. I know a lot of people are disappointed about that, but as of now, I don't know that there's going to be a fourth season."
Disappointed is indeed the right word for how I'm feeling about this news, but I can't say it's wholly surprising. The longer a show stays on ice, the less chance it will come back. It's been almost three years since the premiere of The Orville: New Horizons; even if it started filming tomorrow, we probably wouldn't see new episodes before 2027, since it's such a special effects-heavy show. Creating visually stunning space ships and starscapes isn't quick, easy, or cheap!
On the bright side, New Horizons remains an excellent season of television that had a perfect sendoff. It left doors open for the future, but was also an extremely satisfying way to leave The Orville, if that's the way things go. Maybe it's time for a rewatch?
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