Fans of The Orville, which ran on the FOX Network over its first two seasons, have cause to celebrate today.
Following cancelation by the network in 2019, then a subsequent pick-up by Hulu, then a delay caused by the Covid19 Pandemic, the show finally has a return date.
Hulu announced today that the series, now sporting the new title of The Orville: New Horizons, will officially return Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Returning cast members include Seth MacFarlane, Adrianne Palicki, Jessica Szohr, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes, Peter Macon, J. Lee, Mark Jackson and Chad L. Coleman.
Additionally, recently deceased comedian Norm McDonald will be heard once again as the beloved gelatinous mass that is lieutenant Yaphit.
New to season 3 is Anne Winters (13 Reason Why) as Charly Burke.
Speaking at Comic Con in San Diego back in 2019, series creator and star Seth MacFarlane spoke about the show’s move to the streamer, a move that, unbeknownst to the world, would delay the show’s next season by three years.
“The Orville has been a labor of love for me, and there are two companies which have supported that vision in a big way: 20th Century Fox Television, where I’ve had a deal since the start of my career, and FOX Broadcasting Company, now FOX Entertainment, which has been my broadcast home for over 20 years. My friends at the network understood what I was trying to do with this series, and they’ve done a spectacular job of marketing, launching and programming it for these past two seasons. But as the show has evolved and become more ambitious production-wise, I determined that I would not be able to deliver episodes until 2020, which would be challenging for the network. So we began to discuss how best to support the third season in a way that worked for the show. It’s exactly this kind of willingness to accommodate a show’s creative needs that’s made me want to stick around for so long. I am hugely indebted to Charlie Collier and FOX Entertainment for their generosity and look forward to developing future projects there. And to my new friends at Hulu, I look forward to our new partnership exploring the galaxy together.”
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