Later tonight, viewers will get their first real look at Seth McFarlane’s newest comedy The Orville.
For those not in the know, The Orville is a new science fiction comedy series which looks to be inspired by shows such as Star Trek.
The series focuses on Captain Ed Mercer (McFarlane) as he takes command of a mid level space-craft called The Orville.
In the show, Captain Mercer gets to lead a diverse crew of aliens and humans as they boldly go out into deep space.
The series is set 400 years in the future and features Star Trek: Deep Space Nine veteran Penny Johnson Jerald as the ship’s doctor and Adrianne Palicki as Kelly Grayson.
In the opening episode, Ed learns that his first officer on board The Orville is his ex-wife, which makes for some fun conflict.
Executive producing the series is former Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise EP Brannon Braga.
Joining him in the producer’s chair is David A. Goodman who recently spoke to SFX Magazine about the series.
He said: “Seth wanted to give people the kind of show he grew up loving.”
McFarlane has often referenced shows such as Star Trek and Star Wars in Family Guy and his other comedy series, which is one of the reasons why many of those shows’ fans love his work.
It’s fair to say that The Orville has caught the interest of many Star Trek fans, who feel that the new series might actually trump Star Trek: Discovery — which hardcore fans have threatened to boycott because they feel that it does not look or feel like a Star Trek show or even respect the franchise.
As to whether The Orville fairs better than Discovery remains to be seen. But it’s fair to say that The Orville has a huge advantage given that it will be on network television and not the subscriber model that Star Trek: Discovery will be on.
The Orville takes off later this evening at 8/7c on Fox. Set your TV’s to engage and boldly go.