In Brief

Seth MacFarlane Is Headed to Space with 'The Orville' on Fox

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Seth MacFarlane is gearing up for a trek across the final frontier.

Fox announced this week that this fall, it will launch a new science-fiction TV series, called the "The Orville." The show will star funnyman executive producer and actor MacFarlane ("Family Guy," "Ted") as the commander of the titular starship. Adrianne Palicki ("Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.") will portray MacFarlane's executive officer — and ex-wife — with a ragtag crew rounding out the cast. Think "Galaxy Quest" meets "Family Guy," and you're on the right track.

"'The Orville' is a live-action, one-hour, ensemble comedic drama set 400 years in the future that follows the adventures of The Orville, a mid-level exploratory spaceship, as its crew, both human and alien, face the wonders and dangers of outer space, while also dealing with the familiar, often humorous problems of everyday life," Fox representatives wrote in a description of the new series.

"The Orville" is the brainchild of MacFarlane and director Jon Favreau ("The Jungle Book," "Iron Man"), according to Fox representatives. Fox unveiled "The Orville" Monday (May 15) with a series trailer on YouTube and a spiffy new website. 

Fox's new science fiction TV series "The Orville" will send Seth MacFarlane across the final frontier in command of a starship crew. The cast (from left to right): Penny Johnson Jerald, Mark Jackson, MacFarlane, Peter Macon, Scott Grimes, Adrianne Palicki, J. Lee and Halston Sage (Image credit: FOX)

"The Orville" isn't MacFarlane's first cosmic project with Fox. In 2014, the Emmy Award-winning executive producer teamed up with Fox and the National Geographic Channel for "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey," which was hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The show was a 21st-century relaunch of the iconic "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" series hosted by astronomer Carl Sagan in 1980.

So, space fans, what do you think? Are you excited to see MacFarlane command a starship? Or is "The Orville" destined to fade away at the end of the universe?

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.