The Orville (TV Series)

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The Orville
Genre	[Science Fiction|Science fiction]] Action-Adventure Comedy-drama
Created by	Seth MacFarlane
Starring	Seth MacFarlane Adrianne Palicki Penny Johnson Jerald Scott Grimes Peter Macon Halston Sage J. Lee Mark Jackson
Theme music composer	Bruce Broughton
Composer(s)	Bruce Broughton (Pilot) Joel McNeely John Debney Andrew Cottee ("New Dimensions")
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of Seasons	1
No. of episodes	12 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Seth MacFarlane Brannon Braga David A. Goodman Jason Clark Jon Favreau (pilot) Liz Heldens Lili Fuller
Running time	43 minutes
Production company(s)	Fuzzy Door Productions 20th Century Fox Television
Distributor	20th Television
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Original release	September 10, 2017 – present
External links
Website

The Orville is an American science fiction comedy-drama series created by and starring Seth MacFarlane. The series premiered on Sunday, September 10, 2017. MacFarlane stars as Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union's line of exploratory space vessels whose career took a downturn following his divorce, and who is given the titular ship as his first command, only to discover that his ex-wife, Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki), has been assigned to be his first officer. Inspired by several sources, including Star Trek and The Twilight Zone, the series tells the story of Mercer, Grayson, and the crew of the Orville as they embark on various diplomatic and exploratory missions.

New episodes aired Thursdays on Fox during the 2017–18 season. On November 2, 2017, Fox renewed the series for a second season, which will begin with a two-hour premiere on December 30, 2018 during the 2018–19 season.

Contents 1 Premise 2 Cast and characters 2.1 Main 2.2 Recurring 2.3 Guest stars 3 Series overview 4 Episodes 4.1 Season 1 (2017) 4.2 Season 2 5 Production 5.1 Development 5.2 Casting 5.3 Filming 5.4 Visual effects 5.5 Music 6 Reception 6.1 Critical response 6.2 Audience response 6.3 Ratings 6.4 Awards and nominations 7 Home media 8 References 9 External links

Premise

The Orville is set on the titular U.S.S. Orville (ECV-197), a mid-level exploratory space vessel in the Planetary Union, a 25th-century interstellar alliance of Earth and many other planets.

Cast and characters

Main

• Seth MacFarlane as Captain Ed Mercer, who commands the Orville. Mercer was an up-and-coming officer, believed to be on the fast track to commanding his own heavy cruiser by age 40. However, he caught his wife Kelly in bed with an alien. Over the course of the following year, he is cited for becoming lax in his duties, including six instances of reporting to duty while hung over; but he is informed that, because of the size of the fleet and the retirement of the former captain, the Orville, a mid-level exploratory ship, was in need of a new commanding officer.
• Adrianne Palicki as Commander Kelly Grayson, the first officer of the Orville and Ed Mercer's ex-wife. The two divorced when Mercer caught Grayson in bed with an alien. Unbeknownst to Mercer, Grayson personally went to Admiral Halsey to plead for her ex-husband to be given a command, stating that, despite some personal setbacks, he deserved it. She asked Halsey to keep that from him when assigned the Orville. Mercer and Grayson decide to put their differences aside, to work together as a team and stay as friends.
• Penny Johnson Jerald as Doctor Claire Finn, the chief medical officer on the Orville, holding the rank of lieutenant commander. A physician of exceptional credentials, she has expertise in molecular surgery, DNA engineering and psychiatry, which could have afforded her the privilege of serving on the heavy cruiser of her choice. She instead chose the mid-level exploratory vessel because, as she explains to Mercer in the pilot, she prefers to request her transfers based on where she feels she is needed, as she feels more stimulated by such assignments. When she tells Mercer she felt he could use her help on his first command, he interprets this as lack of confidence on her part in his competence, though she denies this. Having never found the ideal opportunity to marry, she chose to become a single mother, and her two sons, Marcus and Ty, travel aboard the Orville with her. She repeatedly rebuffs Lt. Yaphit's advances, though they become physically intimate in "Cupid's Dagger" after falling victim to a Retepsian sex pheromone.
• Scott Grimes as Lieutenant Gordon Malloy, the helmsman of the Orville and Mercer's best friend. Considered the best helmsman in the fleet, he was relegated to desk duty after an attempt to impress a girl resulted in him shearing the door off a cargo bay during a precarious shuttle docking, losing cargo in the process. He was specifically requested by Mercer despite some hesitation by Admiral Halsey, who harbors concern over Malloy's history of crude and juvenile pranks. He is generally comfortable with his reputation for limited intelligence, to the point where he had no problem answering a series of questions from Grayson in the knowledge that she expected him to get them wrong while attending a hearing on the Moclan homeworld regarding whether Bortus's daughter should receive gender reassignment surgery, Grayson using Malloy as an example of how males were not always superior to females.
• Peter Macon as Lieutenant Commander Bortus, the second officer aboard the U.S.S. Orville. Bortus is from Moclus, a planet where the primary industry is weapons manufacturing and whose inhabitants are a single-gender species (although statistically, one female Moclan is born every seventy-five years). Among the peculiarities of the Moclans are that they urinate only once a year.
• Halston Sage as Lieutenant Alara Kitan, the Orville's young chief of security. She is a member of the Xelayan race, which inhabits a high-gravity planet, giving her greater-than-human strength, allowing her to knock down doors and walls by charging against them, or crush a handheld cube of solid titanium and reshape it into a sphere with her bare hands. She received the Sapphire Star for her role as acting commanding officer after Mercer and Grayson were abducted by the Calivon while Bortus was incubating his egg.
• J. Lee as Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Commander) John LaMarr. He is navigator of the Orville for most of the first season. He and Malloy strike up an immediate friendship in the first episode. Though intellectually gifted, he learned to hide his intelligence and settle for modest ambitions growing up. When Grayson discovers his high aptitude in "New Dimensions", she encourages him to fulfill his potential. As a result, he acquits himself so well during that episode's crisis that he replaces the outgoing Lt. Commander Newton as the Orville's chief engineer.
• Mark Jackson as Isaac, the Orville's science and engineering officer. Isaac is a member of the artificial, non-biological race from Kaylon-1 that views biological lifeforms, including humans, as inferior. Isaac explains to Mercer in the pilot that the Union's Admiralty offered a posting to any Kaylon willing to accept it, as an attempt to initiate relations between the two powers. Isaac accepted the offer because he saw it as a way to study human behavior. During the course of his time with the crew, he comes to observe and understand aspects of human behavior, such as sarcasm, slang, and practical jokes. Isaac perceives his surroundings with his body's internal sensors, and not with the two glowing blue "eyes" on his face, which are purely anthropomorphic.

Recurring

• Victor Garber as Admiral Halsey, Mercer's superior and old friend of Grayson's father
• Chad Coleman as Klyden, Bortus' mate and father of their child. He revealed that he was actually born a female and had the procedure to correct his gender when he was an infant, only learning about it when he was first examined by a non-Moclan doctor after joining Bortus on his first ship assignment.
• Norm Macdonald as the voice of Lieutenant Yaphit, an amorphous, gelatinous, shapeshifting engineer on the Orville, who repeatedly attempts to obtain a date with Dr. Finn, and frequently flirts with other females on the ship. Despite his telling her in "Cupid's Dagger" that he is in love with her, she does not reciprocate his attraction, though they become physically intimate in that episode after falling victim to a Retepsian sex pheromone.
• Larry Joe Campbell as Lieutenant Commander Steve Newton, chief engineer of the Orville until episode 1.11, when he leaves to take a new job designing space stations, and is replaced by the promoted Lieutenant Commander LaMarr
• BJ Tanner as Marcus Finn, elder son of Doctor Claire Finn
• Kai Wener as Ty Finn, younger son of Doctor Claire Finn
• Gavin Lee as Nurse Park
• Mike Henry as Dann, unnamed alien species member of the engineering staff, who suggests music be played in the Orville's elevators and makes unsuccessful attempts to befriend fellow crew members.
• Rachael MacFarlane as the voice of the Orville computer
• Ron Canada as Admiral Tucker
• Kelly Hu as Admiral Ozawa

Guest stars

• Rob Lowe as Darulio, the Retepsian archeologist whose affair with Kelly ended her marriage with Mercer
• Brian George as Doctor Aronov, the leader of the Epsilon II science station
• Jeffrey Tambor as Ben Mercer, Ed Mercer's father
• Holland Taylor as Jeannie Mercer, Ed Mercer's mother
• Jonathan Adams as the Moclan arbitrator
• Rena Owen as Heveena
• Robert Knepper as Hamelac
• Giorgia Whigham as Lysella, a barista who helps rescue John
• Liam Neeson as Jahavus Dorahl, captain of the derelict multi-generation ship
• Charlize Theron as Pria Lavesque
• James Horan as Sazeron, the Krill high priest on the Krill destroyer Yakar
• Michaela McManus as Teleya, a Krill teacher serving on Krill destroyer Yakar
• Steven Culp as Wilk
• Brian Thompson as Drogen, a survivalist on a planet where Finn, Isaac and Finn's children crash in "Into the Fold"
• Ralph Garman as Kanoot, a karaoke announcer on the Orville
• Robert Picardo as Ildis Kitan, father of Alara Kitan
• Molly Hagan as Drenala Kitan, mother of Alara Kitan.

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			First air	Last aired
	1	12	September 10, 2017	December 7, 2017
	2	TBA	December 30, 2018	TBA

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"Old Wounds"	Jon Favreau	Seth MacFarlane	September 10, 2017	1LAB01	8.56
25th-century Union command officer Ed Mercer divorces his wife, Kelly Grayson, after catching her cheating on him. A year later, he accepts a position as captain of the U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory vessel, and learns to his dismay that his ex-wife has been assigned as his first officer. During the Orville's first mission, the hostile alien Krill captain (Joel Swetow) attempts to steal a device that accelerates time, which has both beneficial and dangerous applications. Mercer and Grayson rig the device to destroy itself and the Krill vessel.
2	2	"Command Performance"	Robert Duncan McNeill	Seth MacFarlane	September 17, 2017	1LAB03	6.63
The technologically advanced Calivon imprison Mercer and Grayson in a replica of their former home as a zoo exhibit. Alara is left in command of the Orville, as Bortus has laid an egg and must incubate it. Alara is unsure of herself, but gains confidence with the help of Claire's mentorship. Mercer and Grayson wonder if they could have made their relationship work, but finally conclude that they were never compatible for a long-term romantic relationship, despite their strong camaraderie. Admiral Tucker orders Alara to return to Earth instead of approaching the powerful Calivon; Alara violates these orders and rescues Mercer and Grayson, along with an alien child, by trading an archive of Earth's reality television for them. Mercer presents Alara with a medal of honor and believes he and Grayson can prevent her from being punished for insubordination. A female offspring hatches from Bortus' egg, stunning him and Klyden, as Moclan females are extremely rare.
3	3	"About a Girl"	Brannon Braga	Seth MacFarlane	September 21, 2017	1LAB04	4.05
When Doctor Finn refuses Bortus and Klyden's request to have their daughter undergo sex reassignment surgery, which is standard practice for Moclans on the very rare occasions when a female is born, the parents petition Mercer to order the procedure. Mercer refuses, as he (and the rest of the crew) object to performing such a procedure on a healthy infant, so Bortus and Klyden arrange to have the procedure performed on a Moclan vessel. Gordon and John change Bortus' mind by showing him Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but Klyden still wants to proceed, revealing that he was born female. The case is arbitrated on the Moclan planet, Moclus, where Grayson represents Bortus; she casts doubt on the idea of male superiority by demonstrating that Alara is physically strong and Gordon is stupid. Mercer locates a female Moclan of advanced years, Heveena, who testifies that she lived a happy and fulfilling life in seclusion, and reveals that under the pseudonym "Gondus Elden," she has become an esteemed novelist on Moclus. But Klyden and the tribunal are unconvinced, and the baby undergoes the surgery. Despite their disagreement, Bortus and Klyden are committed to one another and to giving their son, Topa, a good life.

Season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)

Production

Development

Casting

Filming

Visual effects

Music

Reception

Critical response

Audience response

Ratings

Season	Timeslot (ET)	Episodes	First aired		Last aired		TV season	Rank	Avg. viewers (millions)	18–49 rating (average)
			Date	Viewers (millions)	Date	Viewers (millions)

After its premiere on Sunday, September 10, 2017, the show moved to Thursday nights at 9 p.m. In its first broadcast in the new time slot, The Orville became Fox's highest rated Thursday 9 p.m. broadcast in two years. After taking into account DVR and VOD, The Orville was Fox's most-viewed drama debut since the premiere of Empire in 2015.

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Old Wounds"	September 10, 2017	2.7/9	8.56	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	"Command Performance"	September 17, 2017	2.2/8	6.63	0.9	2.42	3.1	9.05
3	"About a Girl	September 21, 2017	1.1/4	4.05	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.

Home media

Season 1 of The Orville was released on DVD on December 11, 2018.

References

External links

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