As Star Trek fans continue to debate over whether The Orville or Star Trek: Discovery is the better continuation of the franchise, an interesting video has surfaced. Star of the series and creator of The Orville Seth MacFarlane apparently had dreamed of becoming a starship captain, even before he created the series as a video of him spoofing Star Trek as a teenager is making its rounds around the web:
From start to finish, this whole thing is magnificent. It sounds as though Seth MacFarlane donned the role of Captain Kirk as well as Scotty, as a very Stewie sounding voice was heard over the intercom at around 26 seconds into the video. If this YouTube video from TrekGenius is accurate in its statement that MacFarlane was around 14 or 15 when he made this fan film, this is some extremely impressive work.
Beyond the fact that the backdrops, editing, and effects of this video are ridiculously on point for an amateur film made in the mid to late 80s, the acting isn't half bad. In fact, young Seth MacFarlane's portrayal of Captain Kirk in Star Trek feels like a rough take of how he would act out a scene for Captain Mercer on The Orville. The portrayal is definitely more Mercer than Kirk, compared to some of MacFarlane's other parodies of the Star Trek captain. Just check out this bit from years ago that appeared on Adult Swim:
While the Star Trek fan film really drives it home, it's been fairly obvious that Seth MacFarlane has been a big fan of the franchise throughout his life. Even beyond the obvious parody of Star Trek in The Orville, MacFarlane has shown love to the franchise in the past, through various skits on Family Guy and American Dad. He also has a history of consistently casting former Trek actors like Patrick Stewart and Penny Johnson Jerald for roles in his shows, which might be partly so he can ask them about their time on the show. MacFarlane loves Star Trek so much that he once stated back in 2011 that he wished Family Guy would end, so that he could make a real effort to bring the series back to television. Now it looks like he's making a compromise with something new, and folks are loving it enough to want to see more.
The Orville has completed Season 1, but is already guaranteed to return to Fox for Season 2. So anyone who hasn't been following the series can catch up on Hulu or Fox's on-demand services. For a look at some shows that will be premiering or returning to television over the next couple of months visit our fall premiere guide and midseason premiere guide. Those wondering which shows were canceled in 2017 can head over to our cancellation guide to find out.
