Where's The Orville Season 3 and why is it not in front of your eyeballs in fall 2019, or even gearing up for a midseason 2020 premiere? The answer is tied to creator/star Seth MacFarlane's schedule and ambitious plans, leading the sci-fi show to move from Fox to Hulu for an arrival in late 2020.
The Orville has only aired two seasons at this point, and it has not kept to a regular schedule. Season 1 had 12 episodes airing from September-December 2017 on Fox. Season 2 had 14 episodes airing midseason from December 2018-April 2019 on Fox.
The Orville fans just learned at New York Comic-Con that Season 3 will have 11 episodes, but they will be much longer on Hulu than they were on Fox. Those 11 episodes won't be arriving until the end of 2020 due to Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's busy schedule and the amount of work it takes to create The Orville. They are really putting their backs into Season 3 to make it look great, and the show just wouldn't be ready for a fall 2019 or midseason 2020 debut.
The Orville Season 3 not being ready for fall or midseason led Fox to look for other options, making a deal with Hulu for The Orville Season 3 to move to the streaming service. It's going to be frustrating for fans who have Fox on their TV sets but not Hulu to figure out how to watch The Orville Season 3. But Hulu always has free trials for new subscribers and you can stream the first two seasons of The Orville right now on Hulu, with a subscription.
The Orville Season 2 finale aired on April 25, 2019 with the alternate timeline episode "The Road Not Taken." That ended with Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald) successfully going back in time to erase Kelly's (Adrianne Palicki) memories, and Kelly accepting that second date with Ed (Seth MacFarlane). The timeline seems to be put to rights. But we'll have to see what happens from there.
During the NYCC panel, executive producer Jon Cassar promised more space battles and "Identity"-quality episodes. EP David Goodman said they would love to have Halston Sage back as Lieutenant Alara Kitan, but would never replace Jessica Szohr as Lieutenant Talla Keyali.
A few months ago, before The Orville Season 3 was official, Klyden actor Chad Coleman talked about what he'd like to see next for his character. We did just hear that Bortus will return to the mic in Season 3 (yaassss), but I hope Coleman also gets what he wants for Klyden in the new season.
The Orville fans have some time to wait before Season 3 arrives on Hulu in late 2020, and you can spend at least a few minutes of that time watching the Season 2 gag reel. Keep up with everything that is airing on TV this year with our handy 2019 fall TV premiere schedule.
