The Orville season 2 midseason preview: What to expect this time around

The Orville

Moving into the launch of The Orville season 2 on Fox this January, this show does have the potential to continue to be one of TV’s great underrated gems.

If you look back to the first season, something rather surprising took place — despite a number of critics ravaging the show, we think that Seth MacFarlane’s science-fiction series developed a legion of loyal, passionate fans. In some ways, it does as much to honor Star Trek as the modern Trek series do — the biggest problem that we’ve always had with it is the marketing. Fox at times have tried to frame this at times as Family Guy in space when in reality, it’s actually far more loving and earnest a series. There is some comedy to it here and there, but you do get the sense that MacFarlane loves this material and was eager to do an entire show where he could play around in this world.

So moving into season 2, what’s going to be different? Structurally, we don’t think all that much. This is a series that really is playing out mostly in a story-of-the-week format, which is why Fox does remain the perfect home for it. We do think that having a season already under its belt does help to focus on some personal character stories; we know who the crew members are now, and with that, the show has an opportunity to actually explore more of how they tick and what makes them the person they are today. Beyond just that, there’s a chance here to take audience feedback and apply it to the show’s humor and vision of storytelling.

Personally, we see The Orville as a show about fun, which can be defined in a number of different ways — imagination, action, humor, and escapism (something most of us need a healthy dose of right now). The most important thing about this show is that it tries to take you outside of your modern world and allows you to experience something different almost every week. It does try to share larger messages, but it does so in a way that doesn’t deviate far from the show that it is.

The one thing that is somewhat of a bummer with The Orville is having to wait until Sunday, December 30 in order to watch the series again — yet, at least it is getting a larger premiere after an NFL game. This represents Fox at least trying to get the show off to a good ratings start since it’s been off the air for so long. We really want this series to succeed and with that, we do hope that there are plenty of people out there who either check it out … or at least give it another chance. It’s certainly earned that.

Related News Be sure to see some other news and insight now regarding the Orville, including more on what you can expect.

What do you want to see when it comes to The Orville season 2? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments. (Photo: Fox.)

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