The Orville season 2 debate: Does secrecy help or hurt the show?
As we do continue to work our way throughout it, though, there is one thing that is on our mind: The show’s proficiency for secrets. This may be the most secretive series in all of network TV. They often do not release promos with substantial footage included and beyond that, there have been occasions in which they barely release much in the way of any details in the official synopses. The network keeps their cards close to the vest here.
If we were to remove ratings and the show’s commercial success from the table, we would say this: The secrecy surrounding The Orville week-to-week is a big part of the fun. As someone who covers television every single day of the year, it can get somewhat tiresome to know a good bit about what’s going to happen every week before watching. However, with The Orville, there is something fun about the element of surprise. You actually get a story that forces you to pay attention since you can’t just assume that X event or Y event is going to happen ahead of time. A part of what’s made so many recent episodes fascinating, including the great birthday crisis and also Dr. Finn and Isaac’s relationship, is that it was hard to predict how those stories were going to go.
On the flip side, however, there is another issue worthy of some consideration: Because the show is so secretive, it’s a hard show for Fox to promote. It’s hard to get any casual fan excited about one specific thing, and The Orville is a series that is firmly on the ratings bubble right now. While it does have a generous tax credit coming its way for a possible season 3, that in no way guarantees anything in terms of future installments down the road. This show needs ratings stability and it certainly can’t afford to have its ratings fall too much.
So would promoting the show differently bring in more viewers, or do you keep things the same hoping that the audience spreads their love of the show via word-of-mouth? This is likely the back-and-forth that must have happened with this show at some point.
Related News – Be sure to secure some other information now regarding The Orville
What we want to know from you at the moment is simply this: Do you think that the show is helped, or hurt, by the way in which it is promoted? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. (Photo: Fox.)