The Orville season 3 renewal odds: Will Seth MacFarlane, cast be back?

With tonight’s finale airing in just a few hours, it does make sense to start discussions on The Orville season 3. How can we not? The season 3 status is still unclear and it’s making all of us nervous. The only thing that we are cynical about at present when it comes to the show is through a network point of view over at Fox. We want to think that there’s a reasonable chance that it will come back for another season, but at present we’re swimming in reasonably uncharted waters.

A big part of what makes this show so enjoyable is that it’s really not meta. It’s genuine, nostalgic, and while there are some moments of comedy, it’s got this remarkable quality where everyone seems to just be buying into this world. It’s one of the most non-cynical shows of its kind on all of TV.

For some more video coverage of The Orville and the finale, be sure to check out what we’ve got at the bottom of this article! Subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube so you don’t miss our upcoming videos on The Orville. Also, take a look at our full playlist all about the show.

Mere weeks ago, the Disney-Fox merger changed up the world of network television as a whole. It’s thrown a lot of things (in particular for Fox as a network) into chaos just because the ownership rights of many shows is different, as are whatever priorities they are now running with. On the surface, it seems like Fox is becoming more of an unscripted haven, with a higher emphasis being put on live sporting events. They still have some standbys such as 9-1-1 and Last Man Standing coming back, but the fate of some others are still unclear. Technically, as of this writing both Empire and STAR are still in limbo, even if we fully expect the two of them to come back.

What we’re trying to get to here is that despite our belief that The Orville is of extremely high quality (it’s easily our favorite show currently on television right now), the current Fox regime is not an easy group of people to figure out. Trying to get a good read on what they are going to do in a particular moment is like taking a walk in the dark. The ratings for The Orville are far from spectacular, it’s a costly show to make, and science fiction can be at times a hard sell for the mainstream. Despite whatever is going on in terms of tax credits, a presented budget, or a creative story, all of these things only matter if Fox doesn’t think that they can make a considerable amount of money on the show. That’s why The Orville is a toss-up, and may remain so until next month.

Hopefully, a decision is reached sooner rather than later — given the lengthy post-production process for a show like this, from its score to all the special effects, it needs as much time as possible. Odds are, the earliest we’re going to see The Orville back if it is renewed is early next year.

Interested in other The Orville coverage?

We’ve got that for you over at the link here! More good stuff will land on the site the moment tonight’s finale concludes.

What do you want to see when it comes to The Orville season 3 … other than of course the fact that it is renewed? Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: Fox.)