Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville arrived on Hulu with a new title, but the same old Star Trek inspired goodness that made the series a Fox hit. Now under the heading of The Orville: New Horizons, the franchise is in the hands of Disney, and it seems that the changing of the show’s name was something that came directly from Chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, Dana Walden, and was something that MacFarlane was instantly on board with. In a recent interview with Collider, the Family Guy creator explained:
“Adding a subtitle was actually Dana Walden’s idea, and I thought it was a really good one. That’s my boss over at Disney who I’ve worked with and been friends with for a long time. That was her idea. And I thought it was kind of cool because it’s not a reboot, it’s a continuation, but it was just enough to tell the audience that we’re expanding a little bit. That the scope is bigger. The show is more ambitious. It’s going to feel more like a movie. It’s maybe going to feel a little more special. And it seemed appropriate also because it’s been a few years since we’ve been on the air and we’ve moved to Hulu and it’s a 10-episode run as opposed to, a 13-episode run. I guess it’s not that big a difference. It seemed like it was an idea that was pitched to me that I like.”
Seth MacFarlane Has Taken The Orville Somewhere New At Disney.
Disney Media Distribution
While The Orville was originally expected to be a regular MacFarlane spoof of one of his many loves, it turned out that while the series does have comedic elements it was actually much more serious than people gave it credit for. However, in moving from Fox after their merger with Disney, MacFarlane was able to double down on the more dramatic side of the show. He previously told ComicBook.com:
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
The Orville: New Horizons continues with new episodes each Thursday on Hulu.
“From a storytelling standpoint, it’s much better for me because the biggest issue I have with, particularly, the prevalence of streaming programming, there’s some talented writers working on network dramas, but the problem is that you have to cut everything down to exactly 43 minutes. That’s not how storytelling works. It doesn’t. Not every story wants to be the same length and if you have a scene that’s playing really great, that’s emotional and you take your time with it. and it really makes the audience feel something, you may have to cut something down that really should not be cut down. Now, there’s a discipline, at the same time, on the other side of things. You don’t want to indulge yourself to the point at which you’re boring your audience. But for a show like this, to be able to be cinematic and to take the time to set the mood is something you just can’t do on a network because you’re just so constrained by that time limit, and that, to me, more than anything else was the most satisfying thing about the move.”
