Seth MacFarlane Created "The Orville" To Fulfill A Need Star Trek Had Abandoned

[Steve Roby]

The last episode aired in 2022. Do the sets, costumes, and other assets still exist? Is anyone under contract?

 

[Starflight]

The Berman Trek model, which was the most successful period in Star Trek's history in terms of ratings, was 26 mostly standalone episodes a year. The Orville, with a network supporting it and the showrunner of some of that network's hit programs, managed to do 36 episodes in three seasons. Unless there's a major shakeup that ends up in a lot of consolidation in the streaming space and a massive viewer shift back to broadcast and cable TV, we're not going back there for anything as niche as a science fiction TV series. Even Star Wars hasn't attempted to do a 26 episode season of anything, or any length of season of a weekly live action Star Wars broadcast TV series. If CBS/Paramount has given up on that model, Fox couldn't make it work, and Disney doesn't even want to try to go there, who would be able to make it work?

It's not necessarily about the number of episodes, but the model of storytelling. Red Dwarf only had six-episode seasons but still made the most of out of deliberately-loose continuity, having a new plot each week, a focus on consistent characters confronting chaotic situations (as opposed to the modern doctrine that the focus should be on characters having perpetual growth), etc.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Production took longer with heavy computer special effects, while TNG could make quick turn around with cheap fast FX that often worked and is still good to this day. You can do a lot with swirly gases, pantyhose cases, and glitter in water. Hell, if it wasn't for this forum, barely any of us would know Beverly was checking to see if her tricorder was pregnant, but the futuristic "device" she was using was a pregnancy test piece of plastic, but look how they got away with that for so long.

 

[Steve Roby]

It's not necessarily about the number of episodes, but the model of storytelling. Red Dwarf only had six-episode seasons but still made the most of out of deliberately-loose continuity, having a new plot each week, a focus on consistent characters confronting chaotic situations (as opposed to the modern doctrine that the focus should be on characters having perpetual growth), etc.

Well, it's a bit of both. More episodes means more flexibility in having a mix with some serialized stories, some standalone stories, some mostly standalone stories that still move an arc forward a bit. Fewer episodes, less flexibility.

 

[The Wormhole]

The last episode aired in 2022. Do the sets, costumes, and other assets still exist? Is anyone under contract?

No. In fact, when the rumors of S4 being in pre-production were circulating a year ago, they even said then that the sets would need to be rebuilt.

 

[Firebird]

The Berman Trek model, which was the most successful period in Star Trek's history in terms of ratings, was 26 mostly standalone episodes a year. The Orville, with a network supporting it and the showrunner of some of that network's hit programs, managed to do 36 episodes in three seasons. Unless there's a major shakeup that ends up in a lot of consolidation in the streaming space and a massive viewer shift back to broadcast and cable TV, we're not going back there for anything as niche as a science fiction TV series. Even Star Wars hasn't attempted to do a 26 episode season of anything, or any length of season of a weekly live action Star Wars broadcast TV series. If CBS/Paramount has given up on that model, Fox couldn't make it work, and Disney doesn't even want to try to go there, who would be able to make it work?

Seems like the only shows that get 22-episode orders are crime procedurals and sitcoms that don't come with heavy VFX budgets.

No. In fact, when the rumors of S4 being in pre-production were circulating a year ago, they even said then that the sets would need to be rebuilt.

Yup, everything was struck at the end of season 3, and I think contracts all lapsed.

Thinking back to season 3, that prolonged production period due to the pandemic turned into a living hell for some folks of the cast because it froze their availability, which meant they couldn't get other jobs. J. Lee fell on hard times, and Adrianne Palicki has been... certainly vocal about not going back to the show because the production snafus.