FOX sci fi dramedy The Orville has been officially renewed for a third season. That show made it through Black Friday with no word on its fate, so the deal-making must have gone late into the night. Its same day viewing numbers have been down by 26% in its second season, but the show more than doubles that with delayed viewing and also scores well with online views. The show all is eligible for significant tax credits for its third season which will help offset production costs. I still considered it a toss-up going into season end because because of the Disney buyout of FOX entertainment properties and because the FOX TV network will have less hours available for scripted programming next season due to wrestling taking up one night on the schedule. But several other FOX shows got the ax yesterday, including sci fi entry The Passage, so that apparently left enough room for The Orville to come back. There is not word on the episode count yet, but expect around thirteen for the third season and expect it to be back around mid-season.
The Orville follows the crew of the titular starship as they travel through the galaxy and interact with different races while also dealing with the mundane, day-to-day realities of space travel. It was created by Seth MacFarlane who also stars in the show along with Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes, and Peter Macon.
Expect more announcements through the weekend and into next week as the networks hammer out their schedules for the coming season. You can see my rundown of where all the sci fi and fantasy shows currently stand at this link. And be sure to keep a close eye on this site over the next few days for breaking news on these and other shows. Also, head over to Twitter to join the #CancelledSciFiArmy and help bolster our ranks as we fight to save our sci fi and fantasy shows.
More from CancelledSciFi.com:
Keep up with the ratings developments and the status of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Weekly Roundup posts. And join the #CancelledSciFiArmy on Twitter to bolster our ranks and help us fight for the struggling and cancelled sci fi and fantasy shows.
Check out our Sci Fi TV Schedule for debut and season finale dates and follow our Weekly Listings for a rundown of the shows airing in the current week.
Look back at the classics of sci fi and fantasy television with Classics Sci Fi TV.
