Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville has received high praise from Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Jonathan Frakes. A fan asked him about the parody series at this year’s Indiana Comic Convention.

Reported by Collider, a fan asked Frakes, who played William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation, his thoughts about Seth MacFarlane’s beloved series. The Orville both parodies and pays homage to Star Trek and the Next Generation eras, while also taking inspiration from Star Wars to tell a sci-fi comedy story, with the crew of its space-ship going on serialized adventures. Frakes spoke highly of both MacFarlane and his work, saying, “Seth MacFarlane is arguably our biggest celebrity fan.“

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One of the reasons Frakes had such nice things to say about The Orville was due to the way MacFarlane utilized Star Trek veteran creatives for the series. “He hired Brannon Braga, who worked on a lot of our best stuff. He hired me to direct. He hired cinematographer Marvin Rush. He brought in Robbie Duncan McNeill to direct a couple of episodes. He really leaned into the Next Gen pedigree,” he said.

While MacFarlane is known for his comedic sitcoms like Family Guy and American Dad as well as the Ted films, his love of shows like Star Trek and Star Wars allowed him to create a series that got the Star Trek actor’s seal of approval. “I think people thought it was going to be silly — and it was, but it also had a lot of lore and depth,” Frakes added. “He’s a great storyteller, and he knows exactly what he wants.”

The Orville aired for two seasons on Fox, with a third season airing exclusively on Hulu. In addition to creating the series, MacFarlane also co-produced and starred in it as Captain Edward “Ed” Mercer. Other cast members included Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes and Peter Macon.

MacFarlane’s Next Project After The Orville Was a Ted TV Series

Following the critical acclaim of The Orville, MacFarlane turned his sights to his own Ted franchise after the series ended. With the first movie and its sequel releasing in 2012 and 2015 respectively, the Ted television series debuted nearly a decade later in 2024 on Peacock. MacFarlane reprized his role as the voice of Ted, starring alongside Max Burkholder, Alanna Ubach, Scott Grimes and Giorgia Whigham.

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The show was met with positive reviews, with critics generally enjoying the show’s humor. Four months after Ted debuted, it was renewed for a second season. This January, the show received an exciting update, with MacFarlane announcing that filming of the new episodes had wrapped, suggesting that fans of Ted may be getting new episodes in the near future. An exact release date for Ted Season 2 hasn’t been announced at this time.

Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville series is now streaming on Hulu.

Source: Collider

The Orville

Release Date

2017 – 2021

Network

FOX

Showrunner

Seth MacFarlane