The Orville: Scrapped Season 3 Episode to Be Released as Novella
Set your plasma pistols for “reading,” Orville fans.
Series creator/star Seth MacFarlane announced on Monday the digital release of The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil, an original novella that he penned which is set immediately after the events of the current season’s eighth episode.
Conceived as a Season 3 episode that ultimately could not be filmed due to the assorted COVID-related delays, the novella finds Captain Ed Mercer and his crew coming face-to-face with one of humanity’s most vile ideologies, after which they must “solve the moral conundrum of who to hold accountable for evil deeds real… and imagined.”
“Due to Covid shutdowns, we had to scrap one episode of The Orville: New Horizons,” McFarlane explained on Twitter, sharing a pre-order link. “It was an outlier — a conceptually experimental story. Rather than let it vanish, I decided to adapt it as a novelization.”
The cover art for The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil , which will be released July 19, is an original piece from Bill Sienkiewicz, an Eisner-winning, Emmy-nominated artist best known for revamping the style of comic and graphic novel illustration.
The audiobook will be narrated by very recent Orville guest star/Babylon 5 alum Bruce Boxleitner.
The Orville‘s New Horizons season continues this Thursday with the release of Episode 5 (of 10).
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Not enjoying the new series so far I hope it gets better soon or I’m switching off as it has stopped much of the comedy which gave it an edge over other Scifi series…
I always felt that the comedy was forced, and the weakest part of the show. It made the show unique, but really felt like Seth was cramming it in only because Fox was making him do it, and what we’re getting now is the show he always wanted to make.
I think that Orville is at its best when it’s a serious sci-fi show that happens to feature flawed human beings with relatable, modern personalities (as opposed to the more idealized/intellectually detached viewpoints that you get in a Trek series.)
The comedy mostly disappeared after the first season. He really wanted a Star Trek-like show, and with Braga onboard, he’s achieved it.
Oh. Wow. I’m loving the new series. It’s the first truly great Star Trek we’ve had since DS9. Strange New Worlds and Voyager are okay, but not great. Enterprise, Discovery, and Picard are all hot garbage. I’m happy with the new, less slapstick format of Orville. I still laugh. But the comedy is more natural to the story now.
I don’t like season 3 much. Season 2 hit the sweet spot regarding action, drama, and comedy whilst keeping the actors in their ability zones.
They’ve put too much emphasis on computer graphical effects and not as much on storyline. Better plots, less computer graphics please. Stop padding a short plot to last so long!
Also, the cast isn’t as well suited for serious drama, their haminess works better in comedies than it does in drama. La Mar? Great character in comedic scenes, totally can’t pull off a serious role… And that goes doubly for Seth McF too and many of the others.
The actress who plays the doctor is about the only one who seems equally well suited to playing drama or comedy. Excellent actress. The new actress, she’s very pretty but a terrible actress.
Was so excited to get Orville back but it’s been pretty disappointing so far.
To be fair, the episodes have been much longer this season, so they’re not “padding” them with more effects…. they’re adding to the runtime, which offsets it. Personally, I loved the entire season and thought it was top-notch television every step of the way. It tackled issues of suicide, cultural responsibility, and even trans issues with confidence and sincerity. Plus, the twists of who sided with who toward the end were great.
Well Ace, all I can say is, “Sorry to see you go pal if you must.!” The reason you don’t like the newest season is the reason I think it’s the best of the three. The writing is much better along with the heavy use of space machinery and vivid color in their space scenes. Comedy is cool but I don’t want my favorite show being a knee-slapping good ol time every episode. I will admit though my wife had the cutest look on her face on our latest vacation when I asked her,” Hey Babe, you wanna go for a swim ?” Thanks to the Orville we shared a good laugh.
I’m guessing this means that the chances for a season 4 are next to zero. Why dump a script when you could save it for another season?
Yeah, that’s unfortunately my impression as well.
Unless it’s something SUPER topical and timely, and shelving it for a year would ruin it, but that seems unlikely.
Maybe he thought if I get another season it won’t work with the story the way it is at the end of this season.
Took 3 yrs. I’m sure actors contracts are up, he is working for universal on ted show…looks like disney isn’t going to give him a yr 4 just to make him happy, I guess if it gets pam and tommy like ratings story may be different, but the show cost a ton and was made mainly to keep him at fox and keep family Guy and American dad guy happy hoping. For another hit, outside of Dads, ad, fg, Cleveland, and cosmos all did good business so why not
The show is history. Hulu is not going to dump a whole bunch of money into a season 4 with season 3’s mediocre reception. Otherwise, why not save this script for next season?
Where has it been reported that ratings are low?
The critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given this season si far a 100% forget the audience raiting, the first to season were higher with audence & lower with critics. Bet it had to do with it being on streaming now & the critis think almost anything on streaming or premium cable is high art compared to basic cable & network.
I don’t pay much heed to audience scores on sites like RT or IMDB, because the vast majority are at the extremes (5 stars if you like it, 1 star if you don’t). Almost every 1-star rating should be 2 or 3 stars (1 star, to me, means either offensively bad or completely unwatchable), while many 5-star ratings should probably be 4 or 4.5 stars.
But even so, it doesn’t really matter how much people like the show, only how it affects subscription rates.
The lucrative tax credits help offset some of the shows costs.
Well I guess this is confirmation this is the end of The Orville, because otherwise he’d be saving this for a season four.
Not necessarily. What if by the end of the third season big changes happen and this story as it stands now wouldn’t fit? Writers still get paid for their scripts even if they aren’t produced and that in the grand scheme of things is a small expense. It’d be easier to break a fourth season writers room following from pre established events rather than something that was never to be.
Literally ANY script can be adapted to fit. I read the short story Star Trek’s “Arena” was based on. Totally was not a Trek story. Only had two “characters” They adapted it fine to include meaningful parts for Spock McCoy Sulu and the rest. Likewise, TOS had a leftover script (deal with Devil) that was eventually repurposed into TNG season IV.
I have read the other comments. And I want to say I love this season of the Orville. It’s been definitely been worth the wait. And I hope there are many more seasons to come.
I prefer the grittier edge of the new episodes. I like that the “other” characters are getting a little more chance at individualism. I didn’t like the earlier episodes as I thought the humor was often forced. To me, the weak link in the cast is McFarlane himself. He just doesn’t seem to be a lead type and I keep expecting him to utter some silly joke at a serious moment.
I meant MacFarlane.
I agree… his wooden acting is the weakest part of the show… but I am glad they went away from the slapsticky stuff and are doing more straight sci fi.
I enjoy this show immensely. It’s such a breath of fresh air and easily the best sci-fi on tv right now. Hopefully it gets renewed, but if it doesn’t, at least we got 3 seasons.
As for those saying Seth is the weak link of the cast, he’s been awesome this season. I think the weak link would be J Lee who plays Lamarr, just imo.
I think MacFarlane does a good job.. in recent memory I can’t think of a time when he’s stood out as awkward or bad. Idk I really like the show, it’s inspirational and uplifting. The only thing that surprised me, twice, was that a few of the episodes resolved quickly, when I thought they’d be two part cliffhangers. However on the other hand I do respect them for not dragging out and milking these stories like the writers did on star trek Picard.
This makes me feel like Seth MacFarlane has already decided that the series will end with season three… otherwise why not just save this story for season four…?
You can’t watch it anymore. It’s not on any free channel. I really liked it when it was on and now I can’t find it free. What’s the big deal?
You CAN watch it, on Hulu. Which yes, you have to pay for. Not everything is free. If you only want free tv, there are plenty of other channels for that.
They’ve all but abandoned the humor. I guess Seth always wanted to be a star ship captain. Doesn’t work.
Viewers love the new season. Good stories and good CGI. Critics don’t like it. Who cares?
Loved seasons 1 and 2 of the orville.. really loving season 3! Seriously my favorite show so far. Definitely need to keep going!
At 76 years old I don’t find many tv shows worth watching, and I guess I have different tastes than “those in the lnow “suits” “ Last show I really liked was ‘CODE BLACK’, and it was cancelled. The Orville is so good I’m afraid to like it because some “suit” may cancel it. Seth Macfarlane is a genius. And his cast is sooooo amazing. My one debilitating thought is PLEASE PLEASE. I am 76 years old……let’s get signed and sealed for season 4 and get on with it. I don’t have FOREVER to wait for ‘
Next Season’ to start. So let’s get on with it please. Thank you.