TV SERIES · 2017– · USA
The Orville
20 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
20 Interesting Facts About The Orville
Interesting Facts (16)
- #001
Unlike the first two seasons, the entire third season was written in advance, and scenes from different episodes were shot back to back depending on location and the actors' availability. Jon Cassar and Seth MacFarlane split the directing duties across the 10 episodes in order to work this way.
- #002
All of the Admiral names in The Orville are the names of real-life United States Navy Admirals, or in one case a Japanese Imperial Navy Admiral. The Admirals prominently featured in the series are Halsey, Perry, Tucker and Christie. There is also an Admiral named Ozawa, played by Kelly Hu, who takes her name from Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa of the Japanese Imperial Navy.
- #003
The blob-like character Yaphit takes his name from Yaphet Kotto, the actor who played Parker in the film Alien (1979).
- #004
In an unusual move for a show made in the late 2010s, a detailed, five-foot model of the Orville was built and filmed for the ship's exterior shots. The use of large-scale models was standard in television and film production until the 1990s, but it fell out of favour in the late '90s as CG technology became better, faster and more affordable. CG was used to support the physical Orville model in action sequences and to represent other ships.
- #005
At a Star Trek convention in August 2024, Scott Grimes announced that pre-production on The Orville's fourth season would begin in early 2025.
- #006
The majority of the first season was directed by various Star Trek series alumni: Seth MacFarlane (actor: "Ensign Stewart Rivers", Star Trek: Enterprise (2001)); James L. Conway (director: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Enterprise); and Brannon Braga (writer/producer: TNG, Voyager, Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996) (2017)).
- #007
Craig Erwich, President of ABC Entertainment, Hulu and Disney Branded Television Streaming Originals, said in January 2023 that there was still no news on whether the series would be renewed for a fourth season. He said: "It's a great series and I know the fans love bringing this series back into their lives. And Seth MacFarlane has done as uniquely great a job in front of and behind the camera as he can. But right now we have nothing to share."
- #008
During the visual redesign ahead of the third season, the crew quarters underwent minimal changes compared with the rest of the ship's sets. As a result, they are the only sets that retain the striped wall pattern previously common aboard the ship.
- #009
Lt. Cmdr. Bortus resembles a Klingon. Bortas was the name of a Klingon ship commanded by Gowron in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
- #010
Unusually, while all Union ships are referred to with the prefix "USS" in their names (for example, the main ship is called the USS Orville several times in dialogue), no Union ship actually carries that prefix in its hull markings (the Orville's registry number is ECV-197 and its hull bears the name ORVILLE, but no USS).
- #011
The name Mercer is taken from relatives of Seth MacFarlane and Rachael MacFarlane. The name is also frequently used in other productions from MacFarlane's company, Fuzzy Door.
- #012
A small model of the Wright Flyer sits on Captain Mercer's desk. The ship takes its name from Orville Wright, one of the Wright brothers.
- #013
The Krill may take their name from the Krell, the unseen monster aliens of the film Forbidden Planet (1956), one of the main influences behind Star Trek (1966).
- #014
Seth MacFarlane had previously said he wanted to revive Star Trek for television. The Orville, a not particularly subtle homage to Star Trek, premiered in the same year as Star Trek: Discovery (2017), the first Star Trek series since Star Trek: Enterprise (2001).
- #015
The Orville's exterior markings read ECV-197 ORVILLE.
- #016
All of the main character names on Earth are drawn from names associated with NASA's first astronauts: Ed-Ed White; Kelly-Scott and Mark Kelly; Gordon-Gordon Cooper and Richard Gordon; John-John Glenn.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #017
Promotional photos for the second season showed the cast wearing modified uniforms with fully silver division patches on their chests. Halston Sage's Lieutenant Alara Kitan wears the updated uniform in these images but never wore it in the series. Her character left the Orville in Home (2019), just before the new patches were introduced in Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes (2019).
Easter Eggs & References (1)
- #018
Penny Johnson Jerald is the only member of the main cast with extensive science-fiction acting experience. Beginning with Family Business (1995), she appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) in the recurring role of Kasidy Yates, Captain Ben Sisko's main love interest, after previously guest-starring in Homeward (1994). Seth MacFarlane appeared as assistant engineer Lieutenant Rivers in The Forgotten (2004) and Affliction (2005). Scott Grimes's scenes in the film Evolution (1989) were cut.
Deeper Meaning (2)
- #019
In an Instagram Live Q&A, Seth MacFarlane said that Talla's name came from his seeing the word printed on some of his T-shirts, and admitted he did not know what the word meant (talla is "size" in Spanish).
- #020
Admiral Halsey is also the name of William F. Halsey, an American fleet admiral who served in the United States Navy. At the start of America's entry into World War II in the Pacific in 1943, he was placed in command of the Third Fleet (a post he held for the rest of the war). Halsey's flagship early in the war was the U.S.S. Enterprise, the inspiration for the starship in Star Trek (1966).
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work