THE JOY OF SETH

IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS, BUT THE ORVILLE IS READY TO SET SAIL ONCE MORE AND ITS SIGHTS ARE SET FIRMLY ON NEW HORIZONS

- DARREN SCOTT

THE PLANETARY Union's mid-level exploratory vessel USS Orville has a bit of swagger about her this year. Yes, she's had some work done, but it's more than just cosmetic. As the formerly comedic sci-fi show returns for a third season subtitled New Horizons - a move from network television to Hulu in the States means The Orville is grander than ever, and competing in the big league. Alongside some breathtaking effects and scenes that will make you cry, the crucial difference is that the production team are no longer constrained by "regular" episode lengths.

Creator, writer and Captain Ed Mercer himself, Seth MacFarlane, felt naming the season was appropriate. "It seemed that because the show was going to be making such an uptick in scope, and in many ways, going to feel like a reset, it felt like it wanted something special," MacFarlane says. "You had a new opening title, a new set, new costumes, a new look, just a new aesthetic that really competes in the world of streaming shows."

But fear not: "The show is still the show, but with some new aspects to it," executive producer Brannon Braga says, pointing out that it's not just a matter of the show having a new home. "We're getting to a point in the third season where the kinds of stories we wanted to tell were much broader and more ambitious in scope than even the first two seasons. Seth was feeling constrained by it. The show features a newly revamped Orville, a new crew member on the bridge, and what we think are bigger, more spectacular stories, not just in terms of the visuals and the action, but the emotions and the emotional fireworks as well."