When Does The Orville Season 4 Come Out? Is It Renewed?
“New home. New missions.”
The Orville Season 4 has not been confirmed yet.
IMDb
8.0/10
Seasons
3
Episodes
36
Diagnostics
- Network
- FOX
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- First aired
- 2017-09-10
- Last aired
- 2022-08-04
- Runtime
- —
- Rated
- TV-14
Awards Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. 3 wins & 17 nominations total
Predictive Logic Analysis
The most damaging signal for The Orville is simply time. Season 3 wrapped on Hulu in August 2022, and 45 months have now passed with no confirmed pickup. That is not a hiatus; that is a show that has quietly been left behind. Hulu in particular tends to make renewal decisions within 6-12 months of a season's conclusion, so the silence here is meaningful. Seth MacFarlane's busy schedule, which has always been a production bottleneck for this show, adds another practical obstacle.
The audience metrics are genuinely good and worth noting. An IMDb score of 8.0 on over 100,000 votes is strong, Trakt active watchers sit at 73,000 and are holding steady, and search interest is rising rather than fading. The TVLine "shows like The Orville" piece from early 2026 suggests the fandom is still active and vocal. None of that is nothing. But sustained fan enthusiasm has not translated into a greenlight in the years since Season 3, and there are no credible industry reports indicating negotiations are live or that a renewal is being considered. TMDB's "Returning Series" tag reflects fan hope more than any official studio position at this point.
What is The Orville about?
Seth MacFarlane spent years as the guy who made Family Guy, and The Orville is his answer to the question of what happens when that guy turns out to be a genuine Star Trek obsessive with the budget to do something about it. The show follows the crew of a mid-level exploratory vessel in a future interstellar union, commanded by Ed Mercer, a recently divorced officer whose ex-wife Kelly is now his first officer. That setup sounds like a workplace sitcom in space, and early episodes lean into the jokes, but the show quietly pivots into something much closer to Next Generation-style science fiction than anyone expected.
The tone is the thing that divides audiences. There are jokes about porn subscriptions and hangover cures sitting right next to episodes about gender identity, mob justice, and the ethics of artificial consciousness. This tonal blending sometimes feels awkward, but when it works, it produces exactly the kind of thoughtful, character-driven science fiction that broadcast television largely abandoned when the serious streaming prestige era arrived. By the third season, which moved to Hulu and stretched episodes to near-film length, the comedy had receded considerably and the show had committed to something more like drama. Whether that's an improvement depends on what you came for.
Critics were initially skeptical, largely because MacFarlane's name primed them for something disposable. Audience response was warmer and more stubborn, and the fan base pushed hard enough that the show survived a FOX cancellation and found a second life. The IMDb rating of 8 out of 10 from over a hundred thousand voters reflects a fanbase that knows what it wants from the show and feels the show delivers it.
The obvious comparison is always to Star Trek, but that framing slightly undersells what The Orville does differently. It has no prestige-television ambitions, no desire to be dark or morally fractured in the modern streaming mode. It wants to tell stories about a crew that actually likes each other, working through strange situations with optimism mostly intact. That warmth, more than any specific episode, is what keeps its audience coming back.
Created by Seth MacFarlane
Themes
Is The Orville renewed or cancelled?
Working toward renewal
Strong IMDb rating of 8.0 on 108,000+ votes signals a loyal and sizable fanbase
73,000+ Trakt active watchers holding steady — show retains a real audience
Rising search interest trend despite no new content in nearly four years
Working against it
45 months since Season 3 aired with no renewal announcement from Hulu or FOX
Hulu's typical renewal timeline (6-12 months post-season) has long passed without action
No credible trade reporting indicating active renewal negotiations
Seth MacFarlane's schedule and the show's heavy VFX demands create long production cycles
TVLine 'shows like The Orville' article suggests fan interest remains culturally present but framed nostalgically
TMDB lists show as 'Returning Series' but this has no confirmed official basis
The Orville Season 4 Release Date
If a Season 4 were somehow announced today, realistically it would not arrive until 2027 at the earliest. The Orville has always had unusually long production cycles, partly because of MacFarlane's other commitments and partly because of the show's visual effects demands. Season 3 took roughly three years to produce after Season 2. That precedent, combined with the complete absence of pre-production news, makes any near-term premiere essentially impossible to project. At this stage the more honest assessment is that a release date is unknowable because there is no confirmed season to release.
Best & worst episodes
The Orville seasons
Season 12017 · 12 ep
- 1. Old Wounds2017-09-10 · ★ 7.4
- 2. Command Performance2017-09-17 · ★ 7.5
- 3. About a Girl2017-09-21 · ★ 7.4
- 4. If the Stars Should Appear2017-09-28 · ★ 7.7
- 5. Pria2017-10-05 · ★ 7.7
- 6. Krill2017-10-12 · ★ 7.7
- 7. Majority Rule2017-10-26 · ★ 7.7
- 8. Into the Fold2017-11-02 · ★ 7.5
- 9. Cupid's Dagger2017-11-09 · ★ 7.6
- 10. Firestorm2017-11-16 · ★ 7.6
- 11. New Dimensions2017-11-30 · ★ 7.7
- 12. Mad Idolatry2017-12-07 · ★ 7.9
Season 22018 · 14 ep
- 1. Ja'loja2018-12-30 · ★ 7.5
- 2. Primal Urges2019-01-03 · ★ 7.3
- 3. Home2019-01-10 · ★ 7.7
- 4. Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes2019-01-17 · ★ 7.8
- 5. All the World is Birthday Cake2019-01-24 · ★ 7.6
- 6. A Happy Refrain2019-01-31 · ★ 7.7
- 7. Deflectors2019-02-14 · ★ 7.6
- 8. Identity (1)2019-02-21 · ★ 8.1
- 9. Identity (2)2019-02-28 · ★ 8.1
- 10. Blood of Patriots2019-03-07 · ★ 7.7
- 11. Lasting Impressions2019-03-21 · ★ 7.9
- 12. Sanctuary2019-04-11 · ★ 7.8
- 13. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow2019-04-18 · ★ 7.8
- 14. The Road Not Taken2019-04-25 · ★ 7.9
New Horizons2022 · 10 ep
- 1. Electric Sheep2022-06-02 · ★ 7.4
- 2. Shadow Realms2022-06-09 · ★ 7.4
- 3. Mortality Paradox2022-06-16 · ★ 7.5
- 4. Gently Falling Rain2022-06-23 · ★ 7.7
- 5. A Tale of Two Topas2022-06-30 · ★ 7.6
- 6. Twice in a Lifetime2022-07-07 · ★ 7.9
- 7. From Unknown Graves2022-07-14 · ★ 7.7
- 8. Midnight Blue2022-07-21 · ★ 7.8
- 9. Domino2022-07-28 · ★ 8.2
- 10. Future Unknown2022-08-04 · ★ 7.8
The Orville trailer
The Orville cast
View all cast →
Seth MacFarlane
Capt. Ed Mercer
Adrianne Palicki
Cmdr. Kelly Grayson
Penny Johnson Jerald
Dr. Claire Finn
Scott Grimes
Lt. Gordon Malloy
Peter Macon
Lt. Cmdr. Bortus
Jessica Szohr
Talla Keyali
J. Lee
John LaMarr
Mark Jackson
Isaac
Anne Winters
Charly Burke
Where to watch The Orville
See all viewing options →
AI Verdict
The Orville has been dark for nearly four years with no renewal announcement from Hulu or FOX, which is a very bad sign at this stage. TMDB still lists it as a returning series, but that label has no official backing here. Without a credible renewal signal after 45 months, the window for a Season 4 looks largely closed.
Live signals
73.1K watching on Traktsteady
Interest steady
Verdict updated 3 months ago · 1 tracked mention — no renewal-specific coverage yet
Updated 2026-05-27 · AI-generated analysis
1 tracked mention · no renewal signalHow we predict →Our verdicts have proved right for 136 of 192 decided shows →The Orville latest news
- 10 Best TV Shows Like The Orville
NewsAPI:TVLine · 2026-01-19general
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Frequently asked
- When does The Orville Season 4 come out?
- The Orville Season 4 has not been confirmed yet.
- Is The Orville renewed or cancelled?
- The Orville has been dark for nearly four years with no renewal announcement from Hulu or FOX, which is a very bad sign at this stage. TMDB still lists it as a returning series, but that label has no official backing here. Without a credible renewal signal after 45 months, the window for a Season 4 looks largely closed.
- How many seasons of The Orville are there?
- The Orville has aired 3 seasons so far.
- How many episodes of The Orville are there?
- There are 36 episodes of The Orville across 3 seasons.
- Who created The Orville?
- The Orville was created by Seth MacFarlane.
- Where can I watch The Orville?
- The Orville is available to stream on Hulu, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and Fandango At Home.
- What is The Orville's IMDb rating?
- The Orville holds an IMDb rating of 8/10 from 108,127 votes.