We have to wait until December 30th for the premiere of season two, but production continues on the show so it is time once again for quick pre-Comic-Con round of The Orville news. We’ll have more news this weekend from Comic-Con.

Frakes on set this week

As we expected, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Jonathan Frakes is back to direct an episode of The Orville for season two. Show creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane confirmed the news in a tweet a few days ago and executive producer (and former Star Trek: Enterprise writer/producer David Goodman) shared an image of Frakes on set yesterday.

Hot as hell today on our exterior set for #theorville, but hey- the good news is @jonathansfrakes is back at the helm for round 2! — Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) July 13, 2018

And according to this post from a food truck, Frake’s episode of The Orville was doing location shooting today at Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA.

More praise from today’s shoot:

Never seen anything on television like what the makeup, hair, and costume departments on #theorville pulled off today. These are truly the finest people working in the industry. — Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) July 18, 2018

More guest stars revealed

Jon Cassar, producer and director on The Orville, also directed a number of episodes of the hit Fox show 24. It looks like 24 alumnus Carlos Bernard will guest star during season 2 based on Cassar’s Instagram post from earlier this month.

Just yesterday Entertainment Weekly confirmed that Leighton Meester will guest star in an episode, this will reunite her with Gossip Girl cast member Jessica Szohr (who is playing Talla Keyali in season 2). According to EW:

Meester will share scenes with Szohr, who plays a new crew member aboard the U.S.S. Orville. Details about Meester’s role weren’t made available at this time.

The Orville at Comic-Con

Similar to what CBS is doing with Discovery, TVInsider reports that Fox has customized Orville pedicabs running around the Gaslamp district. Riders will get sneak peeks at exclusive content on the attached screen and a special U.S.S. Orville crew pin too.

There will also be a mini-poster available at the Fox booth (#4229) on the convention floor. Cast members will be signing the posters on Saturday from 5:15PM-6:15PM.

And of course, The Orville has a Comic-Con panel scheduled for Saturday afternoon (July 21 at 4:00PM), TrekMovie will be there to cover it. So check back Saturday evening for a full report!

What’s it like to edit The Orville?

Last month Mashable posted an interview video with editor Tom Costantino.

﻿﻿

Saturn makes the rounds

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, on the same night that Star Trek: Discovery won the Saturn Award for Best Streaming/New Media Series, The Orville won the Saturn Award for Best Sci-Fi Series (NOTE: Saturn rules have streaming services shows in a separate category). Following the win, the actual award did a tour around the set, visiting with cast and crew.

Shuttle pics of the week

Those USS Orville shuttles show up everywhere! Folks who work in or near the Fox lot routinely see them. Apparently this shuttle sat a little too long and people couldn’t resist writing on the windshield. Assistant editor on The Orville Hillary Wills noticed that a catchphrase from the Mel Brooks space comedy Spaceballs was written on the shuttle. Yogurt would be pleased.

Here is a background actor taking a shuttle selfie:

Editor Tom Costantino gives us a nice shot of the shuttles against the “city streets” section of the Fox backlot:

More behind-the-scenes bits

Seth’s stunt shoutout:

Major respect to our badass stunt woman on #theorville Selkie Hom, who kicks butt for us on a daily basis 👍🏼👍🏼 — Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) June 29, 2018

Peter Macon channels Alf:

A young director in training:

"Kids are like sponges" & when you work with directors like @joncassar ,you soak up EVERYTHING that you can. Thank you @joncassar for being the coolest! Whether you know it or not, I've learned SO much working with you on @TheOrville ! #TheOrville #FinnFamily #FutureDirector pic.twitter.com/OULcDnC3cI — Kai Wener (@KaiWener) July 13, 2018

The Orville will return in late 2018 for season two.

Keep up with all our coverage of The Orville at TrekMovie.