It’s time again to check in on our adopted show, The Orville with a new update as the series has returned to production following a brief hiatus. Let’s open up this pickle jar, and see what news items we have inside.

The Orville at Comic-Con

Just like last year, The Orville will be one of the Fox TV San Diego Comic-Con panels.

Saturday July 21 4-4:50 PM: Indigo Ballroom – U.S.S. Orville crew members Seth MacFarlane, Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes and Executive Producers David A. Goodman, Brannon Braga and Jon Cassar provide exclusive look at Season 2.

While not mentioned in the official announcement, actor J. Lee (LaMarr) has also confirmed he will also attend the panel. And TrekMovie will be there to cover the panel next month.

Season 2 episodes to have fewer commercials

As announced at their network upfront event in May, Fox is trying something new for 2019 with fewer commercials on select shows. The Orville is expected to be one such show, giving a precious few minutes back to the run time of the hour long show.

US TV show runtimes have been eroding since the ’80s, where an hour long drama went from 50 minutes to 46 minutes by the early ’90s, and today the typical hour long TV show is a lean 42 minutes. As a way to keep viewers (and maybe get a few back) watching network TV, Fox is one of a few broadcasters experimenting with changing how commercial breaks work.

Filming of season 2 resumes with a 2-part episode

After a planned production hiatus in late May, The Orville cast and crew are back at work cranking out episodes starting with episode 8 in early June. Some of the cast have been sharing as they work on social media, including Scott Grimes revealing that they were doing a two-parter, which would be a first for the series.

Back at work to bring you an out of this world experience 🚀#The Orville pic.twitter.com/B6K5d4MoKV — Penny Johnson Jerald (@PennyJJerald) June 8, 2018

It’s an Isaac day on the Orville set pic.twitter.com/kHWJqRqxRQ — Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) June 9, 2018

Frakes returns to direct (and golf)

As we reported yesterday, Jonathan Frakes will be returning to direct an episode of season two. The former TNG star isn’t the only Trek alumnus behind the camera for season two, as Voyager’s Robert Duncan McNeill helmed an episode in April. In addition to prepping for his upcoming episode, Frakes joined members of The Orville cast and crew at a charity golf tournament over the weekend.

Halston Sage cast in Netflix romcom, shooting concurrently with The Orville

One person who has not been spotted recently on set in Los Angeles is actress Halston Sage, who played Alara in the first season of The Orville. She did show up for the PaleyFest panel in March and at the Fox upfronts in May, along with other members of The Orville cast. However, earlier this month it was announced she had joined the cast of the Netflix romantic comedy film The Last Summer, which has been in production in the Midwest over the last month.

At PaleyFest Sage did talk about shooting for season two, so she will appear in at least some episodes. And we know that Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Picardo returned for the second episode of season two, again playing Alara’s father. However, clearly Sage cannot be in two places at once, shooting The Orville and The Last Summer in two different cities. So, it may be that her character will not appear for the entire second season. This may also be one of the reasons why Jessica Szohr joined the cast for the second season, playing a Xelayan security officer, like Sage’s Alara Katan.

MacFarlane reveals inspiration for Yaphit’s name

Yaphit is the gelatinous crew-member (voiced by Norm MacDonald), and his name always seemed familiar, so familiar in fact that we here at TrekMovie have had to correct the spelling of his name from “Yaphet” to “Yaphit” more than a few times. MacFarlane, ever the kidder, replied to a fan on Twitter saying he was watching the 1971 James Bond movie Live and Let Die, which starred Yaphet Koto as the villain, while writing The Orville.

You got me. I watched Live and Let Die while I was writing the pilot. https://t.co/c0zyYWyZpw — Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) June 16, 2018

The Orville did a little Emmy consideration campaigning too

Unlike the full-scale barrage that CBS launched at Emmy voters for Star Trek: Discovery, Fox and The Orville have taken a more relaxed approach. There were screeners for The Orville sent out by Fox and some outdoor advertising in Los Angeles. There have also been a few bits of FYC promotion on social media, as well as a handful of interviews. We have gathered a few highlights of the campaign.

Social media promotion:

VFX reel

Interviews/profiles:

Variety: Emmys 2018: The Orchestral Arms Race of TV’s Sci-Fi.

Art Directors Guild Magazine: A Chance To Design The Future.

Post Perspective: The Orville VFX supervisor on mixing practical and visual effects.

Revered Podcast: Interview with Makeup artist Howard Berger.

Fans 3D renders of the USS Orville

Chris Kuhn, who also released a Star Trek: Discovery USS Enterprise recently, created a 3D model of the USS Orville and set it free into the world to be rendered.

Artist Keiku on DeviantArt has used Kuhn’s 3D models plus Photoshop to bring the USS Orville and the Star Trek: Discovery version of the USS Enterprise together.

Members of the 3D Sci-Fi Renders group on Facebook have naturally played around with the Orville model too. Here’s a few of the fun shots.

Marc Bell

Christopher Cardwell

More fun from the set

Here are a couple more fun bits from The Orville set.

Back at the donut shop #TheOrvilleSeason2Hoooo A post shared by peemay (@peterjerrodmacon) on Jun 14, 2018 at 12:06pm PDT

Shuttle on the backlot #3. This thing parked on the backlot is popular enough for its own account. Another grab from IG. #TheOrville BTW I love the ‘Parking Wars’ theme of this one. pic.twitter.com/xe4lb8mqis — StJerome (@stjerome610) June 15, 2018

The Orville will return in late 2018 for season two.

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