As we reported a couple of weeks back, our adopted space show The Orville was gearing up to start production on its second season and today is officially the first day of filming. Cast and crew took to social media to announce the start of their first week back on set. We also have news on another Trek veteran joining the writing staff, a new member of the cast, behind-the-scenes photos, and more.

Season 2 Production Starts

Creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane celebrated the first table read for the second season last week.

Thanks #theorville cast for a great first table read for season 2! — Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) February 23, 2018

Scott Grimes (Gordon) sent out this image of the read as well.

Today actor Mark Jackson (Isaac) took to twitter to tease Grimes and producer/director Jon Cassar about first day of filming.

I'm in on that wedgie giving. — Jon Cassar (@joncassar) February 26, 2018

The Orville’s editor Tom Costantino also shared these shots from around the set today.

Also this morning, director/producer Jon Cassar posted this moody photo of Ed’s office on Instagram

And this afternoon actor Kai Wener (Ty Finn) sent out this behind the scenes picture of himself with his TV mom Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Finn), Peter Macon (Bortus), and executive producer David A. Goodman.

When you get to sit next to such AMAZING people as @PennyJJerald @halstonsage @DavidAGoodman and Peter Macon, you can't help but to just sit, stare, and smile. So excited for Season 2! #theorville #StarStruck pic.twitter.com/ug6eJkwVSK — Kai Wener (@KaiWener) February 26, 2018

Joe Menosky jumps from ‘Discovery’ to ‘The Orville’

A familiar name caught our eye on a call sheet that costumer Ivy Thaide posted to Instagram this morning (now deleted, but you can see a screenshot below). Joe Menosky is now listed as a co-executive producer and writer for The Orville. Menosky is a well-known Trek writer with dozens of franchise credits to his name during the ’90s, but he is perhaps best known for penning the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok.” The Trek vet also had a stint on Star Trek: Discovery in 2016/2017 when he was brought in by Bryan Fuller and co-wrote “Lethe” with Ted Sullivan. Apparently Menosky has now moved on, and so Discovery’s loss is The Orville’s gain.

Seth MacFarlane has stated that the second season of The Orville “will lean a little more heavier [sic] into the science fiction,” which is something that was already becoming apparent as the first season evolved. Menosky seems to be a good fit for this direction and it bodes well for the fans that someone with his talents is now on the team.

A second new cast member

In addition to Jessica Szohr who we reported about in our last update, Deadline reported last week that Chris Johnson (best known for ABC’s Betrayal and CW’s the The Vampire Diaries) is set for a recurring role in season 2.

Eagle eyed fans on reddit noticed that in actor J. Lee’s (Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr) video (which now seems to have been deleted from his Instagram) about how excited he was to get back to work on The Orville, he showed some of the cast doing a table read of the first episode.

We can see Chris Johnson’s name placard there, along with his character name, “Cassius.”

Behind the scenes on the ‘The Orville’ hair and make-up

The Orville’s head of makeup Howard Berger and head of hair Maxine Morris have penned a blog post for the Make-up Artists and Hairstylists Guild, where they goes into detail on creating the looks and creatures for the show. The post also includes many interesting images from the hair and make-up teams.

‘The Orville’ heads to PaleyFest LA in March

The well known museum for radio and television is hosting another of their PaleyFests, this time as part of their Los Angeles location with the cast and producers of The Orville. It will be held on Saturday, March 17 at 2:00 pm at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Scheduled to appear: Seth MacFarlane, Adrianne Palicki, Scott Grimes, Penny Johnson Jerald, Halston Sage, Peter Macon, J. Lee, Mark Jackson, Chad Coleman, David Goodman, Brannon Braga, Jason Clark

WATCH @SethMacFarlane explain how @TheOrville is more than just a comedy. For more from Seth & #TheOrville crew, GET TIX to see them IN PERSON at #PaleyFest on 3/17: https://t.co/jWds2Rk2l2 pic.twitter.com/uffWyqF0VE — Paley Center (@paleycenter) February 26, 2018

Season 1 rolling out internationally

The Orville has been spreading around the world. The first season has already premiered in a number of countries in Europe, including Fox TV in the UK, which started in December. The first season starts today in Sweden on Fox.

Over in Germany season 1 starts tomorrow on the Pro7 channel. Check out the dubbed German trailer below.

The Orville will return for Season 2 this Fall on Fox.

Keep up with all of our The Orville news at TrekMovie.com.