FOX Picks Up New Seth MacFarlane Project

NEW YORK: FOX has commissioned 13 episodes of a new live-action dramedy created, executive produced and starring Seth MacFarlane.

20th Century Fox Television will produce the untitled project, which has been billed as a comedic drama set 300 years in the future. It will follow the adventures of the Orville, an exploratory ship in Earth’s interstellar Fleet. The series’ debut has been slated for the 2017-18 television season.

“For almost two decades, we’ve enjoyed an incredible collaboration with our partner and friend Seth MacFarlane,” said Dana Walden and Gary Newman, chairmen and CEOs of Fox Television Group. “He’s one of the smartest, funniest and most talented people we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, a great guy who’s also had such an impact on both television and popular culture. Seth has one of the most original voices—in every sense of the word—and we’ve been waiting for him to bring us a project as special as this one. It’s classic Seth: fresh and funny, incredibly smart, wickedly subversive and undeniably FOX.”

“I’ve wanted to do something like this show ever since I was a kid, and the timing finally feels right,” said MacFarlane. “20th and FOX have been good to me for many years, and of course, Dana and Gary have been fantastic bosses and true pals, so it was a no-brainer to come to them with the project. I think this is gonna be something special.”