(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] As the Orville was about to hit our TV screens
back in September, 2017,
critics were expecting a Family Guy in space,
Star Trek, rip off laced with
the type of humor fans were used to
getting from a Seth McFarland production.
- [TV] We now return to the Orville on Fox.
(gun firing)
- Why do you hate that show so much?
- Because it's preventing me from
doing my work here at Family Guy.
- [Narrator] And when season one premiered
on September 10th, there were moments
when the comedy bordered on the outrageous,
but there was something else there, something deeper.
Despite a rotten tomato score from critics of 30%
fans love the show, giving it a 94%.
The show obviously had something the critics missed.
It had heart.
And set 400 years into the future,
The Orville beneath all the jokes
at its core maintains a hope for humanity's future
that Star Trek and science fiction fans hold dear.
As a result, the Orville quickly went
from something we wanted to something we needed.
And when season two launched,
it was even better than season one.
Critics even loved it more than the audience
ultimately giving it a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Every fan could feel it.
This was the start of a powerhouse franchise
that would be with us for years to come.
But as season two was coming to a close,
there had been no announcement for season three
and fans started to get nervous.
Could the best new thing
on television end before it hits its stride?
As a fandom, we weren't going to let that happen.
We launched the renew, the Orville fan campaign,
starting the onslaught of pickle deliveries to Fox Studios,
where the Orville was being made.
(dramatic music)
- [Man] Have you ever heard of a show called The Orville?
- [Woman] Called what?
- [Man] The Orville on Fox?
- [Woman] No.
- [Man] It's a thing.
- [Narrator] Less than two months later,
the Orville was renewed for season three.
It would later be confirmed that the fans overwhelming love
and support for the show
was one of the big reasons season three happened.
Now almost two and a half years since season
three's announcement,
following a global pandemic and delays
the news of a confirmed season three
launch date was incredibly exciting.
And then something bad happened.
We were told that season three would be
the last season of the Orville.
And for a moment there was
a stunned silence across the fandom.
Will this be the last season of the Orville?
- No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
- What's the matter?
- No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
- [Narrator] Well perhaps not,
but fans will have to take up the cause again.
And this time it's going to take more than pickles
to convince the powers that control our favorite show.
Who are those people and what do we need to do?
That is exactly what we're about to share with you.
So you don't want to miss this episode
and if you haven't already subscribed to our channel,
please do so now and give us a thumbs up
if you want more amazing revelations
about your favorite shows.
Also click the notification bell to never miss an episode
and make sure you stay tuned to the end to see how
to get this awesome Orville inspired graphic design
from the amazing artists at mixedtees.com.
When Adrian Polucki announced the bombshell news,
that season three would be the final season of the Orville
during the clear eyes and hearts podcast, October 12th,
the news came as a shock.
- [Man] I know you just wrapped
on the third season of Orville.
Is there anything you can tell us about it at the moment?
- [Adrian] No it's like,
it's honestly so secretive considering that it
takes seven years for it to come out.
(man laughs)
To film and then to actually come out,
like it's not going to be out until 2022
and it is our final season.
- [Woman] Oh wow.
- [Man] Oh wow.
That's kind of an end of an era.
- [Adrian] Yeah.
I mean, I'll miss everyone.
That was actually, that was definitely
a family for sure, we spent so much time
together on that ship.
Thank God we helped each other.
- [Narrator] It had been less than a month
since the March 10th season three air date was announced.
So fan anticipation and excitement
for season three was picking up steam.
No one had even considered whether they should be worrying
about season four yet,
but commander Kelly Grayson may
have actually done us a huge favor.
Hold on to that thought.
And I'll explain why in just a moment.
Adrian wasn't the first person
to announce that season three would be
the final season of The Orville.
Scott Grimes who plays Gordon Malloy
dropped the first bomb way back on May 28th.
He told Randy Disher on the All Things Monk and More podcast
that this is most likely the last season of the Orville
because they are wrapping it up.
But hopefully there will be a movie or two in the future.
- [Randy] Now, when, now when you guys,
when do you guys come back again?
Now you guys switched.
You guys switched, you were on Fox for a couple of years.
- [Scott] Yeah.
- [Randy] Now you guys have switched over to Hulu.
And when does, when does, when are we,
when are we to expect it?
When is everybody out there to expect it?
- [Scott] I was going to ask you, no.
What, what he, what he does Seth,
is we have to finish filming before he
really even starts editing.
- [Randy] Yeah.
So, so sometime in 2025,
we're going to see the third season of The Orville.
- [Scott] Yeah, I would say by Christmas,
I'd say it's a Christmas release for season three
because we're going to be done in July.
And then yeah, I would say,
keep your fingers crossed for Christmas.
And it's going to most likely the last season,
cause we're kind of wrapping it up and then hopefully,
maybe we'll do some movies.
- [Narrator] No one took grime seriously
because he didn't sound certain.
It wasn't enough to get the fans buzzing,
but Palicki's words sounded final, definite and authentic.
Her words carried weight.
Surely if she says, this is the final season of the Orville,
then she would know, right?
- Whoa.
Top wrestler, captain, commander.
- [Narrator] Apparently that's not the case.
As news started to spread Tom Constantino,
a fan favorite producer for the Orville took a step away
from editing season three to address the fandom.
In a tweet to the community,
he said that despite some misinformation to the contrary,
the Orville season four is still to be determined.
It would depend on audience appetite
and the season three response.
So anything can happen.
These words would send a calm across the fan base
and give everyone hope.
There is still a chance the show will go on
and aside from Tom's words,
there are other things to also give us hope.
Back in early August, Hulu's head of scripted originals,
Jordan Helman said that Hulu remains open to a fourth season
and there have been no conversations otherwise.
So it appears that Hulu is leaving the door open
to a season four as well
and if this is true,
then that is very good news.
If in the end, the decision is up to Seth McFarland,
then that is good news.
Remember back on August 10th,
Seth put out a show wrap tweet thanking the cast.
He said, he hoped this is not
the last time they all go to space.
So if Hulu was open to season four
and Seth is open to season four,
then that means there is only one thing really holding us
back from renewing the Orville.
That's right, it's all of us.
- All right, I had to give it my best shot.
I won't bug you again.
- [Narrator] Remember when we said
Commander Grayson did us a favor?
Her warning may be the thing that eventually saves the
Orville from being canceled.
Had she said nothing, we may not
have started worrying about season four
until the end of season three.
And by then it may have been too late
to do anything about it.
So because we know the future of
our favorite show is not set in stone
we have a chance to do something about it
while there is still time.
So what can we do to ensure season three
isn't the last season of the Orville?
The first thing we can do is watch the Orville
seasons one and two on Hulu before December 31st.
We'll explain why that date is important in a moment.
- It's like, where's the me time, you know.
- Where is the you time?
- [Narrator] We want Hulu executives
to see the huge run of numbers of fans watching
the first two seasons and do the math
on the number of subscribers on Hulu,
watching old Orville content.
While you're at it, get someone
who's never seen the Orville to watch it on
their Hulu account as well.
Now is when we should start to broaden the fan base
and create as much anticipation
as possible for the new season.
If possible, we want the number of viewers
to swell and surpass previous year's viewing numbers.
So tell as many people as you know,
since the third season is going to be amazing
you're doing them a favor anyways.
Second, you need to cancel
your Hulu account by December 31st.
- Um, wow.
- [Narrator] We know this is controversial
and we aren't trying to hurt Hulu,
but we need to make who understand
the power of the Orville fandom.
If you cancel your Hulu account before the end of the year,
Hulu will roll into 2022
with new baseline subscriber numbers,
then on March 10th, the day,
the first season of the Orville season three airs,
start your subscription again.
Imagine being a Hulu executive and realizing you gained
a million new subscribers on the day,
the Orville's new season is launched. What did Tom say?
Season four will depend on audience appetite.
How hungry do you think Hulu will think fans are
when a million people all drop seven dollars
on their subscription service in one day for The Orville.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] The third thing you can do
is write two short letters,
make the first one out to Seth McFarland.
Tell him why you love the Orville.
Tell him why you need more Orville in your life
and explain to him what the Orville means
personally to you, tell him what it means to our fandom.
If you can get your kids or nieces and nephews to draw
pictures of the Orville
to include with your letter, even better.
Stick a 58 cent forever stamp on an envelope
and send it to Seth MacFarlane,
Fuzzy Door Productions Incorporated,
5700 Wilshire Boulevard, suite 325,
Los Angeles, California 90036.
Then make your second letter
out to Hulu executive Jordan Helman.
His letter should explain how much you love the Orville
and that there is no way you could
maintain your subscription to Hulu
without original Orville content.
Tell him how much the huge fandom loves the Orville,
ask him to do whatever it takes to renew the Orville
because it's the best content on their streaming service.
And the Orville makes you spend
less time on Amazon and Netflix.
Tell him if he brings the Orville back for season four,
it would inspire you to encourage all of your friends
and family to make sure they also
have a Hulu subscription and never cancel it.
Put that in an envelope and mail it to Jordan Helman,
Head Of Scripted Content, Originals, Hulu 2500 Broadway,
Santa Monica, California 90404.
Should we send actual jars of pickles?
We did it before and it helped, yes.
But they've seen that trick before
and we need to shock them yet again.
In an age of emails and tweets
imagine what piles and piles of letters will look like
stacked on desks at fuzzy door and Hulu.
We have it on good authority
that lots and lots of letters would actually have more
impact than jars of pickles,
but we don't want them to forget about the pickles either.
So if you go to popcast.co/renewTheOrville
you can print out the image of the original operation,
pickle delivery, pickle jar with renew the Orville on it
and send that along with your letters.
The fourth thing you should do is go and sign our petition
to renew the Orville at renewtheorville.org.
We are asking Hulu, Disney, and Seth for a season four.
So go there right after this video.
Now is the time to start collecting signatures
so that we can present them to Seth and Hulu
during crunch time and show that Orville fans are
motivated and passionate for
as many seasons as they can produce.
Our goal is one million signatures,
which should be easy considering season two averaged more
than three million viewers per episode,
not counting the streaming numbers.
We can do this, but it's going to take all of us.
The fifth thing you should do
is tweet about The Orville a lot.
And when you tweet or respond to a tweet,
make sure it always says @Hulu and @SethMacFarlane,
along with #renewtheorville,
the final thing you should do
is make sure you watch every episode
of the Orville season three,
as soon as you can when it comes out
and after each episode find an online community
to talk about how much you love the show,
whether it is on YouTube, Reddit or Twitter.
The Orville crew and Hulu is watching
and gagging the fan responses online.
Tom Constantino said season four
would depend on audience appetite
and the response to season three.
So the fandom will need to be out
and talking about how amazing the show
is online after every episode.
You'll be able to find a live after show party
after every episode of the Orville
on the podcast unleashed channel,
where we will be pushing each week to renew the Orville
and organizing fans to keep the show going.
If we do everything we can do as fans,
then the Orville can live on.
Let's show Seth that we want more
and let's show Hulu that we'll show up and pay for it.
This is only the beginning,
but the fight to save our show for the future begins now.
Are you ready to do what it takes to help
renew The Orville for season four?
Let's talk about it in the comments below.
Also check out this awesome USS Orville graphic design
at mixedteas.com and get 20% off your purchase
by using coupon code, the popcast,
the link is in the description below.
- I'll see you there.
- [Narrator] Hungry for more current pop culture news?
Then make sure you head over and subscribe
to the Popcast Unleashed for daily content.
Hear us talk about all of your favorite things.
Click on the link in the description below.
Until next time.
- Boom bitch!
That's what I'm talking about right there, it went boom!
(dramatic chords)
- The tingles, do you feel them?
- I do.
We must have more.
- [Narrator] Don't want the show to end?
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(dramatic music)