NOVEMBER 11, 2020 - Great news for fans of The Orville!

According to a report from TrekMovie.com, the popular Trek-alike series will soon be getting back into production for its third season. They failed to cite a source for their information, but Orville producer Tom Costantino retweeted their post for the article on Twitter, which is as good an endorsement as you’ll get.

Filming on The Orville stopped back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now expected to resume sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States. Filming will continue on the FOX lot with location shooting in California throughout December. Then it’ll be a short break for holidays, and resuming in January.

TrekMovie cited executive producer and Star Trek alum Brannon Braga, who said back in October, “I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone on the show that isn’t eager to get back to work, as long as it is safe. The shot delay is simply COVID, but it’s also taking longer to film because it’s so much more ambitious even in its scope, in comparison to the first two seasons.” Part of that delay as well is because the 11 episodes in the show’s third season will have a longer runtime than those in the first two seasons. The option to extend the length of each episode is a result of moving the show’s broadcast from the FOX network to the Hulu streaming platform.

In order to keep everyone safe, the production of season three will adhere to rigorous safety protocols and is expected to take up to six months to complete, with The Orville creator Seth MacFarlane and executive producer Jon Cassar sharing directing duties. While there isn’t yet a firm release date, season three is likely to debut on Hulu sometime in 2021.