5 Fall TV Shows That Are Doomed To Fail
2. The Orville
By now, mentioning that The Orville, created by Seth MacFarlane, is NOT in fact a Star Trek sci-fi parody, but rather a normal TV drama, is not noteworthy. What is noteworthy, however, is how this straightforward drama misses the mark.
The show features MacFarlane as Captain Ed Mercer, a man who’s granted the opportunity to helm his own spaceship. Sounds farfetched to have Peter Griffin as a space pilot? Keep in mind this takes place 400 years in the future where anything is plausible - maybe even this show.
MacFarlane’s space shipmates include Gordon Malloy, the wisecracking ginger (ER’s, Scott Grimes), security officer Alara (Halston Sage from Neighbors), Isaac the racist robot, and his first officer/ex-wife Kelly Grayson (Friday Night Lights’ Adrianne Palicki), who gets assigned after cheating on her husband with a blue alien.
What The Orville teaches us is that, in spite of a big budget, bigger musical score and bigger push by the network, Seth MacFarlane is not a leading man, not a dramatic writer, and not immune to making shows that Family Guy has so brilliantly poked fun at over the years. And with the most recent episode suffering a 50% drop in its key demo, and 39% drop in total viewers, MacFarlane's latest work is destined to join A Million Ways To Die In The West as a failed effort.