FOX has placed an order for 13 episodes of a new live-action comedic drama from Emmy-winning "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, who is also slated to star. The series is expected to run for the 2017-18 television season.
Details about MacFarlane's new project are scarce at this point, but he and Fox Television Group Chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman are excited to break new ground.
"I've wanted to do something like this show ever since I was a kid, and the timing finally feels right," MacFarlane said. "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."
His bosses agree.
"For almost two decades, we've enjoyed an incredible collaboration with our partner and friend Seth MacFarlane," Newman and Walden said in a joint statement. "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."
The untitled project is said to be a dramedy set 300 years in the future. It will center on Orville, a "not-so-top-of-the-line" exploratory ship in Earth's interstellar fleet. In "Star Trek" fashion, this ship and its crew will face cosmic challenges albeit in more hilarious fashion.
MacFarlane is best known as the creator, executive producer and voice actor on the Emmy Award-winning animated comedy series "Family Guy," which is currently in its 13th season. The show will return for the 2016-17 season. In addition to "Family Guy," MacFarlane has also served as co-creator, executive producer and voice actor on "American Dad," executive producer on "Bordertown," executive producer on "Blunt Talk" and executive producer on the critically acclaimed documentary series "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey."
Follow Brandon Katz at @Great_Katzby
