'The Orville' season 2 will have less jokes, more sci-fi

There will be some changes in terms of tone in “The Orville” season 2. After a successful run of 12 episodes, the series will cut down on the jokes and focus more on the science fiction aspect. Seth MacFarlane has confirmed the change after critics cited excessive humour in the script as a drawback of the show.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association press tour, MacFarlane said that the tone was the biggest experiment of the show. Moving forward, the show would “lean a little heavier into science fiction,” SlashFilm reports. This, the producer explained, will reduce the burden of having a joke on every page of the script. This doesn’t mean the series will change into a serious action-drama, though.

Readers should note that although critics have complained about the excessive humour, there have been no such complaints from fans. Instead, the series is a hit and has often been compared with more serious shows like “Star Trek Discovery.”

Making these changes will not be too difficult for the scriptwriters. They have already experimented with a more serious tone in the episode “Into the Fold.” Just how far they take this change remains to be seen.

There will be at least 14 episodes next season, compared to the 12 in the first. The producers are yet to announce an exact release date.

“The Orville” season 2 is set to air sometime in the latter half of 2018. MacFarlane has confirmed a lot they have to do to get the show back on air as soon as possible. There have been concerns about it not returning until 2019, but the producer has confirmed taking steps to release it this year.