Season 2 of FOX’s Star Trek-lite series The Orville is set to take to the stars very soon, but before that happens series creator and star Seth MacFarlane wants to discuss what makes the show better in season 2. The sort-of sci-fi comedy has taken a little longer than usual to get its second season up and running, but from the look of things in a new behind-the-scenes video, the reasons will be evident to those watching. In other words, one of the possible reasons it took a bit longer for the starship Orville to return to television is the extra work that went into broadening the scope of the series for its sophomore season. 

That will likely be just fine with fans of the series — those who’re on the lookout for Star Trek: TNG-style storytelling, but have already seen every episode in that particular series. From that perspective, it’s easy to see why people tuned in to see what was going on with The Orville, despite what was a somewhat rocky beginning, one that suggested the series was unsure whether it wanted to be a spoof, an homage, or something else altogether. From the look of things, season 2 is a little more decisive in that regard. 

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In fact, in this new “First Look” video FOX shared not too long ago, it sounds as though MacFarlane is eager to set the record straight with regard to what The Orville is and what it hopes to be. To hear MacFarlane tell it, the series is essentially whatever the episode calls for. Whether or not that kind of mutability will earn the series better notices from critics remains to be seen, but at least it sounds as though the crew working to bring the show to life have a better handle on where they’re going next, and why. Check out MacFarlane discussing season 2 of The Orville below:

The discussion of the expanded scope of the series in season 2 is an interesting one, as it looks as though some serious time was put into creating some of the special effects. At first glance, it appears as though the FX is an improvement over the first season, which may be a boon for the series as it is marketing itself pretty heavily on the idea that there’ll be more adventure ahead in the new season. 

The comments are oddly similar to those working on CBS All Access’s Star Trek: Discovery, which also recently released it’s own behind-the-scenes video, one that, unsurprisingly, touted the expanded scope of the series and played up its impressive-looking special effects. With that show’s second season set to premiere very soon, too, fans of Star Trek will have plenty to be thankful for in 2019.

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The Orville season 2 premiere’s Sunday, December 30, @8pm on FOX.