Seth MacFarlane Is On Record Saying He Holds This Project Closest To His Heart

Whether you enjoy his work or outright can't stand it, there's no denying the cultural impact of Seth MacFarlane. Specifically, in the arena of adult animation, he has created some of the most well-known television shows ever to reach the airwaves. "Family Guy" kicked off his run atop the subgenre in 1999, and though it faced some bumps in the road, eventually, it became a TV favorite. Thus, its success allowed MacFarlane to pursue other small screen endeavors of his own design, such as "American Dad!," "The Cleveland Show," and "The Orville."

At the same time, MacFarlane's unique brand of creativity hasn't only manifested in long-form television projects. He has also brought his talents to the cinema in 2012 via "Ted": the story of Josh Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) and his teddy bear (voiced by MacFarlane), who he wished to life as a child. Two years later, MacFarlane helmed and starred in the Western comedy "A Million Ways to Die in the West," with "Ted 2" hitting the silver screen a year later. That's far from a weak résumé, and it stands to reason that he'll continue to build on it as the years go on.

Given how much of each film and TV show stems directly from MacFarlane himself, one has to wonder which of the bunch means the most to him. Thankfully for those curious, he's made it clear that this production is particularly close to his heart.

During an interview with MTV at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, Seth MacFarlane revealed that "The Orville" — his science fiction comedy series about the crew of an intergalactic starship called the USS Orville — is the project that means the most to him. "It's the one that I think is closest to my heart," he said, expressing how fascinating and enjoyable it is to work on a show that blends sci-fi and comedy. MacFarlane adds, "I don't think I've had this much fun in years writing scripts," and explains that his approach to the writing is somewhat similar to "M*A*S*H*," which masterfully walked the line between drama and comedy.

At the time of this writing, "The Orville" has stretched to three seasons since premiering in 2017, jumping over to Hulu with the debut of the initially loathed Season 3 — subtitled "New Horizons." Despite the batch of episodes kicking off on June 2, 2022, fans are already curious about the status of a fourth season. As it turns out, so is MacFarlane, who told Decider that he hopes it comes to fruition soon following the show's arrival on Disney+. "The show is expensive to produce. It needs to justify its own existence with audience enthusiasm and viewership. So hopefully, Disney+ will give us that chance," MacFarlane said.

Time will tell what the fate of "The Orville" will be, but for the sake of Seth MacFarlane, who's living his dream while working on the show, one can only hope that Season 4 is in the cards.