FOX UK has secured the UK broadcast rights to Seth MacFarlane’s Galaxy Quest style sci-fi series The Orville, which is distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. A UK premiere date has not yet been set.
The Orville is set 400 years in the future and follows the U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory spaceship. Its crew, both human and alien, face the wonders and dangers of outer space, while also dealing with the problems of everyday life.
The hour-long series, which was created by Seth MacFarlane, is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and stars MacFarlane, Adrianne Palicki (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Penny Johnson Jerald (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Scott Grimes (Justified), Peter Macon (Shameless), Halston Sage (Goosebumps), J Lee (American Dad!), Mark Jackson (That Royal Today) and Chad L. Coleman (The Walking Dead). MacFarlane, Brannon Braga, David A. Goodman, Jason Clark and Liz Heldens serve as executive producers.
This deal is significant in two different ways.
Firstly, this marks the latest high-profile series produced for the U.S. Fox network to land at FOX UK, In years past, the channel rarely secured the bigger broadcast shows (with the exception of NCIS), which tend to be subject to fierce bidding from more established UK broadcasters such as Channel 4 and Sky. But in the last twelve months, the channel has increased their competition in this space and picked up such highly sought after shows as 24: Legacy, Shots Fired and Prison Break.
It is also notable as The Orville is only the fourth series that was launched to buyers at the LA Screenings to land a UK deal; after Sky Living previously acquired The Good Doctor and Law & Order True Crime, while FOX UK picked up The Gifted. (Dynasty was not screened to UK buyers in California as Netflix was already in advanced talks with CBS Studios International to board as the global broadcaster). On the whole deals seem to be taking longer to finalise this year. It’s not immediately clear why that is, but I understand that several titles (including Young Sheldon and Will & Grace) have been subject to fierce bidding wars.
Check out Fox’s trailer for The Orville below:
