Interview with the cast of “The Orville”

TV Interview!

"The Orville: New Horizons" poster

Interview with actors and producers from “The Orville” on HULU by Suzanne 5/16/22

“The Orville” returns for season 3 on June 2 on HULU. I can’t wait for you to see it. The first episode is fantastic. Truly! I was very happy to chat with some of the actors and writer/executive producers. I wish I had more than 10 minutes with each!

Here are the videos, we hope to have the transcripts up very soon!

Interview with executive producers Brannon Braga, Jon Cassar and David Goodman

I love talking with writers and producers because they can really tell you what’s going on with the show.

I hadn’t yet finished watching season 2 when I did these interviews. I sent a follow-up question to Brannon Braga: The Kaylon war happened and then there were 5 more episodes. Why did you wait for season 3 to address the crew’s feelings about Isaac? What was the thinking or reasoning behind that?

Answer: At the end of “Identity, Part Two”, there are three scenes where we deal with the Isaac issue. Ed and Kelly debate what to do about Isaac; Admiral Halsey informs them about the Union Council’s proposal that Isaac stay on board the Orville; and the final scene with Claire, where Isaac states he has no home, and Claire assures him that given enough time, forgiveness might one day be possible. Our thinking was that when the Captain gives an order with the Union Council’s, the Orville crew would follow that order, no matter what their personal feelings. It’s not until Ensign Charly Burke joins the crew that things get shaken up. It’s one of the reasons Seth created the character: to be a voice for the people who do not trust Isaac and want to hold him accountable for the deadly attack on Earth. That was by design. But some ideas emerge later, such as young Marcus’ trauma over the attack. We had that idea when we started work on Season Three. We had 5 cool episodes already planned to round out Season Two, and we stuck to that plan. The fallout from Isaac would happen in Season 3.

NOTE: The producers got one point wrong in that it was Ed and Kelly who asked for Isaac to remain on board; the Union wanted him to be taken apart. The main point is still correct, though.

Interview with Adrianne Palicki and Penny Johnson Jerald

I enjoyed talking with the women, especially Penny, who I’ve been a fan of since she was in “The Larry Sanders Show” years ago. Scifi fans no doubt remember her as Sisko’s girlfriend on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” too.