The Orville is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Seth MacFarlane, who also stars as the protagonist Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union's line of exploratory space vessels in the 25th century. It was inspired primarily by the original Star Trek and its Next Generation successor, both of which it heavily parodies and pays homage to. The series also uses inspiration from the Star Wars franchise and games like the Mass Effect series. It follows the crew of the starship USS Orville on their episodic adventures, as well as a serialized story which develops over the length of the series.

Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. MacFarlane is well known as the creator and star of the television series Family Guy and The Orville (2017–2022), and co-creator of the television series American Dad! and The Cleveland Show (2009–2013). He also co-wrote, directed, and starred in the films Ted (2012) and its sequel Ted 2 (2015), and A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014).