The Orville: Seth MacFarlane Series’ Future Gets Clearer Next Week?

At the time that we’re writing this, it will have been 262 days (or 8 months & 19 days) since the season finale episode of Seth MacFarlane‘s The Orville: New Horizons hit Hulu screens. Nearly a month ago, MacFarlane shared that he was feeling “cautiously optimistic” about how things were looking. Now, there’s a very good chance that next week could bring some clarity on the show’s future – but maybe it’s better if we don’t hear The Walt Disney Company (“The Mouse” runs Hulu) mention the popular sci-fi series. Confused? Let me explain…

If you’ve been following Disney’s financial dealings over the past few months, then you know that Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed last month that three rounds of layoffs were on the way as the company looked to reduce its workforce by approximately 7,000 employees. The move is part of an overall cost-cutting & restructuring plan meant to reach $5.5B in overall cost savings for Disney, with the first wave of layoffs hitting prior to the company’s most recent investors call at the beginning of April. But as Deadline Hollywood and other entertainment business sites have been reporting, the second & biggest wave is expected to hit next week, Monday, April 24th, through Thursday, April 27th. And while all areas are expected to feel the hit, Film & TV are expected to be hit the hardest. While network programming and studio marketing are expected to be top targets, analysts are also keeping an eye on cuts to ABC News, ESPN, and… Hulu.

With Iger’s comment earlier this year that “everything is on the table” regarding the future of Hulu, the Disney CEO blew apart the assumption many had that Disney would just buy out Comcast’s 33% financial stake in the streamer when their “put/call” deal kicks in next year. Not helping Hulu’s future with “The Mouse” is that the streamer helped contribute to Disney’s overall losses in streaming, amounting to $1.5B in the most recent quarter. And then, add into that mix that Disney would need to commit a minimum of $9B to the deal (with the agreement fixing the minimum value of Hulu at $27.5B at the time of a transaction). And all of this would be coming at a time when (as you can see above) Disney may not be looking to spend that much in the face of mass cost-cutting.

So what does that mean for The Orville? That the series remains in limbo until Disney gets a better sense of its long-term streaming future – and that we might be getting some clarity on that topic next week. As for what we meant in the opener about not wanting Disney to mention the series at all next week, it comes down to superstition and a little entertainment business common sense. Because if we are looking at four days of major layoffs, then we’re betting that Disney probably won’t be looking to announce anything big that requires big spending money – not during what could be an especially brutal cost-cutting cycle. So maybe – just for next week – no news really could be good (or at least still promising).