SDCC 2018–The Orville goes all out with Comic-Con appearance, releases trailer for Season 2

Our San Diego Comic-Con coverage continues with Fox’s television series The Orville, which had both a panel and signing this year, along with featuring The Orville shuttle-themed PediCabs to cart visitors around the Gaslamp District and waterfront. We have the panel video below, as well as the preview shown at the panel for Season 2. Series star and executive producer Seth MacFarlane said fans can look forward to a Season 2 where “Every episode feels like a movie.”

Thanks to The Orville concept artist Lex Cassar, we (I and my wife, author and borg.com TV reviewer Elizabeth C. Bunce) had one of our best experiences at meeting the crew of a show. Seeing that the standby line for The Orville signing had no hope of making it to the Fox booth (events often can run long and subsequent events get behind at SDCC), Cassar came out to hand out some of the SDCC-exclusive Planetary Union pins to those at the back of the line–a very kind and classy gesture to those standing for an hour and half. Seeing me and Elizabeth in the Orville uniforms she created for the Con, he came back with a screen-used resin phaser for us to pose with. He went back to the booth and brought back Jason Roberts, unit production manager, who brought Bortus’s egg from the series, plus another hero resin light-up phaser and light-up scanners, and we were able to get more photos with the crew and these great props (gorgeously detailed, realistic, and heavy!).

The Orville production crew and borg.com staff with screen-used props at San Diego Comic-Con.

Despite not getting the lottery for the signing, we got up close and Seth MacFarlane (Capt. Ed Mercer) said we looked great, Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy) gave me a fist bump and had a quick chat with Elizabeth regarding the comfort of the uniform, J. Lee (Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr) gave us a thumbs-up, and Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn) blew kisses from the balcony. Peter Macon (Lt. Cmdr. Bortus) chatted it up with everyone at the Fox booth.

Seth MacFarlane and Adrianne Palicki signing at the Fox Booth at Comic-Con.

Emmy-winning producer and The Orville executive producer and director Jon Cassar (and 24 series executive producer and director of Continuum and The Dead Zone among other things) and producer and film editor Tom Costantino were especially gracious and gave us some of the Union logo pins and a Union hat after The Orville interview show.

C.J. Bunce and Elizabeth C. Bunce at San Diego Comic-Con (photo by SDCC official staff photographer).

All a great payoff for Elizabeth’s time in interpreting and deconstructing the costumes with only photographs in The World of the Orville book as a guide, sourcing fabrics, creating patterns and sewing the final uniforms! Comic-Con cosplay is in part about feedback to the studios. It’s also about showing your support for what you like–the driving theme of borg.com, too. We loved Season 1 and want to see more of it, and want these creators to know.