June means that The Orville will return from almost a three-year hiatus. The science fiction project was the first live-action series creator and star Seth MacFarlane did for Fox (later Hulu), and the series is clearly a passion project for him. Even so, the Family Guy creator may want to consider ending The Orville after Season 3 -- and there’s a pretty good reason why.

The Orville launched on Fox in fall 2017 -- two weeks before the debut of Star Trek: Discovery. By the end of that season, The Orville felt more like Star Trek: The Original Series than Discovery did. Despite the boom in sci-fi storytelling across film and television in the past 15 years, The Orville was the first “hopeful” future story in a long time. What made Star Trek unique amongst the sci-fi franchises in the late 20th century was that its future was one people wanted to live in, and MacFarlane filled that space with his series.

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Isaac attempts to learn more about being human in The Orville.

Five years later, fans now expect the latest season of the show -- now called The Orville: New Horizons -- to be its last. Deadline reported in April that the cast has been released from their contracts while MacFarlane is developing a number of other projects. While Season 3 is not designed as a final run, the behind-the-scenes writing seems to be on the wall. But why would MacFarlane walk away from a project that he cared so much about?

Perhaps the reason for ending The Orville is similar to the reason MacFarlane created it. In the last five years, Star Trek has made a comeback. The recent Star Trek: Strange New Worlds definitely feels like an Original Series-type show. Even the aforementioned Discovery struck a much more hopeful tone from Season 2 onward. The space that The Orville once occupied alone has quickly become more crowded.

The Orville has also turned into more of its own franchise. With the help of Star Trek: The Next Generation veteran producer Brannon Braga, The Orville tried to tackle social issues with varying degrees of success. It also developed its own mythology and lore, with the militantly religious Krill and the fascist Kaylon races plaguing the Planetary Union. It has creative space for its own spinoffs, especially with its move to Hulu, which has invested in programming (both original and paying an "insane" amount for Schitt's Creek). But that potential for expansion and longevity also, ironically, serves as another reason to call it quits.

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The Orville cast drinking.

MacFarlane's other projects include voicing multiple characters for Family Guy on FOX and American Dad on TBS. He’s developing a series for Peacock based on his Ted movies about a foul-mouthed, sentient teddy bear. His NBCUniversal development deal was for over $200 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter, so his schedule is not going to slow down any time soon. He may not be able to devote all the time needed to lead The Orville on and off-camera -- especially now that it's competing with Star Trek.

MacFarlane's passion project would become this Big Thing that needs constant attention and is always fighting to stay even with or surpass the franchise that inspired it. Even if he were to pass the show on to other producers and relinquish that part of his duties, filming a live-action series is a large time commitment. MacFarlane may feel it’s better for the series to end strong rather than wither away. But all hope is not lost for fans who want more of The Orville.

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The cast of The Orville

As mentioned above, Season 3 is not definitively final; Hulu is leaving the door open for MacFarlane to return, although the cast would have to sign new contracts. Especially if the new season does well, the streamer may be willing to negotiate an intermittent deal where there are new seasons every few years or even a series of stand-alone movies. A great example of this is Hulu's other sci-fi acquisition Futurama; the show turned into a series of TV-movies, and the first one actually improved the series.

Thanks to premium cable channels and streaming services, TV isn’t made the way it used to be. Perhaps if MacFarlane can work on his own schedule, he may still be able to make his passion project to the level of quality that he -- and the fans -- expect and find another unique space for the series to flourish in. Even it doesn't continue past season 3, The Orville has created its own reputation as a special piece of science fiction.

The Orville: New Horizons premieres June 22, 2022 on Hulu.