Seth MacFarlane changed his plans for one relationship on The Orville

Seth MacFarlane, creator of The Orville: New Horizons, had plans for a romance aboard the ship.

When season one of The Orville debuted, Captain Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) and Commander Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) were barely on speaking terms after going through a divorce. Season two had fans wondering if the couple were going to reunite. Some even hoped for it. Initially, MacFarlane had plans for a Will They/Won’t They type of relationship, according to TV Line’s Matt Webb Mitovich who posed the question to the series creator.

But after listening to viewer feedback, MacFarlane’s take on the romance changed. It turns out more people were interested in seeing the divorced couple work together as friends and have a normal relationhip.

"“There are a lot of people who think that this idea of a divorced couple that can co-exist and be friends and work together and have a normal civilized relationship is a lot more profound than two people who we want to fall in love again… So lately I’ve been playing to that — they have this past and they have this connection with each other, but there’s something kind of potent about their ability to work as partners, even given all that.”"

Seth MacFarlane had decided to focus on Ed and Kelly’s friendship rather than the romance.

Ed and Kelly have a good friendship now, and they work together well as a team. And MacFarlane is playing this honestly as, most of the time, divorced couples don’t reunite. The Orville is showing that they can, however, have a relationship that is built on friendship and mutual respect.

Honestly, The Orville has been so good this season without focusing on romance between the captain and the commander. Their duties have kept them occupied, and it’s working for the series. And MacFarlane is listening to the viewers which will, hopefully, be one more step towards a renewal for The Orville: New Horizons.