The Orville shares tribute post to Norm MacDonald

Norm MacDonald voiced Lt. Yaphit on The Orville: New Horizons.

Though fans were excited to see the return of The Orville: New Horizons, we all knew it would be bittersweet as Norm MacDonald, the comedian who voice the gelantinous Lt. Yaphit, had passed away on September 14, 2021. So this would be his final season, although, Seth MacFarlane did say he had plans for the lieutenant if the series is renewed for a fourth season.

Shortly after the third season finale of The Orville: New Horizons, the show’s Twitter channel released a short but memorable tribute to the comedian’s three season run on the series. Coming in at only one minute and one second, the video was the cast and crew’s way of saying thanks to MacDonald for the laughs and the memories.

No video could sum up Norm MacDonald’s contribution, but this is a beautiful way of remembering him as part of the cast.

The tribute does offer some of the funniest moments in Yaphit’s all too brief appearances on the series, including the one where he “makes himself over” and appears to Dr. Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald) as the man behind the voice. Needless to say, she’s shocked but not in a good way.

MacDonald’s delivery of his lines for Yaphit was dry and humorous but without being deliberately so. He didn’t have to stretch to make something funny. Just the tone of his voice and the inflections were enough to bring a chuckle or two. Unfortunately, Yaphit didn’t have a lot of lines in season three, understandable given MacDonald’s illness, but that only made us cherish the brief moments that much more.

MacDonald had a gift that he enabled him to make a green blob personable, funny, and a part of a crew in a way no other science fiction drama has done before. He is already greatly missed, and should The Orville: New Horizons be renewed, life aboard The Orville won’t be the same without him.