J. Lee expresses gratitude that fans didn’t leave The Orville

Fans of The Orville waited a long time between season two and season three, and J. Lee wants them to know he’s grateful.

The season two finale of The Orville aired on April 25, 2019. While filming for the third season began in October 2019, it was brought to a screeching halt by the COVID pandemic. It didn’t finish filming until October 2021. By that time, over two years had elapsed, and it was only natural for there to be some concern over whether or not the fans would return to the series which ultimately premiered its third season on June 2, 2022.

In a recent interview with Talking the Orville, J. Lee, who portrays the brilliant and talented Lt. Commander John LeMarr on the series, expressed what has been on the minds of many fans as well as, most likely, the rest of the cast and crew of the series.

"“I’m just glad people didn’t leave us, or if they did, they came back.”"

J. Lee said Hulu and Disney pay attention to all of the attention that fans are showing on social media.

With the future of The Orville still hanging in the balance, social media has been buzzing with #renewtheorville even five months out since the season three finale aired in August, and many of the tweets are getting retweets that continues the forward momentum. Fans love this series, and many on social media are threatening to terminate certain streaming channels if The Orville isn’t renewed. Lee said Hulu and Disney do pay attention to social media.

Much like how Penny Johnson Jerald encouraged everyone to tell everyone, if this series is to be renewed, fans have to raise their voices to be heard. Or, in this case, tap keyboards, although, it is a shame that such a popular, fantastically written and brillianty acted series hasn’t already been renewed.