The Oddity of The Orville: How Marketing Can Change Public Opinion
- K.J. Griffith
- Jul 22, 2022
- 3 min read
As mentioned in July 2022’s post about what we’re watching, I wrote about a series that I love to watch called The Orville. This series follows the crew of the USS Orville and their many adventures throughout the galaxy. The first trailer for this series was released in May of 2017 to create buzz for this new television series coming out on Fox’s television network. Take a look at the first trailer that was released below:
Starring Seth MacFarlane and with comedy such as running a ship with your ex-wife, this series is an all laughs comedy just like the trailer! Actually, this representation of the television series is extremely wrong. The Orville is comedic yes, but every story has a different tone within the series. It does poke fun and makes jokes, but The Orville additionally covers topics such as sexism, religion, divorce, and suicide, just to name a few. It’s not the marketed screwball comedy we are promised, so why did this happen and how did it affect this series?
In the world of film and television, marketing is just as important as creating a great story for audiences. In fact, for many blockbusters, marketing makes up half the budget. It has to be done right, or else the audience doesn’t get what they wanted and leave ultimately disappointed. This can not only affect reviews, but it can affect the viewership, and of course the money. So finding the niche audience who would want the film or series you are creating is paramount.
When a series or film is completed, the next step is to create buzz by tailoring marketing materials to the right audience. The Orville team wanted to focus on the science fiction fans and, more specifically, the the Trekkie community. This series is perfect for this audience because its a literal parody/homage to the Star Trek universe. It even includes many actors most popularly known for their roles in the several Star Trek Series series made in almost half a century. However, no matter how much a production company communicates what their vision is, it’s up to the distributors to market the series or film. Their distributor, Fox, obviously went a different direction.
Now Fox isn’t totally wrong in how they marketed this series. They used “star power” to market The Orville instead of the story. If Hollywood knows anything, it’s how a name can bring people, no matter if the film or series is good or bad. There are two big names they could attach to specifically the first episode of the series: Seth MacFarlane and Jon Favreau. MacFarlane is famous for comedies Family Guy and Ted, Favreau is known for directing Chef and the MCU's Iron Man. This can lead to certain assumptions made by the audience and the network. Specifically MacFarlane’s influence can make people assume it's another comedy. Fox used this assumption as a way to get people to view the series. However, comedy is not used as a major genre in this series, which highlights a bigger problem.
What The Orville represents is a long time issue between film/television and how it’s marketed. There is a disconnect, mostly because the creative force behind the project isn’t always involved. Things like trailers are outsourced or given to others who don’t know the message of the story being told. The big point is that film and television marketing are selling what the audience wants, and what they want isn’t always what they will get.
So what happened to The Orville? After a poor reception from critics, this series looked like it would never return after its first season. However, there is one type of marketing worth mentioning that ultimately is the best type of marketing: word of mouth. The people the series was made for found it and continued to tell others about how good it was. The Orville is now streaming its third season under the name The Orville: New Horizons on Hulu, with a dedicated fan base in tow. And yes, I did say Hulu and not Fox. MacFarlane and the production company decided to switch to streaming and leave the traditional broadcasting world. Now no one should never assume, but people could say that the trailer above might have been one of the reasons they moved. In the end, we still get a great series with a lot of heart, even though the original marketing didn't show just what this series could potentially be.
TBH, I think Hulu did so much better with the Season Three Trailer.
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