The Big Picture

Seth MacFarlane is getting ready to debut a prequel series to his film Ted, taking the characters back to high school. The Orville, MacFarlane’s love letter to Star Trek, may not be officially over yet, giving fans hope for its future. MacFarlane is actively developing a potential project with Liam Neeson, with a script already in the draft stage.

Seth MacFarlane may be one of the busiest men in show business, but that hasn’t stopped him from working on more, as well as bringing exciting news on projects past that aren’t yet gone. The latest for the multihyphenate is a prequel series of his hit comedy film Ted, which takes the titular bear and his thunder buddy John (played by Mark Wahlberg in the original films, and Max Burkholder in the series) back to high school.

However, MacFarlane always has his fingers in many different pies, as fans have come to realize over the years, and this time is no exception, as Collider’s Steve Weintraub found out while talking with the Family Guy creator ahead of the first episode of Ted. Weintraub asked about another of MacFarlane’s past projects, The Orville — his love letter to Star Trek — which has faced an uncertain future. While the series aired originally for two seasons on Fox, the third season was picked up by Hulu and aired in 2022, which is when it was last shown. However, when prompted by Weintraub about the show’s potential future, fans will be delighted to learn that not all hope is lost. While he couldn’t reveal what we can expect to see next from the series, MacFarlane confirmed we haven’t seen the last of it:

“How do I answer this question? It is not officially over yet, no.”

Is Seth MacFarlane Making ‘The Naked Gun’?

And in more exciting news, MacFarlane was able to give a more concrete answer about another potential project in the works. At the start of 2023, Liam Neeson spoke with Collider about the project, in which he was attached to star, and confirmed he had approached MacFarlane over making the film together, joking that it would be “the end of the career.”

However, that was 12 months ago, with very little progress made, seemingly. Weintraub questioned MacFarlane on the status of the film, a worthy question to ask given the tumultuous state of affairs in Hollywood over the last year, with projects being cancelled left, right, and center. Wonderfully, MacFarlane was in a position to state the movie was actively in development, with Akiva Schaffer currently in charge of the script which has completed its draft stage.

“It’s being worked on as we speak,” confirmed MacFarlane. “Akiva Schaffer, who’s written the draft with his team, has done a hell of a job, and it is in development. So, it is still very much alive.”

What Made ‘The Naked Gun’ So Special?
The Naked Gun is widely considered to be a great comedy and is also known for its unique blend of comedy. The series is filled with absurd situations and slapstick comedy, and Leslie Nielsen’s portrayal of Lt. Frank Drebin is central to the series’ appeal. His ability to deliver the most ridiculous lines with a straight face and serious demeanor made his character memorable and beloved. The films were chock-full of clever writing, wordplay, visual gags, and background humor and were renowned for parodying and satirizing standard, stock police dramas.

Ted premieres on Peacock on January 11. Watch the rest of our chat with MacFarlane in the player above.

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