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FOX and Seth MacFarlane are blasting into a second season of MacFarlane’s live-action series “The Orville”



The Season 2 pickup is the first renewal for a new series on the broadcast networks this season. (Streaming service CBS All Access has renewed “Star Trek: Discovery,” which had its premiere on the broadcast network.) FOX is keeping the episode count at 13 for “The Orville” this season, with the length of Season 2 yet to be determined.

“Once again Seth has struck a powerful chord with viewers,” FOX Entertainment president Michael Thorn says in a statement. “He has delivered a series full of optimism, drama and his trademark humor. We want to thank him and the rest of the talented cast, as well as the producers and crew, for an incredible first season. We can’t wait to see where ‘The Orville’ travels in the second.”

“The Orville” is FOX’s No. 3-rated drama so far this season, behind “Empire” and “Star.” It’s averaging a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 on the night it airs (including two post-NFL showings before it moved to its regular Thursday home), along with 4.85 million viewers.

Since moving to Thursdays, “The Orville” has averaged a 1.1 in the 18-49 demographic.

A week of delayed viewing pushes its 18-49 rating up to 2.5. FOX says the show’s multiplatform audience is about 10 million viewers.

“The Orville” will conclude its season in December or early January, depending on how FOX schedules the period between Thanksgiving and the new year. The network hasn’t released its plans for the second half of the season yet.