Seth MacFarlane to Create & Star in FOX Dramedy for 2017-18 Season

FOX has ordered 13 episodes of a new hour-long, live-action comedic drama series created and executive-produced by Emmy Award winner Seth MacFarlane (FAMILY GUY, "Ted"), who is also set to star. The series is being targeted for the 2017-2018 television season, it was announced today by Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Chairmen and CEOs, FOX Television Group.

"I've wanted to do something like this show ever since I was a kid, and the timing finally feels right," said MacFarlane. "20th and FOX have been good to me for many years, and of course, Dana and Gary have been fantastic bosses and true pals, so it was a no-brainer to come to them with the project. I think this is gonna be something special."

"For almost two decades, we've enjoyed an incredible collaboration with our partner and friend Seth MacFarlane," said Newman and Walden. "He's one of the smartest, funniest and most talented people we've ever had the pleasure of working with - a great guy who's also had such an impact on both television and popular culture. Seth has one of the most original voices - in every sense of the word - and we've been waiting for him to bring us a project as special as this one. It's classic Seth - fresh and funny, incredibly smart, wickedly subversive and undeniably FOX."

From 20th Century FOX Television, the UNTITLED SETH MacFARLANE PROJECT, is a comedic drama set 300 years in the future. It follows the adventures of the Orville, a not-so-top-of-the-line exploratory ship in Earth's interstellar Fleet. Facing cosmic challenges from without and within, this motley crew of space explorers will boldly go where no comedic drama has gone before.

Seth MacFarlane is familiar to FOX audiences as the creator, executive producer and voice actor on the long-running and Emmy Award-winning animated comedy series FAMILY GUY, currently in its 13th season. The series has been renewed through the 2016-2017 television season. FAMILY GUY has garnered MacFarlane Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music and Lyrics (2002) and Outstanding Voice-Over Performance (2000). He received a 2015 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, in addition to his 2014 nomination in the same category. Along with FAMILY GUY, MacFarlane serves as co-creator, executive producer and voice actor on "American Dad!," and he serves as an executive producer on the network's animated series BORDERTOWN. MacFarlane is also an executive producer on the cable comedy BLUNT TALK, starring Patrick Stewart and written by Jonathan Ames. Additionally, he executive-produced FOX's critically acclaimed documentary series "COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY," which garnered a Peabody Award, two CRITICS' CHOICE TELEVISION AWARDS and 13 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.

MacFarlane made his feature film directorial debut in 2012 with the highest-grossing original R-rated film of all time, "Ted." Starring Mark Wahlberg and MacFarlane as THE VOICE of the lovable, foul-mouthed teddy bear, the buddy comedy was also co-written and produced by MacFarlane. Fresh off the success of "Ted," MacFarlane hosted the 85th Academy Awards in 2013 and was also nominated for the film that same year, in the category of Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song, for "Everybody Needs a Best Friend." The sequel, "Ted 2," was released last summer. In May 2014, MacFarlane's western-comedy, "A Million Ways to Die in the West," was released. He wrote, produced, directed and starred in the movie, which featured an ensemble cast that included Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson, among others. MacFarlane has released three successful albums and his most recent album, "No One Ever Tells You," debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes jazz charts this past October. He has traveled the world to sing with renowned orchestras, such as the BBC Proms, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic, lending his baritone voice to the hidden gems of the '40s and '50s swing era. In December 2016, MacFarlane will voice "Mike," a small mouse with a big, Sinatra-esque voice and an arrogant attitude in Illumination Entertainment's animated musical family film, "Sing."

The UNTITLED SETH MacFARLANE PROJECT will be produced by 20th Century FOX Television. Seth MacFarlane wrote the pilot episode and serves as executive producer and creator of the series.

Photo by Walter McBride

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