
Shows that feel likeThe Orville (2017–2022)
If you loved The Orville, the closest series we have are Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022), ted (2024) and Dark Matter (2015). Most of the picks below share The Orville's contemplative and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Stargate Universe (2009).
If The Orville hit the spot, these will too

Hopeful episodic exploration, the way classic Trek used to feel
The difference: Actual canon Trek — earnest where The Orville winks

Seth MacFarlane's mix of dumb jokes and genuine sweetness
The difference: No spaceship in sight — pure crude nostalgia comedy

Both land stillness and ideas at once
The difference: Trades the wit of The Orville for an angle of its own

Both are built on the same subject: curious
The difference: Leans harder into documentary than The Orville does

The same mix in both: dream logic, then awe

Space treated seriously — politics, physics and crews under strain
The difference: Rigorous and grim — humor is rationed like the air

A flawed crew far from home, workplace friction and all
The difference: Dark and rationed — the optimism stayed on Earth

Both keep coming back to the same thing: the future
The difference: Sits closer to action & adventure than The Orville does

Cerebral sci-fi & fantasy, and it commits to that

Common ground: space exploration

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

The same preoccupation in both: the future
In the mood for more contemplative?
all contemplative shows →The best-reviewed series that share The Orville’s defining feeling.









