fourth Orville season on the way, but its creator is a TV veteran. MacFarlane has been working in TV for decades, with one of his most popular projects, American Dad!, airing continuously since 2005. In that time, MacFarlane has amassed a vast network of trusted collaborators, whom he repeatedly recruits for new projects. The Orville, with its densely populated spaceship and an endless supply of new worlds, is rich with parts for MacFarlane’s collaborators.

MacFarlane’s Orville follows the crew of a space exploration vessel, the titular USS Orville, 400 years in the future. The comedy show is a loving pastiche of the original series of Star Trek and its sequel series, The Next Generation. While the first season of The Orville was poorly received by critics, the second and third seasons were received to widespread acclaim (via Rotten Tomatoes), with reviews singling out the series’ gradual transition into thoughtful, character-driven drama amidst its irreverent comedy. Conversely, American Dad! functions as a far more consistent outlet for MacFarlane’s flippant humor, following the absurd life of CIA agent Stan Smith and a family of outrageous characters.

Seth MacFarlane

Ed Mercer in The Orville, Stan and Roger from American Dad

Seth MacFarlane is the creator and star of both The Orville and American Dad!. On The Orville, he plays the titular ship’s captain, Ed Mercer. On American Dad!, he voices numerous characters, including the show’s lead, CIA agent Stan Smith, and Roger, the narcissistic alien. MacFarlane’s accomplished career as a writer, actor and voice actor has seen him lead numerous high-profile projects. He is likely best known as the creator and star of Family Guy, in which numerous Orville actors also appear. Macfarlane also wrote and directed the live-action Ted films, wherein he voices the titular talking bear, and to which character he plans to return for a prequel series.

Scott Grimes

Scott Grimes as Gordon Malloy in The Orville and Steve Smith in American Dad

Scott Grimes is another American Dad! main actor in the Orville cast. Grimes voices the teenaged Steve Smith on American Dad! and Lt. Gordon Malloy, the ship’s helmsman, in The Orville. Malloy is a frequent MacFarlane collaborator, also voicing the recurring role of Joe Swanson’s son, Kevin, in Family Guy and slated to star in MacFarlane’s Ted prequel series. Outside of his work with MacFarlane, Grimes may be best known for his starring role in the World War 2 miniseries Band of Brothers as Donald G. Malarkey. He also stars on ER as Archie Morris and on Party of Five as Will McCorkle.

Mike Henry

Dann in The Orville and Jackson in American Dad

Mike Henry plays prominent roles in both American Dad! and The Orville. Henry plays Dann, the globe-headed alien engineer and lieutenant aboard the USS Orville. In American Dad!, his voice features in numerous roles across more than 70 episodes of the show. Most notably, Henry voices Jackson, Stan’s coworker at the CIA. Mike Henry has appeared in several other Seth MacFarlane projects; in Family Guy, Henry voices Cleveland Brown, a part which he reprised for the character’s spinoff series The Cleveland Show. Henry also plays a newscaster in Ted and voices various characters in the web series Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy.

Rachael MacFarlane

Orville Computer and Hayley Smith from American Dad

Seth MacFarlane’s sister Rachael is an actress whose voice has featured in multiple major productions as well as significant roles in some of her brother’s projects. In American Dad!, Rachael MacFarlane plays Hayley Smith, Stan’s idealistic daughter. In The Orville, she recurs as the voice of the USS Orville’s onboard computer. Rachael MacFarlane’s other appearances in Seth MacFarlane's projects include various voice roles on Family Guy, such as Meg Griffin’s friend Tatum and even Meg herself in the series pilot; Rachael MacFarlane also plays an assistant in Ted 2. Her other voice roles include Wonder Woman in DC Super Friends and Mindy in The Grim Adventures of Grim and Mandy.

Dee Bradley Baker

Jorvik in The Orville, Klaus in American Dad

Dee Bradley Baker is a prolific voice actor with over 600 acting credits to his name. Baker’s voice can be heard on American Dad! as Klaus, the talking goldfish with the brain of a German Olympian, and on The Orville as Dr. Jorvik, the amphibian alien creature and botanist. Baker’s voice also features in several episodes of Family Guy in various ing roles. Baker’s prominent career has seen him voice Perry the Platypus on Phineas and Ferb, Daffy Duck in Space Jam and most of the clone troopers, including Commanders Rex and Cody in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

J. Lee

John LaMarr in The Orville, Roger and O'Shamus Mherson in American Dad

J. Lee stars in The Orville as John LaMarr, initially the ship’s navigator until Ed Mercer promotes him to Lieutenant Commander. Lee also recurs on American Dad! as a range of ing voices. J. Lee began his career as a production assistant on Family Guy before ing the voice cast of American Dad!, followed by roles on several Seth MacFarlane projects, including Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. Lee is also a credited writer on The Cleveland Show. His other credits include a hyena in 2019’s The Lion King and the starring role in aTypical Wednesday, a film written and directed by J. Lee.

Hollywood Guest Stars

Ted Danson as iral Perry looking stern in The Orville

The Orville has also seen numerous cameos and guest appearances from big-name actors who have likewise appeared in American Dad!. Ted Danson plays the recurring role of iral Perry in seasons 2 and 3 of The Orville, and guest stars as Dr. Ray Petit on American Dad!. Danson is known for starring roles in numerous beloved TV series, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Good Place and Cheers. Holland Taylor, best known for her roles in Two and A Half Men and the Spy Kids films, plays Ed Mercer’s mother in The Orville and Stan Smith’s mother-in-law in American Dad!.

Jason Alexander, who plays Seinfeld’s immoral George Costanza, guest stars on American Dad! as the hypnotherapist Sal in season 2. In The Orville, Alexander is the reptilian bartender Olix, who appears in two episodes of the show’s second season. Elizabeth Gillies, who stars as Fallon Carrington on the CW’s Dynasty reboot, also appears in both series, playing the Kandarian immortal Dinal in The Orville and lending her powerful singing voice to the character of Lena Horne in American Dad!. Child actor Max Burkholder, star of Parenthood, also features in both The Orville and American Dad!. Burkholder will star as young John Bennett in the Ted series.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes