The science fiction genre is still doubling down on apocalyptic nightmares and dystopia scripts, writes Quartz. But Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, is ready to put that type of science fiction show to bed, with a new series that aims to return to the hopeful and optimistic side of sci-fi.
MacFarlane will be writing, producing, and starring in a Star Trek-inspired new TV series on Fox called The Orville. It is a comedic drama set abroad a starship 400 years in the future, reports Quartz.
MacFarlane says that he has wanted to return to the days of Star Trek for a while now. Those days demonstrated how much people could accomplish when they worked together. Though he thinks a lot of dystopian sci-fi is great and very entertaining, he doesn’t think everything should be a “nightmare scenario.”
“I miss the forward thinking, aspirational, optimistic place in science fiction that Star Trek used to occupy,” MacFarlane told a group of TV critics and reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour last week, reports Quartz.
Movies like Mad Max or series like The Hunger Games and Divergent follow the Hollywood trend of showing how truly bad things might get in the future. But MacFarlane has had enough of that.
“I’m tired of being told that everything is going to be grim and dystopian and people are going to be murdering each other for food,” MacFarlane said, according to Quartz.
The series premieres September 10.
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