'The Orville'
Picture of Seth McFarlane as Captain Ed Mercer on "The Orville" TV series. The Orville/ Facebook

The wait for “The Orville” season 2 will not be a long one. After concerns about the producers not having enough time to finish all the work to get show out this year, Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer) and his team have managed to get the show to premiere by the end of this year.

According to a report by Comic Book the second season of MacFarlane’s popular TV series will air on December 30 in the US. Sports fans will be able to enjoy the show after watching Sunday Night Football double-header. The show will return to its regular Thursday slot after the NFL season.

The fans of the show will remember the first season had a similar air date strategy. Given the popularity of the TV series the producers are replicating the same strategy this year too.

Filming of the new season began in March, and it is still ongoing. Director Jon Cassar recently said that they have completed the filming of six episodes.

A total of 13 episodes will be filmed this year for the show. An episode that was supposed to air in season 1 has been pushed to the next season, making the total number of episodes this time around to be 14.

What can the fans expect to see on the show in the next season? Along with the return of familiar characters, there will be new aliens that will be introduced. Cassar recently teased a picture of one of these new aliens in his post on Instagram.

Of the enemies that Mercer and his team will face, perhaps the most deadly are the Krill. The mysterious alien race will be back in the next season, and Cassar posted a behind-the-scenes picture of him on Instagram, directing an episode featuring the Krill in an action sequence. The director and some of the cast members have been sharing updates such as this online with the fans.