Seth MacFarlane hooks up with Fox for fall program

By LYNN ELBER

AP Television Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox TV is calling on superpowers and Seth MacFarlane to draw viewers this fall.

“The Orville,” a new space adventure starring and produced by MacFarlane, is set 400 years in the future. It follows the adventures of an exploratory spaceship.

“This is Seth’s passion project,” Dana Walden, Fox Television Group chairman and CEO, said Monday in a teleconference detailing the network’s 2017-18 schedule.

“The Gifted,” about a suburban couple that discovers their children have mutant powers, also will debut this fall. Stephen Moyer (”True Blood”) and Amy Acker (”Person of Interest”) will star in the drama that Walden called “big, cinematic and commercial” and is Fox’s first with the Marvel factory.

Comedy also is getting the fantasy and sci-fi touch at Fox with “Ghosted.” The sitcom about two partners exploring unexplained phenomena in Los Angeles stars Craig Robinson of “The Office” and Adam Scott of “Parks and Recreation.”

Three other newcomers will debut at midseason on Fox, including “The Resident,” a medical drama starring Matt Czuchry; “9-1-1,” starring Angela Bassett, and the comedy “LA to Vegas” from producers including Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.

Fox will have music as well, with returning series “Empire” and “Star” and the live musicals “Rent” and “A Christmas Story.”

But it won’t have “American Idol,” which ended its run on Fox in 2016 and is being revived next year by ABC. Walden said Fox was interested in bringing back the show in 2020, but couldn’t reach an agreement with producer FreemantleMedia.

Fox and other broadcast networks are presenting their upcoming program lineups to advertisers in New York this week.