Top 9 Dream Cameos for The Orville Season 4

1. Gates McFadden

Fresh from her acclaimed performance as an older Dr. Beverly Crusher in Star Trek: Picard season 3, Gates McFadden would be a great bit of casting for The Orville. The obvious choice would be for McFadden to play a former friend of Dr. Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald). Perhaps McFadden could play a mentor figure to Claire, who requests the help of the Orville crew. It's worth pointing out that The Orville doesn't always go for the obvious casting choices, but Picard proved McFadden's range as an actor, so she could just as easily play a villainous alien as a space-faring medic.

Star Trek Picard Dr Beverly Crusher

Twitter article posted by Michael Dorn

2. Michael Dorn

When The Orville premiered back in 2017, Star Trek's favorite Klingon, Michael Dorn a.k.a. Worf, tweeted Seth MacFarlane his approval of the show. Michael Dorn hasn't had a guest role in The Orville yet, but he feels like a natural choice for a role in the show. Given the obvious influence of Star Trek's Klingons on The Orville's Moclans, it would be funny to see Dorn play a member of the alien species in season 4. The Orville season 3 depicted Bortus (Peter Macon) turning his back on his race for the brutal treatment of his daughter. Michael Dorn guesting as Bortus' father in The Orville season 4 could lend this ongoing storyline some real emotional weight.

Michael Dorn as Worf and Marc Worden as Alexander in Star Trek

3. Scott Bakula

Another brilliant replacement for Ted Danson's Admiral Perry would be Quantum Leap's Scott Bakula. Since becoming a household name as Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap, Bakula has played the lead in Star Trek: Enterprise and, more recently, NCIS: New Orleans. Bakula would bring an easygoing charm to the role of a Union admiral, that could make him a very different type of senior officer in The Orville season 4.

Star Trek Enterprise. Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer.

4. Jonathan Frakes

Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jonathan Frakes revealed a desire for a cameo in The Orville while talking to Orville Nation in 2019. Frakes has directed several episodes of MacFarlane's show, but has never crossed over to the other side as an actor. Adrienne Palicki's rumored departure creates a perfect opportunity to subvert Jonathan Frakes' classic TNG role as Commander Riker. He could make a brief cameo as Ed's new number one, in reference to Riker's role in TNG. To fulfill Frakes' desire to wear the full alien prosthetics, Kelly's temporary replacement should therefore be an alien species to better mask the gag.

Jonathan Frakes and Seth MacFarlane in The Orville

5. Jeffrey Combs

Every Jeffrey Combs character in Star Trek is different, and so he feels like a natural choice for an appearance in The Orville. Given Combs' chameleon-like skills as a character actor, he could play everything from a villainous Krill to a Union officer. Seth MacFarlane's a huge Star Trek fan, so he's also probably a big fan of Combs' work in the franchise. Hopefully, the lack of Jeffrey Combs in The Orville so far is because MacFarlane hasn't quite found a meaty enough role for the actor.

Weyoun looks concerned while Dukat speaks from Star Trek Deep Space Nine

6. David Tennant

Doctor Who's David Tennant made a brief cameo as the Tenth Doctor in Family Guy, so he's had some experience working with Seth MacFarlane. Tennant also sent up the role of the Doctor in Ricky Gervais' Extras, so the actor has a sense of humor about himself. Casting Tennant either as a tongue-in-cheek time traveler character or, better yet, a villain like one of The Orville's Krill would be a real coup for Seth MacFarlane's sci-fi comedy-drama.

David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor leaning out of his TARDIS in the 2023 Children In Need special looking shocked

7. Michelle Forbes

Battlestar Galactica's Michelle Forbes would be a fantastic addition to the cast of The Orville, perhaps as a replacement for Ted Danson's Admiral Perry. Forbes excels at playing stern, slightly brittle authority figures, so she could be an excellent foil for Seth MacFarlane's slightly schlubby Captain Ed Mercer. Generally, Ed gets an easy ride from his superiors, so giving him an authority figure who has no time for his unique command style could shake things up in The Orville season 4.

Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes) on the phone in Battlestar Galactica

8. Mark Wahlberg

Ted's Mark Wahlberg has good chemistry with Seth MacFarlane when he's not even on screen, so it would be great to see them together in The Orville. Casting Mark Wahlberg as an old friend of Ed's who has gone on to become a heroic Union officer would make for some rich conflict between Wahlberg and MacFarlane. Having starred in the Transformers franchise, Wahlberg has some experience of working in high-concept science fiction. Liam Neeson and Charlize Theron have already starred in The Orville, so it's time for Seth MacFarlane's other Hollywood co-star to make an appearance.

Bumblebee, Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, and Optimus Primal from the Transformers movie franchise

9. Patrick Stewart

A Patrick Stewart cameo in The Orville is at the top of many fans' wishlists, and season 4 would be a perfect place for it to occur. With Star Trek: Picard now at an end, Patrick Stewart is freed up to make a small appearance in Seth MacFarlane's Orville. The two have worked together before in both Family Guy and American Dad! and it's clear from Stewart's constant praise of Jonathan Frakes that he remains loyal to those that he enjoys working with. If The Orville season 4 does finally get the green light, it may be one last hurrah, meaning that a cameo by Patrick Stewart could be the perfect kiss to the past that brings Seth MacFarlane's Star Trek homage full circle.

The-Enterprise-D-&-(Patrick-Stewart-as-Picard)-from-Star-Trek-Generations