NEW YORK — Seth MacFarlane is well-known as the comedy bad boy behind cheeky hits such as the long-running animated sitcom “Family Guy” and the two “Ted” films.

Now he’s on a new trip aboard “The Orville,” a sci-fi odyssey where he stars as the captain of an exploratory spaceship 400 years in the future.

MacFarlane acknowledges that “The Orville” is his first foray into drama, but he’s a lifelong fan of science fiction and has dreamed of crafting his own sci-fi series for years.

While he worries about how viewers will receive him as a live-action hero on a TV space adventure, he says he loved writing, producing and acting in it — and hopes the audience will want him to do more.

The 13-episode first season of “The Orville” premieres Sunday on Fox.

Frazier Moore, The Associated Press