User reviews

The TV movie/Pilot for the 1989-90 television series. This is actually a pretty good continuation taking place a short time after the events of the 1988 film. The cast replacements fair well and there's more of a look into the racial undertones with the newcomers. There's a bit silliness involving a fake monster, but despite that this sets the TV series up quite nicely.

'Alien Nation' was probably was one of the best sci-fi shows of its time, taking the buddy cop idea and adding in aliens.

A television series, based on the 1988 James Caan film, revolves around Detective Matt Sikes and his alien partner George Francisco. George's people were slaves who managed to escape their masters and are now making a new life for themselves on Earth, where they sought refuge. The aliens' arrival not only bring about much bemusement as human struggle to adapt to their new guests, who have many quirks such as getting drunk on soured milk and the fact it takes three for them to have a child, but there is much prejudices between the two races.

'Alien Nation' had the humour and action that you'd expect of any cop series but with the added intrigue of how humans would cope with such an event, touching upon racial tensions between the two races that are clearly analogy of what America was like in the Sixties as black people fought for their right to equality. That said, the serious issues raised doesn't detract from this being a fun and entertaining show as we see the situations reckless Matt gets into with the calmer, family man George.

It's just a shame it was cancelled only after one series (although Fox obviously realised their idiotic mistake as they revived the characters in the Nineties with a number of made-for-TV films). Why do decent shows never get a chance to prove themselves?

At least not until the real aliens arrive and set us straight about their culture and history. For now, we have to make do with the inspired creations of talented science fiction writers, actors and directors who produce such shows/movies as Alien Nation, Star Trek, 2001, a Space Oddessy,Close Encounters of the Third Kind, etc etc.

Alien Nation, the TV series and -to a lesser extent-the movie is one of those brilliant and creative attempts to look at a different culture in an intelligent and non-judgmental way, to find the truth in our collective dreams (and fears) about the future and the actual aliens we will one day encounter.

Alien Nation was the best show ever made that took people inside the ugly world of racism and helped combat it. The viewers could relate to Matthew Sikes, who was prejudice against the newcomers because they looked strange and were taking ``our'' jobs away from us. As Matt and the viewers got to know more about the newcomers, through George Francisco and his family, we began to love them and to realize how easily racism takes control of our emotions and that we must do everything we can to fight it in ourselves. The writers and producers did an excellent job of introducing us to a new culture that was fascinating and made us want to learn more. I would recommend the show to everyone; especially those who believe they have no prejudices.

This was one of the best TV series made. It featured excellent stories and some of the finest acting for any show on that year. The characters were developed with care and they added more to each of them in every episode. I was very sad when they canceled the show. The TV movies they made were good, but I wish the series could have stayed on. The story arc about the conception and birth of the alien children was brilliant! I give this series an A+.

I love this series, it's a shame it didn't last too long. Great acting by the main cast, and most importantly GREAT STORIES :)

Thank god the Alien Nation universe is still being continued through TV movies.

The relationship between George and Sikes is fun to watch, as they get closer and closer as friends.

The alien culture is also great, and believable.

A joy to watch.

It's not like they look anything like their counterparts in the original film, but they take on personality aspects of the original characters. And they do this perfectly. I can literally see James and Mandy playing these parts in the television show. And if I let my mind wander, Graham and Pierpoint could have played those original film roles.

This film is actually the reverse of theatrical version... in the theatrical version, we have newcomers transforming into something else.

In this made for TV movie which served to launch the TV series, we have what looks like the appearance of a transformation, but it is some thing else.

If you want to find out what that is, I suggest you watch this. This television film mirrors the original film, but we are brought several steps further into the lifestyles of the newcomers, and we are introduced to George "Sam" Francisco's family, if you watch carefully, you will see George carrying around a coffee cup that says I "heart" San Francisco, reminding us that his actual given name was Sam.

Later, on during the actual series, we are introduced to their language, their religious sects, their physiology, and most important their biology.

It is too unfortunate that this series never got its second season, which apparently was planned, but somehow fox network could not fulfill their obligation. But we were given five very good television movies that carried on the saga.

And even as we watch those five TV movies, they pick up at the same spot where the cliffhanger left us, but certain things could not be replicated, the complicated lock on Sikes apartment door for one thing. But they did do a good job continuing the look of the series and the original film.

Like many other series before - and since - "Alien Nation" was adapted for the small screen from a big screen motion picture, in this case starring Mandy Patinkin and James Caan, if you can believe that. Gary Graham reprises the role played by Caan of Det. Sgt. Matt Sykes, a bigot LA cop. Graham, of course, is probably best remembered for the good job - well, okay, adequate job - he did in "The Hollywood Knights" and the not so good job in "Robot Jox". Like the movie, the series concerns itself with a shipload of basically human-looking aliens, who are in fact escaped slaves, that arrive on Earth and try to adapt to human culture. They have their quirks, like getting drunk on sour milk, and their weaknesses, like dying horribly on contact with salt water, but basically they just want to get along. In their efforts to do just that, they adopt human-sounding names, which leads to one of the show's running gags. Sykes' alien partner, for example, is Det. Sam Francisco. Once, it's cute. But more than once, or even occasionally, it can easily get out of hand, and did, with characters like Pete Moss, Mike Raphone, et al ad nauseum. Did this show get silly and tedious at times? Yup, but no more so than other sci-fi series, like "Timecop", the brainchild of Harve Bennett (yes, THAT Harve Bennett), "RoboCop", "Mantis", "Viper", and a whole raft of other sackrace losers that all fell out of a Crumbum Tree and hit every branch on the way down. Having said this, we actually liked this show, and didn't for one centon believe Fox's reason for cancellation, to wit: the makeup costs of the actors prosthetic headpieces for a weekly show were just too high. Tell it to someone who believes it. This was, in the last analysis, a pretty good show as these things go, and really deserved better

Another cool show killed before it's time. Every time a cool show comes on they kill it after a season. Well acted and good stories to boot. At least the films have kept it going in fine fashion.