Alien Nation

"Alien Nation" is a perfect examples of a well-executed spin off. The original James Caan movie was a decent buddy cop flick, but the premise really lends itself to long0for television; and there's some great character development here as a result. It's a good mixture of sci-fi and cop show, and the big themes - racism, slavery, xenophobia - are handled with subtlety. But the important thing is that you do grow to like these people, and it's a worthwhile investment.

I know that there were TV movies produced to settle the dangling plot threads, but part of me is still disappointed it was cancelled on a cliffhanger (Fox was still young; it didn't yet have a reputation for killing off quality shows).

A good show, nevertheless.

7/10

One of the best sci-fi and/or buddy cop shows I've ever seen. Like all really good science fiction, it comes up with an utterly improbable premise (namely that an alien slave ship lands on Earth and the humanoid ex-slaves must integrate into human society) and proceeds to be completely real within that premise. Without fail, every single episode of this tragically short-lived series was, in turns, touching, humorous and compelling.

If you can find this show on the air, watch it, its well worth it.

We're currently watching this on Roku's Dust channel (October of 2019). Full series, over 17 hours. Excellent science fiction based on the movie from 1988. Probably a little better than the movie (which is unusual for a TV series). Cancelled too early. This should have run at east a couple more seasons.

Strong characters. Tight scripts. Storylines that blend science fiction, drama and humor with a little bit of alien sexiness thrown in. Sometimes the animosity between the two main characters is pushed. They can go from being close comrades one moment to arguing about food or odors the next. But this is definitely forgivable.

Look for Lori Petty in a great role in an early episode.

Normally I'm not a fan of sci fi but something about this series changed my opinion Alien Nation is probably one of the best cop shows that was on TV. A slave ship carrying an alien race known as the Tenctonese crashed in the Mojave Desert near the city of Los Angeles five years ago. They have been bred to have great strength and quick intelligence, hard edged Officer Matt Sikes, played by Gary Graham is teamed up with a newcomer officer George Francisco (Pierpoint). Although the two mismatched cops have many differences and issues they have to work together thrown into the mix is George's family wife Susan (Scarabelli), young daughter Emily (Woodland) and teen aged son Buck (Six). Meanwhile Sikes must also deal with his budding romantic feelings for his neighbor and scientist Cathy Frankel (Treas) a gorgeous newcomer.

What I like most about the show is the humorous and difficult moments that are displayed when prejudice is shown towards the newcomers, also it's interesting to see a romantic relationship developing between a human male and a tenctonese female but what's a love story without the hurdles of interspecies romance.

For fans of sci fi classics Alien Nation is the number #1 show to watch.

This is one of the better shows out there. It deals with racism in a really positive way and isn't "preachy" or "cuddly". There are a few problems (Why would people who dissolve in salt water choose to live in a coastal city like Los Angeles?) but those are easily overlooked.

The show is really well done and makes some great references to todays society. The new race has drug and alcohol addictions, faces discrimination both inside and outside their communities, and struggles to integrate itself into the human world.

One of the ongoing jokes in the series is the newcomer names. They never had names on the ship so they are assigned names by a human agency. A lot of them are comical, like "San Francisco" but some of them are politically incorrect, like calling a mentally challenged newcomer "Albert F---ing Einstein". The middle name was dropped for the series but the character remains.

I recommend it, it is a great show.