Alien Nation (TV series)
A cop show with aliens at the precinct, using Newcomer integration to skewer real prejudice.
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The series follows a human police officer and his alien detective partner in a world where Earth has reluctantly integrated extraterrestrial refugees.[1] TV Guide listed "Alien Nation" among 60 shows they considered "Cancelled Too Soon" in 2013.[2]
Making and release
20th Century Fox released the series on DVD on January 3, 2006.[3] Those telefilms received a worldwide release on April 15, 2008.[3] Minear planned to address themes of racism, terrorism, assimilation, and immigration.[1] He noted that cable allowed for ambiguity in storytelling.[1]
Programming executive VP Mark Stern said the reboot fit Syfy's goal of finding contemporary, relevant themes beyond hard sci-fi.[1] In 2015, a different remake was reported in development with writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.[4] Only Best Buy offered the five post-cancellation telefilms in Region 1, starting September 11, 2007.[3] A new version of the series was being developed by Syfy, as announced in June 2009.[5]
The writer chosen to script this new series was Tim Minear, who had worked on "Angel" and "Firefly."[5]
What the cited sources add
The TVGuide.com article states the Sci Fi Channel was rebranding as SyFy on July 6, 2009.[1] That article describes the buddy-cop dynamic as reminiscent of "Starsky & Hutch" and "Lethal Weapon"[1] Minear said the alien outcasts remained segregated from human society twenty years after arrival.[1] Stern stated the challenge was reinventing the property without creating a derivative rehash.[1]
References
- Mitovich, "Tim Minear and SyFy Explore a New Alien Nation", TVGuide.com, July 1, 2009. facts only, no text reused. tvguide.com
- Wikipedia, "Alien Nation (TV series)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Roush, Matt (June 3, 2013). "Cancelled Too Soon". TV Guide. pp. 20 and 21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Alien Nation (TV series)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lambert, "Alien Nation - Pricing, Box Art for Alien Nation - The Ultimate Movie Collection", TVShowsOnDVD.com, August 11, 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Alien Nation (TV series)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mitovich, "Tim Minear and SyFy Explore a New Alien Nation", TVGuide.com, July 1, 2009; Kit, "'Alien Nation' Remake in the Works With 'Iron Man' Writers (Exclusive)", The Hollywood Reporter, March 25, 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Alien Nation (TV series)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schneider, "Sci Fi cops a remake of 'Alien' tale", Variety, June 30, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Alien Nation (TV series) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Television Series About Extraterrestrial Life
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Alien Nation (TV series) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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