Alien Nation Reboot in the Works at Syfy
July 1, 2009 by Cynthia
In 1988, James Caan and Mandy Patinkin starred in the scifi version of Lethal Weapon, playing a human cop with an alien partner in the movie 
Alien Nation. But if you ask the average guy on the street, he probably won’t remember any of that, but he will remember Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint playing those same roles on the TV series.
Though the show was canceled after only one season, it spawned a popular series of TV movies and novels so it’s not surprising that Syfy is looking to the series as its next big reboot.
The original Alien Nation was ahead of its time with its scifi take on the problems of discrimination, immigration and segregation. Smarter than most people remember, the series revolved around the concept of a non-invasive alien invasion. These aliens were all slaves, who end up on Earth when their mothership crashes in the desert outside of Los Angeles.
What happens next is human nature — some thrive, some go hungry, some turn to crime, some learn a trade. Some stick with their own kind but many assimilate casting off the old ways in favor of the typical suburban lifestyle. But no matter how much they try to act human, they are still aliens and that means they’re often subjected to name calling, discrimination and violence.
The Syfy reboot is being helmed by Angel’s Tim Minear. He told Variety that he was excited about the series because of the mix of styles that comes with the franchise.
“It’s genre mixed with procedural mixed with funny and mixed with big, giant scary,” Minear said. “I love serialized stuff, but this is also a cop franchise. That ‘Starsky and Hutch’/'Lethal Weapon’ buddy cop comedy is absent from TV right now.”
According to Variety, the new series would take place years after the original. The alien population has grown and they’ve been forced to live a segregated, ghetto existence.
Says Syfy VP Mark Stern, “The challenge is how do you do it in a way that will reinvent it without it feeling like a derivative rehash.”
They seem to have found the answer in Tim Minear.
Can Alien Nation be the next Battlestar Galactica? My 8-Ball says, All Signs Point to Yes.
Photo: Amazon
There’s a big difference; Kenneth Johnson’s “Alien Nation” was already a fairly serious show (at least, it dealt with serious themes). Glen Larson’s “Battlestar Galactica” was a romp, plain and simple. As great as it was, it had about as much emotional weight as Larson’s Knight Rider, Manimal, Buck Rogers…
Minnear’s got his work cut out for him – but then, at least he won’t have Joss Whedon’s juvenilia mucking up his work here, so there might be hope yet.
Lots of opportunities for cameos also – maybe someone could even dig up Sean Six, see what he’s up to nowadays.
I was a fan of the 80’s show. I really did’nt care for any of the comedic undertones of the show however. I would love to see an updated remake but a little more dark and serious. The show did however deal with serious issues such as crime, immigration, teen sex and prejudice. I think I would like the show alot more if it had a more relistic feel. I plan on watching and I hope it will be good.