Alien Nation: Complete Series

One of the greatest uses of science fiction is to hold social, moral and political problems up to scrutiny in a relatively safe fashion. While many television networks would have balked at a series that dealt with bigotry, racism, homophobia and the holocaust these topics are easier to present if set before a backdrop of aliens on earth. When listing such socially relevant television science fiction one series has to be included, Alien Nation. As the opening monologue explains on October 18, 1988 a space ship crash landed in California’s Mojave desert stranding a quarter of a million aliens. These extraterrestrials known as Tenctonese, or Newcomers, where bred as slaves able to rapidly adapt to almost any conditions. As they tried to settle into their new world they congregated in an area in Los Angels now known as Little Tencton. The series followed one particular Newcomer family, the Franciscos. George (Eric Pierpoint) has become a police detective and partnered with a human, Matt Sikes (Gary Graham). The pair is completely mismatched but soon become friends. George has what would be considered a normal family, wife Susan (Michele Scarabelli), teenaged son Buck (Sean Six), younger daughter Emily (Lauren Woodland) and even a somewhat crazy older uncle Moodri (James Greene).

The Newcomers have to endure the brunt of human prejudice. They are smart, stronger and live longer than humans, part of their genetic heritage as slaves. Not all the Newcomers did as well as George and his family. There is as much variation of social structure as with their human counterparts. Some have managed to enter the higher echelons of politics and business while others have blue collar jobs, some even homeless. It is this wide variation of status that really set this series apart from most other television science fiction. It permitted the writers to explore a much larger base of social issues than is usual. The fun part here is the names that many Newcomers were given. Among the best were Kenny Bunkport, Norman Conquest, May O’Naise, and Paul Bearer. The humans created various pejoratives for the Newcomers, among the most popular where slag or spongehead. This permitted the writers to explore the dreaded racial words on television without a lot of flack from the network censors. The Newcomers also had their vices. Sour Milk had much the same effects on them as alcohol does on human.

One vital thread in the series story arc concerned a segment of the Newcomer population called "Kleezantsun" or overseers. These were Tenctonese who betrayed their fellows by helping to keep them enslaved. In returned they received privilege and status from the slave owners. They used torture, drugs and blackmail to control the regular Tenctonese and where generally despised. Naturally, the overseers found a niche here on Earth especially with certain government agencies, organized crime and business. Many of the stories in this thread related to concentration camps and other political prisoners. Television would never have accepted such a plot unless it was cloaked in science fiction.

The setting of an alien race also helped explore sexual topics in a fairly benign way. The biggest turn on for a Newcomer where the spots that ran from their heads down their spines, humming on them was particularly sensual. The reproductive process was also a lot different from ours. The female required two males to become pregnant, a gannaum and a binnaum. George, like most males was the gannaum and would carry the fetus for more than half the pregnancy ultimately delivering it, the binnaums where very rare and mostly cloistered in a religions fraction offering their services to multiple couples. Towards the end of the season Sikes becomes emotionally involved with a Newcomer neighbor, Cathy (Terri Treas). Watching the compromises both have to make added an emotional foundation to the characters and made for an interesting little sociological twist.

This is yet another case of great casting. Gary Graham was perfect as the rough cop who harbored some resentment towards the Newcomers. During the all too short run of the series Graham managed to change emotionally, not only befriending a Newcomer but actually falling on love with one. Sikes was not the brightest human but he had the street smarts needed to do well at his job as a detective. He was complemented in most ways by how Eric Pierpoint portrayed George. George just wanted to fit in to their new home. All he ever knew of life was bitter slavery but now he had a chance to make a free and better life for his family. He loves his wife, cares about his career and has to deal with daily resentment from the humans around him. Michele Scarabelli brought a new twist to the typical television housewife. She was interested in a career outside the home but also faced the fact that she was older and better than most other human applying for the job. She also has to face the same hardships any police officer’s wife must endure. Scarabelli does a great job as a stranger in a strange land. Sean Six was the alien rebel without a cause. Not only did he have to face the prejudice all Newcomers were subjected to but he had the normal teen peer pressure to fit in. His role gave a touchstone for younger audiences to identify with.

The creative force behind this series was Rockne S. O'Bannon. He cut his teeth on the 1985 anthology series the New Twilight Zone and Amazing Stories. He would also go on to such television science fiction as Farscape and Seaquest. Assisting O’Bannon was Kenneth Johnson who brought ‘V’ and the Incredible Hulk to the small screen. O’Bannon and Johnson had a natural flair for socially relevant science fiction and this was one of their finest efforts. While each episode was fairly self contained there where numerous threads that ran through out the series’ run. Unfortunately, Fox had some budget problems and the second season never saw realization. There was a series of television movies that resolved the season one cliff hanger and tied up other loose ends but this was yet another show cut down before its time.

Fortunately for fans of television series that where cut down in their prime, DVD box sets can lets us all savor this series again. Fox presents the complete series, all one season if it, in a box set. Included is the two hour pilot film which considering is the least they could do. There is a commentary track by director, Kenneth Johnson, for the pilot who offers some of his insight into the production and relevance of the series. The full screen video is not the best around but workable. The colors are occasionally muted but the contrast was excellent. There where only a few specks and glitches present. The Dolby two channel audio concentrates on the mid range but is clear. Hopefully, Fox will follow this up with a box set of the television movies that continued the stories. This is classic science fiction that deserves a proper place in any serious collection.

Posted 12/17/05