Alien Nation
Alien Nation is a science fiction television series, loosely based on the movie of the same name. Gary Graham starred as Detective Matthew Sikes, a Los Angeles police officer reluctantly working with “Newcomer” alien George Francisco (from the planet Tencton), played by Eric Pierpoint. Sikes also has an on again-off again flirtation with a female Newcomer, Cathy Frankel, played by Terri Treas.
Storylines
The storylines generally revolved around morality plays on the evils of racism and bigotry using Newcomers as the discriminated minority. As fictional immigrants, Newcomers could “stand in” for hot-button social issues about African-Americans and Mexican-Americans (as well as sexual minorities like gays) and invert the usual expectations. For example, during the run of the series, George became pregnant (the male of his species carrying the fetus for part of its gestation) and during much of the episode dialog included such lines as, “If you females had to feel the pain we males feel during pregnancy, there wouldn’t be any babies.” The series offered insightful social commentary by illustrating what it means to be human and the often bizarre rituals we observe.
Cancellation
The weekly series ran for just one season, from 1989 through 1990, when a financial crunch at the fledgling Fox Network caused Fox executives to cancel all dramatic series. A second season was clearly expected by the producers, as the season ended with a cliffhanger. The show built a strong fan base, and popular demand led to “Dark Horizon”, the episode that would have begun the second season, being novelized and adapted as a comic book as well as spawning a series of novels. Four years later, after a change of management at Fox, the story of Alien Nation finally continued with five well-received television movies (including all the original cast).
CAST
Detective Matthew Sikes - Gary Graham
Detective George Francisco - Eric Pierpoint
Susan Francisco - Michele Scarabelli
Emily Francisco - Lauren Woodland
Buck Francisco - Sean Six
Cathy Frankel - Terri Treas
Albert Einstein - Jeff Marcus
Captain Grazer - Ron Fassler
Beatrice Zepeda - Jenny Gago
Burns - Jeff Doucette
Sergeant Dobbs - Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Jill - Molly Morgan
Uncle Moodri - James Greene