Science fiction remains one of the most dominant genres in television history, whether it’s labyrinthine mysteries like Lost or established franchises like Star Trek. Even recent streaming hits like Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord are firmly set in the realm of science fiction, drawing in hardcore fans. One recently canceled sci-fi show, Resident Alien, is proving to be a massive streaming hit in its own right. According to FlixPatrol, Resident Alien pulled in a whopping 208 million hours of view time last year, sitting alongside other sci-fi shows like Halo and La Brea.
Anyone who’s seen Resident Alien can easily tell you that it’s one of the most inventive sci-fi shows of the modern age by its premise alone. Based on the Dark Horse comic book series by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse, it tells the story of an extraterrestrial who travels to Earth to wipe out humanity. In the process, he ends up killing the doctor in a local town, Harry Vanderspeigle (Alan Tudyk), and assumes his identity. Harry’s mission takes a turn when he starts to grow connected to the people who live in his new home, all the while trying to pass himself off as human.
‘Resident Alien’ Thrived Thanks to a Roster of Sci-Fi Guest Stars & Alan Tudyk’s Performance
Alan Tudyk as Harry sitting next to Sara Tomko as Asta in Resident AlienImage via SyFy
A large part of what makes Resident Alien work is Alan Tudyk’s brilliant performance. Throughout the series, Tudyk uses a combination of facial expressions and body movements that sell the illusion of an alien in a man’s body, resulting in scenes that are hilarious and often cringe-worthy to watch. A perfect example comes in the Season 4 episode “Mine Town,” where he tries to throw the town’s sheriff, Mike Thompson (Corey Reynolds) off his trail by taking unnecessarily large bites out of a turkey leg. Tudyk also provides the physical movements for Harry’s alien form in Season 2 and throughout, making odd jerky movements that don’t feel earthly in the slightest.
It also didn’t hurt that Tudyk had an impressive roster of guest stars to play off of, with most of them being sci-fi alums in their own right. That includes Linda Hamilton, who plays alien hunter Eleanor McCallister, and Tudyk’s Firefly castmates Nathan Fillion and Jewel Staite, who play an octopus and an FBI agent respectively. Resident Alien’s main cast is also full of characters who are just as memorable as Harry, including Max Hawthorne (Judah Prehn), the mayor’s son who’s also one of the few people to learn Harry’s really an alien, and Asta Twelvetrees (Sara Tomko) who helps him form a deeper bond to humanity. These character interactions are a large part of what makes Resident Alien stand out in the sci-fi landscape.
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‘Resident Alien’ Ended On a Near-Pefect Note, With Room to Continue
While Resident Alien received plenty of praise during its run, it was canceled after its fourth season. To the show’s credit, it manages to wrap up most of its plot lines in the series finale “The End is Here,” as Harry ends up confronting another member of his race and deciding to return to his home planet. Despite the untimely end, Alan Tudyk floated the chance of a possible continuation during last year’s San Diego Comic-Con.
“It’s a weird goodbye because the show’s very popular. By all metrics from a different time, that would assure another season. It’s just in this climate, the TV world is changing in a big way, and I feel like because we’re canceled now, we will become an existing IP, which then could be revived. So the quickest way to get a next season is to be canceled, oddly.”
Tudyk makes a good point, as the rise of streaming services and shifts in the network television landscape means that some shows could get a new life when you least expect it. Ironically, Firefly is the perfect example as an animated revival is in the works, with Tudyk set to return alongside the rest of the cast. Resident Alien definitely deserves a similar shot, especially since its streaming numbers prove that there’s still an audience willing to tune in for Harry’s extraterrestrial hijinks.
Release Date
2021 – 2025-00-00
Sara Tomko
Asta Twelvetrees