Another smart, fun series that ended way too quickly. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer but with aliens

STARS: Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, Michele Scarabelli, Lauren Woodland, Terri Treas

WRITER: Tom Chehak, Kenneth Johnson, Rockne S. O’Bannon

DIRECTOR: Tom Chehak, Kenneth Johnson

RATING: NR

DISTRIBUTOR: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video

What would a series as smart as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL be if it dealt with aliens instead of vampires and demons? No, not ROSWELL, you fool, ALIEN NATION, the short-lived Fox science-fiction series based on a craptastic movie (much in the same way BUFFY made it to television).

Unfortunately, the series got the boot way before its time and wasn’t given the opportunity to generate the same die-hard audience BUFFY amassed due to its short time on the air. However, this doesn’t mean the series wasn’t any good. In fact, ALIEN NATION did a great job with the material and concept it was given from the film.

An alien ship crash lands in Los Angeles immediately answering the questions to whether we are alone in the universe. However, as it turns out these aliens, the Tenctonese or “Newcomers”, were the slaves to another more powerful race and having escaped that race, they ran to Earth for sanctuary - bringing into question whether they have doomed humanity to enslavement as well. The Tenctonese are integrated into society - garnering jobs, having their children go to school and living in different communities.

But if humans can’t get along on the same planet with each other, you can pretty much bet dollars to donuts humans are gonna hate aliens and the series does an excellent job looking at this side of humanity in general and it’s intolerance of others and new ways of thinking. Throughout ALIEN NATION we are shown different parts of the aliens’ lifestyle (mythical creatures, mysterious artifacts, resurrection and more), how they have been interacting with humans and their full integration into humanity’s way of life - including female aliens taking up jobs as hookers and strippers.

The series also delves into humanity’s lust for lengthening life (in “Fountain of Youth”) as surgeons actively remove a gland from a Newcomers (killing them) and implanting it in humans to extend their life. Use of a dating service to kill unsuspecting (and dateless) males in “Chains of Love”, abuse from the CIA in training Tenctonese to be assassins in “The Red Room” and inter-species romance in “Green Eyes.” However, these are just a few episodes in a DVD set that includes all 21 from the first (and only) season from the show.

Unfortunately, there is only one alternate audio commentaries from the series’ pilot “Alien Nation: The TV Movie” from writer/director/creator Kenneth Johnson. Other than that, the ALIEN NATION - THE COMPLETE SERIES DVD is very lackluster in terms of special features content.

The DVD set is offered in full frame in only stereo 2.0 in English and Spanish language with English and Spanish subtitles.