Gary Graham, Eric Pierpont in Alien Nation tv Series, Fox (left)

 Mandy Patinkin, James Caan, Alien Nation, Movie Released in 1988 (right)

Life has been pretty hectic for me in recent months, from work to computer problems and then there's that writing them I'm always trying to do....

On occasion I can attend to my guilty pleasure... ie. this blog and my constantly failing web site.  Yes I know it's down and you can't believe the problems I have had since June trying to get the thing back up again.  But I digress. 

So when I come across a little thing that makes smile, it really makes me happy and becomes a joy to blog about. 

An old favorite of mine, Alien Nation (I've blogged about it on several occasions) is being retooled by the newly retooled Syfy channel.  Perhaps some of you recall the 1988 movie starring James Caan and Mandy Patinkin of the same name that was made into a tv series by Fox in the 1990's starring Eric Pierpont and Gary Graham. 

Well they are looking at it again with fresh eyes or just with a pair eyes again--- and are thinking about "reimagining" it.  I'm not sure if I like the term "reimagining".  You see whenever I read that I see-- fix what's not broken.  Which usually makes it worse... but I could be wrong. 

Fox 21 (an alternative production arm of 20th Century Fox) will produce it along with Tim Minear of Dollhouse and Firefly fame. 

" The new series will take place 20 years after the first alien ship crashes on Earth and its occupants are banished as slaves in the Pacific Northwest.  It will be set sometime in the 2020’s at a time when the alien population will have expanded to 3.5 million.

“You can take [the original Alien Nation] a step forward and really do a show that encompasses the clash of civilizations, and the idea of a ghettoized minority,” Minear said, referring to the fact that the aliens will be depicted in a situation similar to the North African ghettos in France. “You can touch on racism, terrorism, assimilation, immigration. And there’s room for satire.”

Apparently the success of Battlestar Galactica was a big factor behind the decision to reinvent Alien Nation although it’s hard not to notice that the timing of this announcement neatly coincides with the recent viral marketing success of Neill Blomkamp’s District 9.  Just like Alien Nation the story behind District 9 is about a group of aliens who end up stranded on Earth and who are forced to live in ghetto like conditions of slavery.

District 9 comparisons aside (and let’s be fair, the original Alien Nation came first), it is the intention of Fox 21 to produce the new series with more of an episodic than overall story-arc perspective.

“It’s absolute perfect timing for this type of show,” Fox 21 Executive Chris Carlisle said. “They’re looking for more grounded sci-fi and close-ended episodes, and at the heart of Alien Nation, it’s a cop movie. It’s grounded. And it has a tremendous amount of dramatic possibilities and humor.”

Source: Variety"

  who knows...