Alien Nation to be remade by TIM MINEAR on SyFy

[od0_ital]

I really like the movie, but couldn't get through the second disc of tv episodes when I bought the box set last year.

Didn't bother with the follow up films, either.

I may tune in for the new series, just to see how it is...

 

[C.E. Evans]

I never really liked Alien Nation. I tried to watch a few episodes, but I usually only managed about five or ten minutes before I had to change the channel.

Should have expected that SyFy would try to bring it back...

 

[Captaindemotion]

Unnecessary.

And the original actors from the series are all still around. I met Michelle and Eric at a con a few years ago and they look great. A continuation with them as the same characters would be no problem at all - the Franciscos 20 years on, with the kids all grown up with their own families.

The series has a place in my heart. I'm gettin' tired of people screwing with that.

I know where you're coming from, but it seems that remakes or reboots are just easier to make and promote to a wider audience than continuations. When the BSG remake was announced, I was disappointed that it wouldn't be a follow on from the original (ignoring Galactica 1980) but I felt that at least a remake was better than no BSG. Of course, the new version was infinitely better than I could have hoped for.

I suppose fans of the earlier Alien Nation show can take one of two views. Either feel disappointed that their show isn't coming back but enjoy the new one for what it is. Or, if they don't want to see it or don't like it, just take the course of ignoring it and pretending it doesn't exist. It doesn't take away any from your enjoyment of the original tv show - no-one's going to come and destroy all your DVDs, etc!

I mean, until or unless the new show airs and turns out to be a pile of poo, isnt SOME Alien Nation, even if not the one you'd hoped for, better than none at all?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Sometimes I wish they'd leave the past stuff alone and come up with something of their own.

Damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Remaking something that people have heard of tends to mean a lot more eyeballs on the screen the night the show premieres.

Example: Moore's Battlestar Galactica.

Coming up with "something of their own" means they're dependent upon the channel or network to figure out how to promote it from a standing start and then to make the financial commitment necessary to promote an unheard-of show and premise adequately to cut through the media noise.

Example: Moore's Virtuality.

The smart money is on remakes.

 

[bigdaddy]

It's too soon to do a remake?! It's been 20 years!

I love Tim Minear, and I think this could work out well. It should be paired with Caprica, I think it will have a similar vibe.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I loved the TV series, but I think it might be too soon for a remake.
Can no one think of something new these days?

The short answer is no.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

From the article:

The new "Alien Nation" will likely take place in the Pacific Northwest

Well, there's a new angle!

I know they have to shoot stuff in Vancouver and pretend it's Seattle to save money, but this has really gotten way beyond repetitive. What I wouldn't give for a good sci fi series set in the Mojave Desert!

Sometimes I wish they'd leave the past stuff alone and come up with something of their own.

Some of the old premises are still good - BSG, V - but Alien Nation, ehhhh. Cop show plus aliens with some heavy-handed immigration allegory? I guess it will depend a whole lot on the casting.

 

[Harvey]

I wish they'd set a series in the Pacific Northwest...and film it there. Hell, the only series that I can remember that was filmed in the Northwest (Washington State, specifically) was Northern Exposure. And that was set in Alaska!

 

[Aragorn]

I know they have to shoot stuff in Vancouver and pretend it's Seattle to save money, but this has really gotten way beyond repetitive. What I wouldn't give for a good sci fi series set in the Mojave Desert!

At least they're not trying to pass Vancouver BC off as Detroit like they did for Blade: The Series or an episode of Smallville, WITH well-known Vancouver buildings in the background like their sporting arenas.

 

[Greg Cox]

Unnecessary.

And the original actors from the series are all still around. I met Michelle and Eric at a con a few years ago and they look great. A continuation with them as the same characters would be no problem at all - the Franciscos 20 years on, with the kids all grown up with their own families.

The series has a place in my heart. I'm gettin' tired of people screwing with that.

Nah. A continuation would only appeal to people who still vividly remember the previous version. And, honestly, I don't think there's that big a fanbase out there after all these years.

A reboot stands a much better chance of attracting new viewers.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I know they have to shoot stuff in Vancouver and pretend it's Seattle to save money, but this has really gotten way beyond repetitive. What I wouldn't give for a good sci fi series set in the Mojave Desert!

At least they're not trying to pass Vancouver BC off as Detroit like they did for Blade: The Series or an episode of Smallville, WITH well-known Vancouver buildings in the background like their sporting arenas.

My favorite was Vancouver-as-San Francisco in the Bionic Woman remake, tho they backpeddled on that one fast.

 

[Chekov's Phaser]

I like the movie and tv series, but it wasn't without its problems. While I again at another remake, I'm still open to the possibility of this show. Maybe it will be like BSG and take a good concept and make it better. I'll watch and see.

I know they have to shoot stuff in Vancouver and pretend it's Seattle to save money, but this has really gotten way beyond repetitive. What I wouldn't give for a good sci fi series set in the Mojave Desert!

At least they're not trying to pass Vancouver BC off as Detroit like they did for Blade: The Series or an episode of Smallville, WITH well-known Vancouver buildings in the background like their sporting arenas.

My favorite was Vancouver-as-San Francisco in the Bionic Woman remake, tho they backpeddled on that one fast.

The worst was the X-Files. Every single place they went to around the country had those big Pacific Northwest trees. They'd be in the desert, yet it would look like BC.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Unnecessary.

And the original actors from the series are all still around. I met Michelle and Eric at a con a few years ago and they look great. A continuation with them as the same characters would be no problem at all - the Franciscos 20 years on, with the kids all grown up with their own families.

The series has a place in my heart. I'm gettin' tired of people screwing with that.

Nah. A continuation would only appeal to people who still vividly remember the previous version. And, honestly, I don't think there's that big a fanbase out there after all these years.

A reboot stands a much better chance of attracting new viewers.

Exactly so.

The producers of the series evidently paid a number of business owners in some L.A. neighborhoods to let them put up "Tenctonese" signs in addition to the customary English and Spanish - as well as painting Tenctonese graffiti on quite a few walls and under highway overpasses, etc. The production was a great deal more attentive to putting these things up than removing them later, and when I was driving around town in 1991 it was the oddest thing to see them still there, as if the guy running the store was expecting "slag" customers.

There may even still be a couple up somewhere, who knows?

 

[Marc]

I know they have to shoot stuff in Vancouver and pretend it's Seattle to save money, but this has really gotten way beyond repetitive. What I wouldn't give for a good sci fi series set in the Mojave Desert!

If they started of the new Alien Nation with the landing would that get themselves some brownie points?

After all the ships did land in the Mojave Desert (unless they change that) though the original movie and series started 5 years after the landing.

 

[Forbin]

Remember the Jackie Chan film Rumble in the Bronx? Can't recall if it was shot in Vancouver or overseas, but it sure was funny seeing all those giant mountains in the background in the Bronx!

 

[Greg Cox]

I wish they'd set a series in the Pacific Northwest...and film it there. Hell, the only series that I can remember that was filmed in the Northwest (Washington State, specifically) was Northern Exposure. And that was set in Alaska!

Don't forget TWIN PEAKS, which was filmed up around Snoqualmie.

 

[Forbin]

And Highlander, the series, which took place in "Seacouver, Washington."

 

[Star Wolf]

Unnecessary.

And the original actors from the series are all still around. I met Michelle and Eric at a con a few years ago and they look great. A continuation with them as the same characters would be no problem at all - the Franciscos 20 years on, with the kids all grown up with their own families.

The series has a place in my heart. I'm gettin' tired of people screwing with that.

Sounds like what I would want to see.

 

[Harvey]

And, honestly, I don't think there's that big a fanbase out there after all these years.

There's definitely not much of a fanbase left. I discovered the series on DVD, and when I went searching for more information on the web, I quickly learned that what I could find was pretty limited. The show was a one season wonder that came and went before the internet really took off. Hopefully a new series will give the television version more exposure.

 

[Harvey]

I wish they'd set a series in the Pacific Northwest...and film it there. Hell, the only series that I can remember that was filmed in the Northwest (Washington State, specifically) was Northern Exposure. And that was set in Alaska!

Don't forget TWIN PEAKS, which was filmed up around Snoqualmie.

I'm ashamed to say I've never seen Twin Peaks, although I've been to Snoqualmie. I suppose if I keep waiting for the extended version of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me to come out I'll probably never see the series...