Category: Season 1

A fellow Newcomer cop takes a bullet for George at a stakeout, and is rushed to L.A.’s new Newcomer-only hospital. Despite focusing on Tenctonese medicine, the hospital has a human administrator, an old friend of Sikes’, and he promises Sikes and George that their colleague is suffering a superficial wound to his arm. Later, as the recovering police officer is walking around the hospital, he spots something completely at odds with the hospital’s mission: a female human patient is being treated there. The next day, the officer dies, supposedly of a fatal reaction to anesthetics. Sikes and George talk to the hospital staff, including Sikes’ neighbor Cathy, discovering that there have been a number of deaths recently. At a party held by Sikes’ friend, Sikes is offered the post of chief of security at the hospital, but he also has a little too much to drink and passes out. When Sikes wakes up in the morning, he has an odd scar. Cathy, who has discovered one common factor – a missing gland – among all of the dead Newcomers, discovers that Sikes has been injected with a Newcomer hormone from that gland…and that yet another patient died at the hospital while Sikes was at the party. Tenctonese patients are dying to make humans younger – and both Sikes’ friend and some of the Tenctonese doctors are in on the scheme.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Gary Graham (Matt Sikes), Eric Pierpoint (George Francisco), Michele Scarabelli (Susan Francisco), Lauren Woodland (Emily Francisco), Sean Six (Buck Francisco), Terri Treas (Cathy), Molly Morgan (Jill), Jeff Marcus (Albert Einstein), Jeff Doucette (Burns), Ron Fassler (Capt. Grazer), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Sgt. Dobbs)

written by Diane Frolov
directed by John McPherson
music by Steve Dorff

Guest Cast: Jason Beghe (Dr. Trenner), Joel Polis (Dr. Windsor), Liz Torres (Dr. Tamayo), Bonnie Urseth (Sofia James), Susan Gibney (Harriet Beecher), Gretchen German (Lisa Bancroft), James Greene (Moodri), Robert V. Barron (Celinite Priest), Crystal Carson (Celeste), Randy Harrington (Man), Wendy Kaplan (Beth Meadows), Steve Rankin (Henry James), Barry Sherman (Executive)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Just as George is remarking on the superficiality of human physical relationships, Sikes pulls over to help a Tenctonese prostitute being threatened by an equally Tenctonese pimp. George gives her bus fare to go home to her family, and charges Sikes with making sure she makes it to her bus. At first Sikes is furious, but George explains that the girl is suffering from a kind of Newcomer post-traumatic stress disorder that convinces its sufferers that they are still slaves. Rather than getting on a bus, she wanders back to Sikes’ apartment, where he puts her up for another night – and when he comes home from work, she’s been murdered. George and Sikes set out to find the killer, and the trail leads them to a talent agency whose owner, a Newcomer woman, seems to find it all too easy to enslave her people again. But closer to home, George learns of a troubling secret his son has been keeping as well.

written by Diane Frolov
directed by Kevin Hooks
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: Heather McAdam (Mary Shelley), Kimberly Kates (Dallas Ft. Worth), Shannon Wilcox (Charlotte Bronte), Will Bledsoe (Dorian Grey), James Greene (Moodri), Trevor Edmond (Blentu), Catherine Lansing (Receptionist), Robert Mangiardi (Harry Marcus), Noon Orsatti (Svabo), William Wellman Jr. (Ruby)

Notes: Buck’s tangle with members of a street gang happened in the pilot episode.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Sikes and George are assigned to provide protection to the Newcomer witness of a mob-related murder, but after three weeks holed up in a hotel room, both the witness and his protectors are ready to tear each others’ heads off. Worse yet, he’s due to be married as soon as he is reunited with his future bride, and since Tenctonese custom involves both bride and groom preparing for the big day with a massive dose of their native aphrodisiacs, he’s literally trying to escape from George and Sikes. Worse yet, Sikes’ daughter, Kirby, calls with a crisis of her own, and then George’s son Buck gets into trouble at school – and each man has to leave the other alone with their charge for a while. If they don’t let their guard down enough to endanger him, if his rampaging hormones don’t put him in harm’s way, and if they can resist the urge to strangle him, he may just live to testify…

written by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle
directed by Rob Bowman
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: David Bowe (Buster Keaton), Joan McMurtrey (Victoria Sikes), Cheryl Pollak (Kirby Sikes), Lori Petty (Sal), Sachi Parker (Wanda), Wayne Pere (Thor), Haskell V. Anderson III (Principal Fisher), Trevor Edmond (Blentu), Jean Sincere (Granny), Michael Wilson (Maitre’d), Thomas J. Hagebueck (Officer), Mike Worth (Prep #1), Nikki Tyler (Salesgirl), Noon Orsatti (Svabo), Ron Howard George (Wayne Joshua), Bobbie Cummings (Ernie Jett)Notes:

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Riots in L.A. stretch police manpower to its limits – badly enough that Sikes and George are left desk-sitting at the precinct. Susan fights her way through traffic to bring George enough food to get through the night. But when a group of criminals – both humans and a newcomer woman – stage an all-out attack on the police station. They humans are after a cache of weapons and drugs that have been seized as evidence, while the Newcomer woman is seeking a tank of gas that was used by the Overseers to turn the Newcomers into slaves. Susan and Albert are unlucky enough to be found when the station is taken over, while Sikes is lucky enough to be handling an emergency call that conveniently involves an ex-girlfriend. Albert is shot while trying to help Susan escape, but she winds up being taken hostage. With no other backup available, George prepares to take on this hostage crisis entirely on his own.

written by Tom Chahak
directed by Steven Dubin
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: Gwynyth Walsh (Diane), Ji-Tu Cumbuka (Andy), Charley Lang (Kenny), Tracey Walter (Tom), Michael Fairman (Captain McKnight), Will Egan (Harry Dundee), Camila Griggs (Letitia)

Notes: We learn here that “Holy Gas,” an airborne substance rendered the Newcomers completely submissive to the Overseers, and completely susceptible to their commands. It apparently also works on humans.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

A prominent Caltech astronomer, who was one of the first humans to meet the Newcomers when they first arrived, is murdered the night before he plans to announce an exciting discovery. The scientist’s employer refuses to speak with Sikes and George, and they follow him to a rather exclusive club – one which excludes Newcomers. As it turns out, the major discovery was an unmanned space probe, one which originated from the same part of the sky as the Tenctonese slave ship. George fears that this probe could have been sent by the Overseers to search for the missing slaves, and if contact is made with the probe, it could lead the Overseers to Earth – at the behest of a surviving Overseer from the slave ship who has promised his masters not only the wayward Newcomers, but four billion new slaves…the entire human race.

written by Joe Menosky
directed by John McPherson
music by Steve Dorff & Larry Herbstatt

Guest Cast: Jeff Doucette (Burns), Annabelle Gurwitch (Dr. Marissa Meyers), Jeffrey Josephson (Sergius), Joel Polis (Carl Peterson), Stuart Fratkin (Bob), Curt Lowens (Concierge), John Apicella (Jerry Bielack), Michael Paul Chan (Mr. Kim), Donald Hotton (Professor Tower), Alexis Arquette (John Barrymore), Vincent Leahr (Dr. Morales)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

When George and Sikes investigate the murder of a Newcomer couple, the dead male turns out to be a Binnaum, one of a very exclusive monastic order of Tenctonese who facilitate the reproduction of their species. George asks Albert, himself a Binnaum who has renounced his vows, to identify the body. Shaken by the death of one of his brethren, Albert quits his job and returns to the order, also agreeing after much persuasion to be the Binnaum for the conception of the Franciscos’ next child. The murder weapon leads the two detectives to a dangerous psychopath who has been engaging in the systematic extermination of Binnaums in an attempt to do his part to control the Tenctonese population. But even though Sikes and George arrest the killer, another Binnaum is killed while the suspect is in custody. And this second killer is planning to kill Albert next.

written by Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
directed by Stan Lathan
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Dobbs), Dana Anderson (May O’Naize), Alan Scarfe (The Drevni), Ivan G’Vera (Bjorn), Charles Hayward (Goran), Patrick Johnson (Issac Newton), Richard Esajian (James Polk), Fiama Fricand (Guest), Laura M. Herring (Female Newcomer), Charlie Skeen (Craig Keller)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

A wave of Newcomer murders – death by toxic salt water – seems to strike a terrifying chord with George. When George explains that these killings are very much like the results of a deadly, forced game of Russian roulette that was played aboard the Tenctonese slave ship, Sikes blows the similarities off. George turns to one of his oldest friends, Tom Edison, who was also forced to endure the game aboard the slave ship. Becoming increasingly obsessed with the investigation, George makes what appear to be major blunders in trying to make an arrest in the case. Little does he know that the game has not only begun again on Earth, but his friend is the reigning champion.

written by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle
directed by David Carson
music by

Guest Cast: Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Dobbs), Molly Morgan (Jill Molaskey), Teddy Wilson (Dr. Brennan), Andreas Katsulas (Coolock), Sam Anderson (Tom Edison), Billy Ray Sharkey (Deon Flack), Bill Allen (Ruhtra), Joel Swetow (Joe Comet), Maggie Egan (Mrs. Comet), Craig Richard Nelson (Attorney), Henry Stolow (Challenger), Isabel Wolfe (Alva), Martin Valinsky (Cop)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Two Newcomer males turn up dead, having recently had sex under the influence of a Tenctonese drug called sardonac – a drug which creates a permanent monogamous bond between a couple. George and Sikes follow the trail to a computer dating bulletin board system which allows Newcomers to meet potential mates; both of the victims, and one other man, have arranged dates with a particular woman before dying. George tries to offer police protection to the one man who’s still alive, but he declines it – and then turns up dead. George sets himself up as the mystery woman’s next date, but Sikes worries that George is developing an infatuation with the suspect based on her picture. In the meantime, George begins to wonder if there’s a hidden reason why he and Susan have never bonded with sardonac – and an sting to catch the suspect doesn’t succeed in closing the case, but it does demonstrate the real power of sardonac to Sikes, in a way he never would’ve expected…

written by Andrew Schneider & Diane Frolov
directed by Harry S. Longstreet
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: Caitlin O’Heaney (Jenny), S.A. Griffin (Marvin Gardens), Diana Barton (Emma Bovary), Teddy Wilson (Roscoe), Jeffrey Nordling (Ted Healy), Darren Dalton (Leonard), Theodore Raimi (Johnny), Bennett Liss (Ralph), Thom Zimmerle (Daniel), Kurt Verbaarschot (Roland)

Notes: This episode of Alien Nation marks one of the earliest TV appearances of Ted Raimi (credited here as Theodore Raimi), brother of Evil Dead auteur (and future Spider-Man movie franchise director) Sam Raimi. Ted Raimi would go on to appear in such series as seaQuest DSV and Xena: Warrior Princess, as well as quite a few of his brother’s film projects.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Emotions run high as the vote approaches for the Alien Voting Amemdment, a significant change to the U.S. Constitution that would give Newcomers the vote for the first time. The pro-AVA movement is gaining ground, and its charismatic leaders even convince Buck and Susan to help them in their campaign. But they’re also receiving bomb threats – and after one such threat, the AVA campaign headquarters is destroyed just after Buck and Susan step outside. The threat caller claims to be a member of the anti-alien Purist Party, and this lands George and Sikes in the middle of an investigation that proves to be as much about politics as about solving the crime. The leader of the Purists naturally denies all knowledge, and even brings up the possibility that the AVA movement’s leaders may be engineering these problems for themselves to gain sympathetic press coverage. How far will both sides go to further their agendas – and can George and Sikes actually catch either side doing anything illegal?

written by Tom Chehak
directed by Harry S. Longstreet
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: Mark Thomas Miller (Wyatt Earp), Mark Joy (Max Clay), Clarence Felder (Jack Pearlman), Harvey Jason (Hopper), Henry Brown (Jesse Parker), Frances Bay (Mrs. Gillimore), Mark L. Taylor (Mike Wilmington), Marla Fries (Carol Wilmington), Michael Milhoan (Cop), Ron S. Herbes (Reporter), Arthur Seidel (Desk Sergeant), Martin Valinsky (Officer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

A break-in at the lab where Cathy works is just the beginning of a reign of terror that shakes George to his core. Sikes meets Detective Jeffries at the scene, who dismisses the entire incident as an animal activist’s protest, but later, when Sikes discovers that there is no LAPD detective by that name, he starts to wonder what’s really going on. Sikes and George continue following the trail, but at several points along the way, George seems disoriented, and he experiences flashbacks to a red room containing a firing range. “Jeffries” appears again, this time at the police station, and apparently has enough influence to close the case. Sikes isn’t ready to give up the chase yet, and he enlists outside help in analyzing newly discovered samples of Tenctonese tissue, as well as George’s murky memories. When he does manage to remember the strange flashbacks he’s been experiencing, the truth about “Jeffries” becomes just one part of a conspiratorial puzzle with dark implications for humans and Newcomers alike.

written by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle
directed by Chuck Bowman
music by Steve Dorff & Larry Herbstritt

Guest Cast: Katherine Justice (Dr. Wright), John P. Connolly (Detective Jeffries), Tom Dugan (Silas Marner), Patricia Heaton (Amanda Russle), Ray Reinhardt (Chris Pettit), Michele Lamar Richards (Lois Allen), Chuck Bennett (Marcus Byer)

Notes: Seen only in dimly-lit flashbacks (and later in a body bag), guest star Patricia Heaton makes one of her only genre appearances here, long before her co-starring role in Everybody Loves Raymond.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

George and Sikes tackle the apparent murder of a Newcomer video phone sex model, only to find that the situation isn’t what it seems – or so they’re told. While they try to navigate L.A.’s adult filmmaking underworld, which has eagerly embraced struggling Newcomer actresses, the cameras are rolling on them as well: a TV news reporter is shooting a series of profiles about George, both at work and at home, and Sikes finds the ever-present camera crew more than a little distracting. When the series brings George newfound attention and adulation, even from the mayor, Sikes finds his partner’s swelling ego more than a little annoying as well. When the violence against Newcomer sex workers turns real, Sikes also finds that the news crew may be impeding the investigation, and that with George hob-nobbing with the city’s leaders, it’s an investigation that Sikes is increasingly taking on alone.

written by Charles S. Kaufman & Larry B. Williams
directed by Lyndon Chubbuck
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: Angela Bassett (Renee Longstreet), Deborah Goodrich (Virginia Ham), Gene Butler (Arvin Kaufman), Hugh Maguire (Ernie Denton), Kelly Jean Peters (Mrs. Denton), Rob King (Louis Denton), John Mese (Roger Rose), Evelina Fernandez (Female Executive), Ian Patrick Williams (John), David Hoskins (Joe), Terry Nunn (Male Executive), Kerrigan Mahan (Cameraman), Jennifer Roach (Tilly), Joseph Graham (Bailey)

Notes: Angela Bassett may well be the highest-profile guest star in Alien Nation’s brief history; only a few years after this genre guest spot, she would play the part of rock icon Tina Turner in the career-making movie What’s Love Got To Do With It; other genre roles included guest stints on Alias, Strange Days, Contact, and the early ’90s TV adaptation of The Flash. She also guest starred in several episodes of A Man Called Hawk, alongside future Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Avery Brooks.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Sikes and George take part in a major drug bust, in the process getting the attention of an organized crime ring that has no problems targeting both of them. So it’s fortunate that Sikes’ old mentor – the old cop who pulled him off the street and made him his partner – turns up to lend a hand. And it looks like Sikes will need more backup than usual when George is accused of stealing some of the drug haul. Internal Affairs raids George’s house, even as he and his family prepare for the ceremony in which Susan will pass the pod containing their unborn child on to George, and finds the missing drugs – though George vehemently denies taking them. Has Sikes completely misjudged his current partner…or his old one?

written by David Garber & Bruce Kalish
directed by Stan Lathan
music by Steve Dorff & Larry Herbstritt

Guest Cast: Gilbert Lewis (Theo Miles), Tom Byrd (Bud Anderson), Robert Romanus (Zack Whelan), Tony Rizzoli (Jeffrey Ross), Terry Beaver (Sgt. Dustin Baxley), Bill Kalmenson (Ken Jester), Maria Rangel (Allison Wolfe), Crofton Hardester (Chester Charles), Wilson Raiser (Con), Branscombe Richmond (Haney), Arthur Seidel (Rankin), Gary Morgan (Garrison), Brad Orrison (Rickman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

As George gets closer to giving birth, he and Sikes are assigned to investigate a report of Tenctonese hormones being used as steroids by a bodybuilder. While the hormones can vastly increase human strenngth, they also have such side-effects as impotence, irrational behavior, and murderous psychosis. And those aren’t the only Tenctonese hormones impeding the investigation, as George undergoes a seemingly endless progression of mood swings. It soon becomes apparent that more than one person is involved, but in the end, it comes down to a violent confrontation with the man who started using the hormones – and the fight brings about the premature birth of George’s child.

written by Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
directed by John McPherson
music by David Kurtz

Guest Cast: Arthur Seidel (Desk Sgt. Rankin), William Shockley (Nick Coletta), A.D. Muyich (Viktor Wendkos), Hank Garrett (Marty Penn), Robert Neary (Don Zimmer), Debbie Barker (Karina Bowman), M.E. Loree (Doctor), Martin Garner (Sol Birnbaum), Jeff Skier (Guest), Neil Nash (Andrey), Patty Toy (Nurse), Oscar Dillon (Carl), Joe Hoke (Cop)

LogBook entry by Earl Green