A SLAG-HEAD HEAD'S-UP

Tim Minear is a writer/producer who has worked on 'Angel', 'Firefly', 'Wonderfalls', and 'Dollhouse'. Now he's turned his attention towards bringing 'Alien Nation' back to television.

However, he's not picking up where the series and sequel movies left off. This will be a completely new version in which the aliens didn't land on Earth until 2000 or so. The new series will pick up 20 years later as the refugee aliens, whose population has grown to 3.5 million on Earth, mark out a section of the Pacific Northwest to be their home away from home.

Whether their previous home is still Tencton, and whether they still resemble the "slag-heads" of the original 1988 theatrically released film and subsequent series, remains to be seen. But the central focus of the new show will still be a human cop teamed up with an alien cop with the alien cop's family in tow.
Here's how Variety broke the news:

"'Alien Nation' centers on the partnership between a veteran cop and his alien detective partner, set against the larger tale of alien "newcomers" who move to Earth and attempt to assimilate into society.

Fox 21 topper Chris Carlisle said he believed 'Alien Nation' could rep the next franchise revival for SCI FI, which found huge success in dusting off 'Battlestar Galactica' and reworking it for today's auds. Carlisle said 'Alien Nation' works both as a sci-fi piece and a procedural drama."It's absolute perfect timing for this type of show," 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.""
Since we don't even know how the aliens will look in this new version, and considering the timeline pushes it way past the original arrival of the Tenctonese slave ship, this new version of 'Alien Nation' (should it get the green light) will have to reside in the alternate TV dimension of remakes, along with Tim Daly's version of 'The Fugitive' and the recently concluded 'Battlestar Galactica'.

Which is a shame, because I would have liked to re-visit the team of Matt Sykes (as played by Gary Graham) and George Francisco (portrayed by Eric Pierpoint) from the original series at this stage of their lives on the Toobworld timeline. Especially after seeing Lauren Woodland all grown up on 'The Young & The Restless' back when my Mom was still alive and watching the show.....

Just sayin', is all......

BCnU!