Alien Nation - Pilot - Matt helps Emily at school

[OKFan527]

One of my favorite scenes - it's the moment where Matt loses some of his anti-Newcomer viewpoints when he sees the extremes that some people are taking those views. The look he and George share made a great foundation for their bromance. They were as close as brothers ... and a sci-fi version of the Lethal Weapon duo.  Great series.

[John22133]

This series was really good! I preferred the pilot movie though with James Caan and Mandy Patinkin, that was a great film.

[John22133]

I WISH we had those 90's and 80's hair and clothes back. Better then the crap styles they have now by far.

[remc0s]

@John22133

I hear ya.

Grown men wear pink polo shirts these days(!!!!!!?), while their sons wear shirts with big glitter letters and diamond earrings

Back in the '80s/'90s they'd beat you up if you'd dress that "fashionable"

[PumaSweat]

WOW, That made me cry.

When I was a teenager my mom told me about how when she was in high school and went to try on her prom dress, they told her to come back with a white girl about her size because coloreds weren't allowed in the fitting rooms.

[escottish140]

I was wondering if you could also upload the scene of the George's wife trying to take the daughter out of school and she has a conversation with a black lady about "a coloured woman drinking out of the white fountain." It's my second favourite scene from the pilot episode. Beautifully written as well.

[ZigZagnut357]

Who's the numbnut who clicked "don't like?"

[Edymnion]

@ZigZagnut357 Some racist. Probably too busy painting their "We hate Muslims!" and "Show us the birth certificate!" signs to have watched the episode.

[TheJokpit]

i wish all American can behave like this actor....i thought USA is a land of freedom, but why can't they accept other ideologies, other than capitalism and democracy?

[confederatecharlie]

@TheJokpit Because the other ideologies will not accept us and leave us to live our lives as we see fit, they want to change us to the way they believe. They want to take the money I make, take my freedoms, my voice. They want control the way I think, believe, worship, feel. I would be happy to accept other's ideology, if they would accept mine and leave me to live my ideology in peace.

[loveforlovesake]

I was really into this show back then. It always struck me how these "purists" were using the same language as hateful whites clinging to segregation in the 50's & 60's. (One use of sci-fi - is to look at our own stuff in a different form.)

I was so ashamed of the black people in the crowd, and pissed with the writers. They should have been depicted them as the biggest group standing up for the newcomers' civil rights. Oh well, it's television.

(I'm black, and I like GOOD science fiction, HA!)

[knoxvilleguy2]

@loveforlovesake - The " Purists " were okay with anyone as long as they weren't Newcomers. Mankind finally had a " threat " to unite them across borders of race, religion, politics, sexual orientation, economic class, yadda - yadda - yadda. The Newcomers were superior to humans in a lot of ways, so, we did the next best thing we could do short of killing them - demonize them & show them as somehow sub - human. IN TRUTH, the Newcomers provided a " mirror " for humans.

[loveforlovesake]

@knoxvilleguy2 Maybe I'm too much a Trekkie, so I expect humans to do better. The point IS demonizing them WASN'T the best thing we could do. Matt was depicted as learning from history. Good! I only wish that more people (especially the black people) were depicted as standing up for our highest values too. It was NEAR, LIVING history being repeated. C'mon, the deja vu factor was cringe-worthy.

My Bottom Line: The scene had value, but the high cringe-factor ruined it for me personally.

[knoxvilleguy2]

@loveforlovesake - I think I made a poor choice in words, demonizing the Newcomers was the NEXT WORST thing we could do short of killing them.

Matt's character got to be kind of ambiguous - He could laugh at the weird culture of the " crazy, alien " Newcomers, then take up for them later. & later Cathy Frankl became his girlfriend, more or less.

This series was one of the best for the mid - 80's.

[airplanebuilderman]

did matt get his doughnut?

[GamertownUSA]

It's like prophecy. The woman with the mega phone is pretty much the real life Sarah Palin.

[Larian10]

@GamertownUSA and you are an Idiot if you actually are making comparisons to Sarah Palin... You know nothign about the woman... your just another brainless liberal mouthpiece spouting garbage.

This really is the point of SF, to pull out the human soul and look at it. This is one of the greatest statements on the way we treat each other ever filmed, and its always been a complete mystery why Fox axed this show... but now its coming back! SYFY channel is making a new series ! It lives again!

[dakotagerman1]

@Larian10 I'm a conservative and I can see the similarities between the "purist lady" and Ms. Palin. If aliens were to colonize among us tomorrow, BOTH! her and Hillary would be the loudest at belching out their vitriol.

[fritzgenius15]

@GamertownUSA In some ways yes. In some ways no. Life isn't quite that black and white, but I admit I see some similarities.

[Voileen]

This is beautiful. I LOVE the writing of this show. Well played by Gary Graham, he has such great passion.

[MrHorrorking13]

Syfy is bringing the series back, i can't wait.

[knoxvilleguy2]

@debbelewis1

Are you serious ? You know Gary Graham ?

WOW.

[Dedokai32]

sod the show , the original movie ruled

[Sonnabend00]

The scene where he faces off the black man in the suit was priceless...those that forget the lessons of the past...

[knoxvilleguy2]

@Sonnabend00

I had the persistent feeling that the black man was Captain Tuggles' ( Matt's late partner from the movie ) father.

At any rate, this scene made me feel ashamed & then proud of humanity. Damn, this series was GREAT !

[kwickenbe]

A cop shooting his gun off in public? This gives them too many evil ideas.

[EmpireLS56KW]

The film is brilliant, it gets a regular viewings. I cant say Ive seen the TV series. That was cool scene from the show.

[YOJNEJ]

This has always been my faviorite show since I was eight. It's a shame that it was canceled. Plus I though Matt was sexy before I knew what sexy was.

[coachbrendawagner]

I used to have such a crush on Matt Sikes!!!!!

I LOVED this show too!!!!

[glwinkler]

When we talk about culture diversity in my classes, I show this episode just for this scene.

[pukeachu]

Very cool and you are to be commended. In an era where bemoaning the quality of education is all the rage, it's refreshing to discover some unapologetic iconoclasts who are employing tactics both innovative and enlightening  in our classrooms.

Vio Condios and Rock On!!!!

[knoxvilleguy2]

This scene was very important. The entire series was a GEM & Fox was foolish & hasty to cancel it. It taught lessons about diversity without having to go to a classroom.

It was good Television, so naturally Fox trashed it, & replaced it with some show that was probably crap.....

[aeyana78]

This is, in my humble, sci fi dork opinion, one of the most important scenes in science fiction television. This is WHY people should write sci fi. Not space explosions. This. Poignant and sharp commentary on the current state of society and human interrelation. nearly 20 years later and still COMPLETELY current and present. (aside from the 90's hair and clothes.) We are all people. We are all the same, even in our differences. Why do we fight against each other, instead of work with each other?

[dakotagerman1]

The Earthman is primitive and paranoid. Savage and barbarian.

Some of us on this planet are Star People. We're here to raise the consciousness and enlightenment of the Earthman. But how does he treat us? Prejudice and bigotry.

Look at Socrates and the hemlock. Jesus and the cross. Now we see a ranting, raving madwoman who is nothing but a rabble-rouser, and: a BLACK! man on the side of such a troublemaker. How ironic? when the shoes is on the other foot.

[jeffman52001]

Matthew Sikes is definitely alright in my book since he stood up for Emily Francisco and other Newcomers. He made a really great point here.

[knoxvilleguy2]

Matt did that, but he also had very little problem with making disparaging remarks & insults about " Slags ". I think he was still coming togrips with the situation after his last partner, Tuggles, was killed by a Newcomer.

& I get the distinct impression that that older black couple that he addressed ( " Aren't you ashamed of yourselves ? " ) were Sgt. Tuggle's parents or something. I said it earlier, this series was a damn GEM, so Fox tossed it away & probably replaced it w / a turd.

[dakotagerman1]

That was cool of Matthew Sikes to stand up for the Newcomers. What I don't understand, though is: why the Newcomers weren't more advanced technologically than the Earthman? After all they had the technology to fly through space to come to Earth. Why didn't they show the Earthman a more enlightened way of life?

Rather they blended in with the backward culture of the Earthman. Go figure?

[kwickenbe]

@dakotagerman1 They were slaves whose ship they were on crash landed. They were not technologically advanced but probably socially, some not , just like on earth.