One of the Best Sci-Fi Shows on Television Just Got Cancelled

In a somewhat shocking move, NBCUniversal has just cancelled one of the best science fiction shows on television. On Friday, Deadline confirmed that the company would axe its Alan Tudyk-led Resident Alien. The show will conclude its four-season run with the Season 4 finale episode, now series finale, set to be released on August 8th. The series was nearly cancelled after its third season, due to a continual decline in viewership; however, it was saved after its budget received a significant cut. The series also moved from SYFY to fellow NBCUniversal cable network USA for its fourth season, although both networks aired the season simultaneously.

Resident Alien garnered some more interest after the series was added to Netflix. Sadly, that streaming interest didn’t translate into increased linear viewership, and the show remained a modest performer for SYFY and USA. More importantly, though, while the show gained viewers on Netflix, it failed to do so on NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, Peacock.

Resident Alien Comes to An Abrupt End

Resident Alien came from executive producer and showrunner Chris Sheridan, based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The news of the show’s cancellation was first reported by TV Insider, which spoke to Sheridan following the news. The showrunner didn’t expect a renewal, given how close the series was to cancellation before, and so they opted to craft a proper ending. “I knew going into it that this was likely going to be our final season. Creatively, that was exciting because I knew we could spend the time wrapping up some storylines and driving toward an ending. I’m so proud of how good Season 4 is and especially proud that we were able to finish as strongly as we did, with a finale that is probably my favorite episode of the series.”

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Resident Alien starred Alan Tudyk as Harry Vanderspeigle, Sara Tomko as Asta Twelvetrees, Corey Reynolds as Sheriff Mike Thompson, Alice Wetterlund as D’Arcy Bloom, Levi Fiehler as Mayor Ben Hawthorne, Elizabeth Bowen as Deputy Liv Baker, Judah Prehn as Max Hawthorne, and Meredith Garretson as Kate Hawthorne. The series premiered in January 2021 and concludes its run next month on both USA Network and SYFY.

The sci-fi series focused on Tudyk’s Harry, an alien who crash-landed on Earth and takes on the identity of a human doctor in a remote Colorado town. While his mission is to destroy humanity, Harry soon finds himself developing a sense of empathy after forming bonds with the people in town. It also focused on Harry’s internal struggle between his alien identity and his ever-evolving sense of humanity.

The first three seasons of Resident Alien are streaming on Netflix and Peacock. Fans eager to read the comic book series can do so by picking up the trade paperbacks and omnibus editions that are now available for purchase wherever books are sold.

Resident Alien‘s series finale will air on August 8, 2025.