USA Network has swooped in to save Resident Alien from cancellation. The series, which aired its first three seasons on Syfy, will head to another NBCUniversal network, USA, for its fourth. The series performs fairly well, especially by cable standards, drawing in an average of 3.3 million viewers per week. The issue? It’s not cheap to make, and Syfy often has little patience for expensive shows, regardless of how beloved they are. Just ask our good friends who made Krypton. Resident Alien is based on the Dark Horse Comics series by Peter Hogan and Stephen Parkhouse. Tudyk stars in the series alongside Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, and a colorful cast that brings the show’s small town to wacky life kind of like a less-spooky Twin Peaks.
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The third season ended with Harry (Tudyk) in the custody of the bad guys, and another alien impersonating him back on Earth. Meanwhile, Sheriff Mike (Reynolds) has learned of the existence of aliens, completely causing his worldview to collapse around him. That was always the destination, but when a 12-episode season 3 order was cut to 8 at the last moment, it did cause a little chaos.
“We started out with 12 episodes, and then midway through the writers’ room we were cut down to eight — which is a huge change, but we also had to start shooting at the same time, so we didn’t have time to reconceive the season as an 8-episode show,” showrunner Chris Sheridan told ComicBook. “What we had to do was to take the 12 episodes and do them in eight episodes.”
There are now details available on season four. Variety reported the pickup, but not a filming date, airdate, or episode count. More of those details are likely on the horizon soon.
“I’m excited to get season four and get into these stories,” Sheridan told us when season three ended.
Per its official synopsis, Resident Alien “follows a crash-landed alien named Harry whose secret mission is to kill all humans. In season three, Harry vowed to work with General McCallister to rid the Earth of the Grey aliens, a task made more difficult when he discovered that the Grey Hybrid Joseph had taken a job in town as the new Deputy. In addition, Harry struggled to balance business and his personal life when he fell in love for the first time.”
