''Aliens in the Family'' is an American

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scient ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that aired on ABC from March 15 to August 31, 1996, conceived as part of its '' TGIF'' lineup.

Premise

The show was about single dad Doug Brody (

John Bedford Lloyd John Bedford Lloyd (born January 2, 1956) is an American character actor. Life and career Lloyd was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Ann Storrs Lloyd and Edward B. Lloyd of Southport, Connecticut. His father was an architect. He has a s ...

), who is abducted by single alien mom Cookie (Margaret Trigg). The two fall in love, get married, and try to live a normal life on Earth as a mixed family.

Cast

as Doug Brody * Margaret Trigg as Cookie Brody * Paige Tiffany as Heather Brody *

Chris Marquette Chris Marquette (born October 3, 1984) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in such films as '' The Tic Code'', ''Freddy vs. Jason'', '' The Girl Next Door'', ''Just Friends'', ''Alpha Dog'' and '' Fanboys''. He is also known for his ...

as Adam Brody *

Julie Dretzin Julie Dretzin (born May 24, 1968) is an American actress and audiobook reader. She made her professional acting debut in the 1993 Broadway production ''The Sisters Rosensweig''. Her roles in the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2010) and ''The ...

as Sally Hagen

Puppeteers

Alice Dinnean Alice Catherine Dinnean (born May 23, 1969) is an American puppeteer, voice actress and creative writer who works at The Jim Henson Company. Dinnean has performed on many children's television shows such as '' The Puzzle Place'', ''Sesame Street ...

as Snizzy (face and voice) *

Michael Gilden Michael Jeffrey Gilden (September 22, 1962 – December 5, 2006) was an American actor with dwarfism. Biography The -tall Gilden had a form of dwarfism. He lived and worked in Los Angeles. Gilden performed or did stunt work in a variety of tel ...

as Snizzy (body) * John Kennedy as Bobut (face) *

Bruce Lanoil Bruce Lanoil (born July 5, 1960) is an American puppeteer who works for The Jim Henson Company and for The Walt Disney Company. He frequently works with puppeteer David Alan Barclay. Early life Lanoil was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 5, ...

as Spit (face) *

Peter Linz Peter Linz (born June 28, 1967) is an American puppeteer. His most prominent role is being the performer for the character Walter who was introduced in the 2011 feature film ''The Muppets''. Since 1991, Linz has performed on ''Sesame Street'', ...

as Varch, Elder of the Nertron Galactic Federation (in "Respect Your Elders"), Red Yukkle (in "Dissected and Neglected") *

Joey Mazzarino Joseph Mazzarino (; born June 4, 1968) is an American actor, puppeteer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles on ''Sesame Street'' as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on ' ...

as Spit (voice), Green and Yellow Yukkles (in "Dissected and Neglected") *

David Rudman David Rudman (born June 1, 1963) is an American puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, director, and producer known for his involvement with the Muppets and ''Sesame Street''. Career David Rudman has been a ''Sesame Street'' Muppet performer since ...

as Bobut (body and voice), Orange and Purple Yukkles (in "Dissected and Neglected") * Michelan Sisti as Spit (body)

Production

The series was created, written and executive produced by Andy and Susan Borowitz.

Brian Henson Brian Henson (born November 3, 1963) is an American puppeteer, director, producer, voice actor and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company. He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson. Early life Henson was born on November 3, 1963, in Ne ...

, son of

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

, also served as co-executive producer. The series theme song was written and performed by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

. The series was shot in its entirety at Lifetime Studios in New York City.

Episodes

Cancellation

The show premiered on March 15, 1996; ABC pulled the series from its ''TGIF'' lineup after two weeks, replacing the show's scheduled third airing with re-runs of other ''TGIF'' programs. The show did not return for over four months and aired the rest of its episodes on Saturday mornings in the summer of 1996.

Jaleel White Jaleel Ahmad White (born November 27, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Steve Urkel on the sitcom '' Family Matters''. The character was originally intended to be a one-time guest appearance on the show; however, he ...

, who starred as

Steve Urkel Steven Quincy Urkel is a fictional character on the American ABC/ CBS sitcom ''Family Matters'', portrayed by Jaleel White. Originally slated to be a one-time-only character on the show, he broke out to be its most popular character and gradual ...

on another ''TGIF'' program (''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers, ...

''), was a vocal critic of ''TGIF'' adding Jim Henson programs onto the ''TGIF'' block (''Aliens in the Family'' debuted the same year as ''

Muppets Tonight ''Muppets Tonight'' is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of ''The Jim Henson Hour'' (1989), the show was a contin ...

'') and speculated that their addition ruined the block's credibility by changing its target demographic from whole families to children.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aliens In The Family 1996 American television series debuts 1996 American television series endings 1990s American comic science fiction television series 1990s American sitcoms American Broadcasting Company original programming American fantasy television series American television shows featuring puppetry English-language television shows Television series about alien visitations Television series about families Television series by The Jim Henson Company TGIF (TV programming block) Television series created by Andy Borowitz Television series created by Susan Borowitz Television shows set in Minnesota