Aliens in the Family

Not to be confused with the 1987 BBC drama serial of the same name.

Aliens in the Family
Genre	Sci-fi/fantasy Sitcom
Created by	Andy Borowitz Susan Borowitz
Written by	Susan Borowitz Andy Borowitz Patricia Marx Charlie Rubin
Directed by	Tom Trbovich
Starring	John Bedford Lloyd Margaret Trigg
Theme music composer	Todd Rundgren
Composer(s)	Joe Carroll Peter Thom
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andy Borowitz Susan Borowitz Brian Henson
Producer(s)	Ritamarie Peruggi
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company(s)	The Jim Henson Company Jim Henson Productions The Stuffed Dog Company
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	March 15, 1996 (1996-03-15) – August 31, 1996 (1996-08-31)

Aliens in the Family is an American sci-fi/fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC, conceived as part of its TGIF lineup.

Premise

The show was about single dad Doug Brody (John Bedford Lloyd), 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. Much of the series humor was derived from gags involving the assimilation of the alien family into everyday life—despite being pink and having massive heads (all of the aliens were puppets designed by Jim Henson Productions), everyone on Earth seems to accept their presence, and in spite of possessing technology far superior to that of Earth, the aliens all go about their everyday lives in the same fashion as all the humans.

Although not the focus of the show, the character to receive the most attention in episodes was Bobut, Cookie's infant son. Baby Bobut could talk, had a genius-level IQ, and was perpetually plotting a grisly fate for those around him (though the series position as a family show meant that Bobut's plans were always family-friendly: for example, wreaking havoc on the city by causing a frog to grow ten times its size).

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 to the airwaves for over four months, re-premiering on July 27, 1996, with the third episode, "Cookie Makes Some Dough." Ratings remained low, and ABC cancelled the series before a full season aired; it continued to run as part of the TGIF lineup and as part of ABC's Saturday morning programming block until August 31, 1996.

Cast

• John Bedford Lloyd.....Doug Brody
• Margaret Trigg......Cookie Brody
• Paige Tiffany.....Heather Brody
• Chris Marquette.....Adam Brody
• Julie Dretzin.....Sally Hagen

Production notes

The series was created, written by and executive produced by Andy and Susan Borowitz. Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, also served as executive producer. The series theme song was written and performed by Todd Rundgren.

Episodes

Ep #	Title	Airdate
1	"Meet the Brodys"	March 15, 1996
2	"Bobut Conquers All"	March 22, 1996
3	"Cookie Makes Some Dough"	July 27, 1996
4	"You Don't Have a Pet to Be Popular"	August 3, 1996
5	"Too Good to Be True"	August 10, 1996
6	"Respect Your Elders"	August 17, 1996
7	"Dissected and Neglected"	August 24, 1996
8	"A Very Brody Tweeznax"	August 31, 1996

External links

• Aliens in the Family at the Internet Movie Database
• Aliens in the Family at TV.com
• Aliens in the Family at epguides.com