Netflix's New Sci-Fi Drama Just Crashed the Top 10 (Already Has 97% on Rotten Tomatoes)

Summary

• Alan Tudyk is considered a sci-fi legend, and since 2021, the actor has been starring in the excellent sci-fi comedy Resident Alien.
• The series has been highly praised by critics and audiences but hasn't received much media attention.
• Nevertheless, with the addition on Netflix, Resident Alien has become one of the most watched among American users.

If your introduction to the science fiction genre was once through the pages of books by Douglas Adams and Arthur C. Clarke, and you watched Doctor Who, The X Files, and Battlestar Galactica on television, then... you're probably not thrilled with the genre anymore, especially when it comes to movies or TV shows. Well, at least Doctor Who is still around and has managed to keep its sometimes surreal 20th century-style design, but the next season won't be out until May!

What can we do in the meantime? As an option, you can familiarize yourself with an excellent series, which premiered in 2021, but unfortunately went completely unnoticed.

After all, this is the series that will surely please all fans of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as well as those who in 2002 could not tear themselves away from Fox (or later from DVD players) watching Firefly: the new series, which will be discussed today, features none other than the legendary Alan Tudyk in the title role.

You might want to check it out, as it recently joined the Netflix library and almost immediately became one of the most watched shows on the streaming service among American users!

Sci-Fi Comedy Starring Alan Tudyk

We're talking about Resident Alien, a series created for Syfy TV by Chris Sheridan, whose screenwriting experience includes many successful '00s sitcoms (yes, that's the style of the show in question). The story is based on the one-volume Dark Horse comic book by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse.

The plot follows an alien, played by sci-fi veteran Alan Tudyk, who comes to Earth with the sole purpose of destroying humanity. After a botched landing, however, he ends up in a backwater Colorado town where, like the aliens in Men in Black, he assumes the identity of a doctor named Harry. Though his attempts at human disguise are initially awkward to ordinary viewers, the townspeople adopt the new 'doctor' as their own. Now Harry is rethinking his attitude towards humans, trying to understand their feelings and emotions, while making plans to kidnap a little boy who knows he is an alien…

Stylistically, the series is a genre mishmash: the direction is more reminiscent of Doctor Who or Torchwood, while the setting, despite the sci-fi elements, is more akin to comedy series like Northern Exposure.

One of Netflix's Top-Rated Shows

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an overall score of 97%. People have raved about the acting skills of Tudyk, who perfectly captures the experience of an alien trying to mimic human emotions in an absurd but very 'alien' way.

Netflix subscribers were delighted with the recent addition of the series: on February 16, 2024, Resident Alien reached sixth place in the Top 10 most-watched shows among US subscribers, and since February 17, it has remained in second place, behind the reality show Love Is Blind.

Where to Watch Season 3?

On February 14, 2024, nearly two years after the previous season, the long-awaited Season 3 premiered on Syfy. With such a successful acquisition for Netflix, there's little doubt that the streaming service will have the opportunity to distribute a third season at some point.

First of all, all released episodes are available for free streaming on the Syfy website. New episodes are also available for purchase on most major platforms, from Prime Video to Apple TV to Microsoft. On Prime, for example, you can pre-purchase the entire third season for $19.99. Single episodes cost $2.99.

The next episode will be released tomorrow, February 21, 2024.