EDITOR’S NOTE: Alien Nation was on USA Up All Night on July 11, 1997.

Rockne O’Bannon created Farscape, seaQuest DSV, Defiance, Cult and the movie (and later TV series) Alien Nation. It was a spec script sent to Gale Anne Hurd, and she saw a lot of opportunity. What is the difference between other science fiction films? Herd explained, “We wanted the aliens to be more like a different ethnic race than like lizard people, … We didn’t want our audiences thinking, ‘Gee, look how different these aliens are.” Rather, after about five minutes, we wanted the audience to accept them as different from us, but not so different that no one would buy the storyline. We wanted the aliens to be characters–not creatures.”

In 1988, 300,000 enslaved aliens known as Newcomerslandedd in the Mojave Desert. Within three years, they’re settled in Los Angeles and some, like Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin), become cops. His partner, Detective Matthew Sykes (James Caan) wants nothing to do with him, as he doesn’t trust the aliens once his partner is shot and killed in a robbery by several of them.

A case involving the wealthy newcomer businessman William Harcourt (Terence Stamp) and his henchman, Rudyard Kipling (Kevyn Major Howard, brings them together. There’s also a drug called Jabroka that can transform Newcomers into an even more dangerous form, and keeping it off the streets could be the difference between the two races existing as one.

This led to a 22-episode TV show, five TV movies, comic books and novels, all of which advanced the story.

Director Graham Baker also directed the last Omen movie.

You know who didn’t like this movie?

James Caan.

He told the AV Club, when asked about this movie:

James Caan: Why the f****…Why would you bring up that?

Will Harris: Many people actually like the film. I do, for one.

Caan: Yeah, well, I don’t know. I don’t have too many…I mean, I loved Mandy Patinkin. Mandy was a riot. But…I don’t know. It was a lot of silly stuff, creatively. And we had this English director whom I wasn’t really that fond of. I mean, nice guy, but…it was just one of those things where, you know, you don’t quit, you get through it. It certainly wasn’t one of…I wouldn’t write it down as one of my favorite movies. But it was pretty popular.