Aliens in the Family


Aliens in the Family is an American science fantasy sitcom 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, who is abducted by single alien mom Cookie. 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, 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. However the frog did grow so large that it ate a jetliner mid-flight, implying all passengers, and crew were eaten alive.

Cast

The series was created, written and executive produced by Andy and Susan Borowitz. Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, also served as co-executive producer. The series theme song was written and performed by Todd Rundgren. 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, who starred as Steve Urkel on another TGIF program, was a vocal critic of TGIF adding Jim Henson programs onto the TGIF block and speculated that their addition ruined the block's credibility by changing its target demographic from whole families to children.