Series creator Chris Sheridan gladly raves about
Tudyk’s work, but he was determined that the
quirky residents of fictional Patience, Colorado,
be as compelling as the alien in their midst.
The cast includes Sara Tomko (“Sneaky Pete”)
as Asta Twelvetrees, assistant to Vanderspeigle;
Corey Reynolds (“Selma”) as town sheriff Mike
Thompson, and Judah Prehn as Max, the boy
who sees Harry as the menacing interloper
he is. (Spoiler alert: Ha Re’s mission is to wipe
out humans.)
“If the alien never showed in Patience, there
was enough going on in town and the
characters are three-dimensional enough that
people would want to watch it,” Sheridan said.
“Then if you take that and drop this alien layer
over the top of it you have something real that
the alien is observing.”
The show’s escapist comedy and Harry’s
grudging attitude shift toward Earthlings
suit a pandemic-weary country grappling
with political and social divisions,
Sheridan said.
Superficially, “it looks like it’s just a show about
an alien coming down and trying to destroy
people,” he said. “But when you really follow it, it
becomes a show about unity and how humans
are stronger when they work together, and how
connected we all are.”
For TV critic Owen, “Resident Alien” recalls
the “Blue Sky” label that USA Network, Syfy’s
NBCUniversal cable sibling, gave its lighthearted
dramas that aired circa 2005 to 2016. Among
them: “Psych” and “Suits,” the latter now best
known for co-starring future Duchess of Sussex
Meghan Markle.