“Aliens in America” gets flack
"Aliens in America" went under attack at the TCA Summer Tour press conference. This is from the washington post:
The series — at least the pilot — is a wonderful little "Freaks and Geeks"-ish comedy about a high school nerd who is so bullied by the "popular kids" that his well-meaning mother decides to get him a friend in the form of an exchange student.
Only the exchange student turns out to be a personable Pakistani Muslim, who also is treated like a freak by the other students and at least one teacher, and Mom decides to send him back. Until, that is, she learns that both his parents died about a year earlier. She then embraces him and they all live happily, if put upon, ever after — or, hopefully, for five seasons.
It made some critics here sick. Which just goes to show you can never tell what’s on a TV critic’s mind:
"I’d like to ask what is it that you interpret in the American psyche, or appetite for entertainment, that will embrace a show in which Americans are depicted as bigoted and stupid to be shown the way by a young man from the Middle East?" one critic asked.
Executive Producer David Guarascio began to prattle about "a mother who cares deeply about her son . . . realizes the error of her own prejudice . . . not an indictment of the American psyche . . . helpful for some people to sort of potentially think about their own prejudices . . . "
Scott Patterson — that’s right, the "Gilmore Girls" Luke, who in one of the saddest bits of recasting in the history of TV, replaced wonderful character actor Patrick Breen as the kid’s father on "Aliens in America" because, it was explained to critics, Patterson had a "holding deal," so they had to pay him whether he was put on another show or not and, presto, he winds up playing a role for which he’s given no indication in any performance to date he’s well suited — jumped in, swinging.
"I just want to say something," he said.
"I just want to say something" is never good. It usually is followed by something pretty nasty.
"I don’t think this show is polarizing at all and there’s no evidence of that so far in your comments." Ooh snap! — okay, maybe not so much.
"Are there any producers from the Midwest?" someone from the mob of critics shot back. We can’t actually swear there was foaming at the mouth involved, but when we say the room was electric, you know what we mean.
At this point, the producers made a big mistake:
"I’m from central Pennsylvania and I keep saying that’s the Midwest," said Moses Port, thinking a little levity was called for. It was not.
"I grew up in Glendale, which is kind of the Midwest version of Southern California," said Tim Doyle. Even worse.
"Is there a mentality out here in Los Angeles that people in the Midwest are more naive? . . . The idea that there’s nobody from Asia that lives in Wisconsin or at least in this small town is not the reality," a critic snapped.
"No, that is the reality, because I’m from Wisconsin" interjected Lindsey Shaw, who plays the mom.
"I wanted to play this role so desperately because I felt this was my tribe. I grew up with this. . . . I really wanted to express that small-mindedness."
Doyle, finally sensing the danger, rushed to do damage control:
"You may be drawing too much of a conclusion about the series from the pilot," he billed and cooed.
"You know, the story in the pilot is this young man’s arrival in this town, so it’s very natural that the fish-out-of-water aspect and people’s reactions to it are going to be played up for the comedy initially. But that’s not going to be the series in the long term," he continued.
"The immigration debate in this country is getting not only fierce, but kind of ugly. Are you afraid your show is going to plunge into the middle of that, not to its profit?" one critic asked rhetorically/ominously.
"He’s just an exchange student — he’s not coming to take your jobs," Doyle said, finally getting tough.
"You are dealing with people . . . from a part of the world that aren’t always very tolerant, you know — the Danish cartoon thing and everything. Do you have a technical adviser to keep you from getting Salman Rushdied?" another critic said.
We’ll pause here so you can reread that question.
"When we sort of talk about small-mindedness, there is a billion people in the world who practice Islam and they are really not out to get anybody," Guarascio said.
"That being said, we did have an adviser on the pilot. We happen to have a writer on our staff who is a Muslim and of Pakistani descent." But Guarascio insisted the "Muslim community" so far has reacted to the show very positively. They are very excited to see a Muslim character in a comedy, he said, and "hope to use a little humor to create a dialogue."
Crazy. I hope the critics can get over themselves and enjoy the show and Scott Patterson - who deserves the role, and was certainly not handed it just because of some contract!
Tags: scott patterson, aliens in america
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POSTED IN: Aliens in America, Scott Patterson
6 opinions for “Aliens in America” gets flack
Lindsay
Jul 24, 2007 at 11:43 am
Wow… that was an intense read!
Why are Americans so afraid of Middle Eastern characters on t.v.? Maybe this show could alliviate some of that ridiculous “terror” and show that people who practice Islam are not all evil-doers.
Don’t be afraid - then the terrorists have won (doesn’t that sound familiar?)
In Canada we have a show called “Little Mosque on the Prairie” and it is doing really well here, because it helps to promote tolerance and understanding…
Ok.. rant over.
Wonder Y
Jul 24, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Lindsay (hey, aren’t you supposed to be in rehab?:),
I don’t think it is the matter of the Middle Eastern characters themselves as much it is the patronizing manner of it all. Also, if the show makes it seem like people in the midwest in 2007 have never seen a Muslim in person before, that’s a bit dumb.
Clearly the critics were on the attack, but I don’t think the producers did themselves any favors either.
Sometimes I feel like the CW is trying to sabatoge itself - to close down as quickly as possible and hemmorage as little money in the process. There were too many open contracts to shut down completely.
erin
Jul 24, 2007 at 12:17 pm
I’m curious to see the pilot. It sounds like an interesting premise, and I wonder if maybe the critics were taking it too seriously?
rayc205
Jul 24, 2007 at 1:28 pm
UGH! That is so annoying.
I hate to break it to people, but the prejudice against middle eastern people does indeed exist.
The idiots I go to school with are so closed minded and they do alienate my one Muslim friend.
*sarcastic* How dare a tv show actually show what it’s actually like for some people that come to America and are snubbed due to ignorance?
Just because these critics grow up in a place where diversity thrives, does not mean that the people in the smaller, more rural, areas aren’t submerged in ideas of hate and false superiority.
I wasn’t going to watch this show, but now I’m determinded..
And what the heck was the crap about Scott Patterson, who I believe is brilliant.
People are idiots and refuse to see the truth or experience things that are “Foreign” to them.
Joey
Jul 25, 2007 at 9:47 am
This sounds real stupid. I mean, I could expect something this poorly created to be aired on one of the lesser TV channels but this seems as if it’ll have no veiwers. And the really expect it to make it to 5 seasons?
Scott P. is such a talented actor, his past seven years of Gilmore Girls proves it so and for him to have to act on such a horrible show will suck for him and his performances.
Jillian
Jul 27, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I’m hearing that people who have seen the first episode of this show thought it was funny and good despite the racial aspect of it. Plus with SP in it there has to be something special to the show if he was excited to get the part. The more I think of it the more I might actually watch the show even with my hatred of the CW.
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