Aliens in America 1.18 "Raja Sixteen"
SERIES FINALE
Air Date: May 18, 2008
Recap & Discussion

Aliens in America Episode Highlights:

• Spring is on its way and, with that, more teenagers are thinking about sex
• Donna has a crush on Justin, and he doesn’t seem happy about it. She is annoying on purpose, to detract from her looks?
• Raja has a crush on a Muslim girl named Sadika Sadaqatmal (the family that helped him feel at home), though he won’t admit he likes her. Justin and Claire know he keeps a photo of Sadika (and her grandfather) under his mattress. They snooped.
• Muslims don’t date until they’re ready to marry, so Raja says liking Sadika is immaterial. Justin reminds Raja that Muslims are more casual here.
• Justin turns to his mother to help put Raja and Sadika together. Franny says Sadika’s mother is concerned about her not dating, as there aren’t many Muslim boys… except Raja
• Raja doesn’t think Sadika’s family would allow him to court her, even if he wanted to. Franny says they said yes. And Sadika is excited. Raja has a panic attack.

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Early word has it that Aliens in America will not be renewed for a Season 2. The CW Upfronts just happened, and the Aliens in America cast were not there.

Despite very rave reviews for one of the best comedies to hit tv in a while (the last episode was one of my favorites!), the show went largely unnoticed by viewers. Sadly, the ratings have sent it the way of The Return of Jezebel James, which barely got off its feet before it was cancelled.

The CW schedule posted on E! Online after the upfronts does not include the Sunday programming, which was never a good place to put Aliens in America in the first place. Word from every corner of the news has it that Aliens in America has been officially cancelled. What a bummer!! I hope Scott Patterson gets another tv role, I’m going to miss seeing him!

Image: used with permission by Newscom ; Via TV Guide Tags: aliens in america, aliens in america cancelled, canceled, renewal, tv shows, new tv shows, television shows, cw, cw tv, cw programming, scott patterson, comedy

Aliens in America 1.17 "Wake at the Lake"
Air Date: May 11, 2008
Recap & Discussion

Aliens in America Episode Highlights:

• Medora High has two graduates on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. A thing to be proud of.
• Justin talks through unpopular Medora extracurricular activities, including SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), whose president is Raja (the only one there not on court order)
• The SADD club prepares an annual "Wasted Life" event, and Raja has been procuring things like blood and a coffin as part of his job as Grim Reaper (he must also choose which student to die in the mock car accident
• Medora’s oldest teacher, Mrs. Lockard, is retiring and Claire is sad to lose her favorite teacher (who would give her an A, instead of an F, just for being pretty)
• Gary doesn’t even flinch when Raja mentions finding a student to kill - he just remembers his own senior yearbook portrait (due to beer, his friends drew a moustache and his name onto his face with permanent marker)
• Justin informs Raja that the most popular kid always gets to be the mock-accident victim - that’d make the choice Dan Archer for this year. Popular kids always get everything.
• Franny goes to a bachelorette party with a stripper and finds it a little too X-rated for her tastes. Not so for Raja’s pediatrician or the president of the PTA! Franny leaves with her sex toy party gift
• Raja, dressed as the Grim Reaper, comes into Justin’s class dramatically announcing that a young life has been snuffed out by an accident. But, the Grim Reaper is not pointing at Dan Archer, but at Justin Tolchuck!

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Aliens in America 1.16 "Smutty Books"
Air Date: May 4, 2008
Recap & Discussion

Aliens in America Episode Highlights:

• Justin and Claire both use DVDs to do their book reports, but Claire got there first
• Raja, despite his aptitude, is stuck in ESL with rudimentary language books
• Sandy, a "concerned parent" thinks Madame Bovary is smut, but Franny blows her off
• Controversy sparks Justin to pick up the actual book and read it, instead of the CliffsNotes version. It’s everything Sandy thought it would be.
• Justin has always loved to draw, but at age 14 his pictures became more "mature", so he stopped showing his mom. His latest sketch is a big-boobed "The Adventures of Madame Bovary"
• The Atlas where Justin hides his sketches chooses that week to fall open and expose the drawings to a very disturbed Franny
• Franny says that Justin used to draw ponies and now that book has turned him into a pornographer

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Aliens in America 1.15 "The Muslim Card"
Air Date: April 27, 2008
Recap & Discussion

Aliens in America Episode Highlights:

• Gary tells a bad Chinese joke as they eat Chinese food, and Justin mulls over his fortune
• Raja is not good at spotting character flaws, particularly with girls. He gets sucked into signing a petition for Mindy, an overbearing girl
• Raja is the only "real" signature on the "petition to allow petitions" - the rest are fake, other students making up fake names to tease her, which makes Mindy cry. Raja hugs her.
• Raja sees goodness in "Mental Mindy"
• The new neighbors (Ted and Leslie) for the Tolchuck’s are a dream come true - a sports fan married to a foodie. Like clones of Franny and Gary. But with box seats!
• As an afterthought, the perfect neighbor tells Gary & Franny he’s a convicted sex offender and is required by law to tell them so. His wife is his "only victim!" because when they dated in college she was 17 and he was 19.
• Raja asks Mindy to be his partner for a project in their Italian class - then Raja offers to spend his Saturday assisting with her charity work
• Justin tells Raja he may have signed on for charity work, but that Mindy thinks it’s much much more
• Justin answers the door when Mindy comes by, she’s all gushing about falling in love with Raja

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Will Aliens in America be picked up for a Season 2 by The CW? The show is still in limbo. I personally love the show, but as with many shows on The CW, it does suffer from lower ratings. The network is simply newer, and it’s shows do struggle for ratings more than they would on one of the larger networks.

Image details: 2007 Summer TCA Tour - Day 11 served by picapp.com

Ausiello has a "bubble show update" giving Aliens in America a "3" out of "10" for its Odds of Survival:

Aliens in America
The bad news: The ratings suck.
The good news: The show doesn’t. It’s really funny. And smart. And the CW knows it.
Odds of Survival: 3

So, please tune in to the rest of the episodes to prove that we love this show! The next episode is on April 27th. If you love Aliens in America, show it!

Tags: scott patterson, aliens in america, the cw, cw, cw tv, new shows

Aliens in America 1.14 "100,000 Miles"
Air Date: March 23, 2008
Recap & Discussion

Aliens in America Episode Highlights:

• Tempers are getting tense with the long cold winter
• Raja is shoveling snow without being asked, which puts pressure on Justin to take down the Christmas lights
• Raja’s ways are grating on the family
• Franny is planning a trip to Vancouver, BC (I love how they integrate the filming location - too funny!) - she won the tickets at Justin’s choir recital, among other things. She rigged it.
• The flight is delayed. Raja decides to pray at the airport, and that alarms people. Security comes, but Raja ignores them.
• They are kicked out of the airport - no Vancouver
• Raja apologizes - he has to pray 5 times a day, and can’t be interrupted
• Being bored at home, Gary decides to teach Justin how to drive (in a snow storm) - he has a ‘toss you into it’ mentality

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Aliens in America 1.13 "Community Theater"
Air Date: March 16, 2008
Recap & Discussion

Aliens in America Episode Highlights:

• Franny has hit 500 days in ‘Project Nest-watch’ - how much longer until Justin leaves for college
• Franny wants to do an activity with Justin - she sets herself on a community theater production of Rent
• Justin agrees to do stage crew - something Gary suggests is more manly
• Claire is stuck with ‘volun-cheering’ - cheerleader volunteer time - and chose the Teen Hotline as her way to help out
• Claire’s first call is sexual, as is her second
• Justin is the only young person at the theater - until Zoe runs up and hugs him. She has the lead as Mimi, but isn’t keen on making out with the pediatrician as the male lead. Justin is more her age, though she is in college.
• So Justin does a very bad audition for Roger - singing ‘Three Blind Mice’
• Zoe asks Justin back to her place to learn his script
• Claire is pissed that she didn’t get any life or death phone calls - decides to prove to her family that she can help people
• Franny is hurt that Justin is practicing his lines with Zoe, not with him
• Zoe has been at college for 3 years, and calls Justin more ‘mature’ than college guys
• Zoe changes in front of Justin, so happy to not have to worry about him wanting to hook up with her
• Raja calls the hotline as Doug (with an American accent) so Claire can feel appreciated. And they talk for hours over the next two weeks.
• Claire and ‘Doug’ bond - talking openly (under fake names) about their personal issues
• Franny can see the chemistry between Zoe and Justin, and doesn’t like it (mostly because she feels misplaced)
• Claire asks Raja and Justin if they know a Doug - she seems infatuated
• Gary is supposed to get mad at Justin for spending time with Zoe, the college girl, instead of his mom - but he congratulates Justin instead. And shows him how to use a condom.
• Justin pulls out the pack of condoms as proof that he ’sealed the deal’ with Zoe
• Doug is telling Claire that he’s moving away when Franny comes on the line - so then Raja pretends that all their lines are crossed, playing 2 parts.
• Claire figures it out and is hurt. Angry with Raja for making her feel stupid.
• Though Raja started with lies, he was as open with Claire as she was with him. Raja tells Claire she is so much more than her family thinks she is. Claire is still hurt from the lies.
• Justin’s friends have big mouths, and his lie about having sex with Zoe comes out - Zoe quits
• Franny is cast as Justin’s female lead - they play young lovers! But Franny skips the passionate kiss and gives him a forehead peck
• Raja and Claire are back on solid ground
• Justin goes to apologize to Zoe - who insinuates wishes Justin were older

Tags: aliens in america, aliens in america season 1, community theater, scott patterson, aliens in america episodes, aliens in america recaps, 1.13, 1×13

Aliens in America 1.12 "Hunting"
Air Date: March 9, 2008
Highlights & Discussion

Aliens in America Episode Highlights:

• Raja is excited about the upcoming career aptitude test
• It’s all about the ‘future’ in junior year
• Raja is excited that he has the opportunity to be more than an engineer or a doctor - but his test shows him he should be a doctor
• Justin’s test results are inconclusive - he’s not specifically cut out to be anything. No opinions or aptitudes.
• Franny & Gary are upset that Justin has no career aptitude
• Why is career aptitude so important? Does it make it easier for you to decide your future, or harder?
• Claire has redirected her anger towards Franny - "hurricane Claire"
• Raja doesn’t know what he wants to be yet
• Dooley’s father is a stay-at-home dad - a job that sounds very appealing to Justin
• Gary thinks ‘men can’t do that’
• Trying to argue Justin out of being a ‘house husband’ is hurting Franny’s feelings
• Justin is making waffles and Raja is doing surgery on a banana - career prep
• Franny won’t come home until Claire apologizes. Could be a while.
• Gary is taking Justin & Raja crossbow hunting - his solution to anything Justin does that is ‘unmanly’
• Gary is trying to convince Justin to choose another career, while Raja is tempted to use the crossbow
• Raja has shot Gary in the butt with the crossbow!
• Franny is waiting to get into a club and sees Claire let in - she goes after her
• Gary becomes Justin’s baby
• Claire’s friend vomits in Franny’s car
• Raja doesn’t feel up to being a doctor now
• Franny has to take care of Claire’s drunk friend - and Claire realizes mothering is sometimes a good thing
• Claire apologizes for being a pain
• Gary appreciate’s Justin’s care, and says it’s ok to be a house husband. Justin says he doesn’t think he has it in him. Too much work.
• Justin asks for some space to figure out what he wants to be
• Raja faints at the mention of blood

So, what do you think about the episode? What is the message? Is it about learning about who you are, or taking pride in things that make you happy? Is it about finding yourself, not following the advice of a piece of paper? What do you think Raja and Justin would be best at?

Tags: aliens in america, hunting, aliens in america episodes, aliens in america recaps

Aliens in America 1.11 "Mom’s Coma"
Air Date: March 2, 2008
Summary & Discussion

Aliens in America Episode Highlights:

• Franny has tickets to the Sound of Music Sing-a-long for her and Justin
• Raja asked Franny to drive them to school - very uncool. Franny asks Justin for a kiss and yells ‘I love you pumpkin pie’ to him, and mentions the Sound of Music tickets. 
• Justin is the new target of a big bully, thanks to that. A bully with a thing for weapons.
• Franny gets sports memorabilia each year for Gary’s birthday - she doesn’t see the sense in spending so much
• Franny hits a car in the parking lot. Her van gets dented, but there is a barely visible scratch on the other car.
• Franny leaves a note - Raja having raised her moral standards
• The bully is about to throw sharp objects at Justin when he is saved by a call that his mom was in a car accident. She just wanted to say she couldn’t pick him up.
• Gary is annoyed Franny left a note. The hybrid car owner may not be as moral - after all, they drive the car out of guilt
• Gary goes to retrieve the note but accidentally leaves his van in reverse, not park. It backs right into the same car - and does real damage
• Raja suggests perhaps Justin is provoking bullies by something he’s doing
• The bully, Tray, approaches Justin with a wooden sword - Justin says his mom is in the hospital in a coma to get out of meeting him later in the parking lot
• Tray backs off and hopes his mom gets better
• Raja tells Justin that it’s disrespectful to like like that - Tray sees and comes to Justin’s defence, trying to pick on Raja. Raja uses the same lie.
• Franny is outraged that the car owner wants $1500 for her scratch - doesn’t know about Gary’s accident
• Tray comes to join Justin and Raja at lunch, gives them a card to give to Franny, and a metal angel that was originally for his own mom, who is now in prison
• Franny is right behind Tray at the cafeteria, coming to get the Sound of Music tickets
• One of Justin’s friends volunteers to go with Franny to the musical - he thinks Franny is hot
• Justin and Raja tell Tray they hung the angel and she seemed happy
• Franny has tracked down security footage of the crash - Gary knows he’s in for it
• Tray offers Justin & Raja a ride - the guys have to think fast and say to the hospital
• Tray follows them into the hospital, so Justin walks very slowly while trying to come up with a plan
• Raja goes to hang the angel somewhere while Justin stalls. Tray says he considers Justin a friend now.
• Tray goes to hold the hand of the woman who they are pretending is Justin’s mom
• Franny is watching the footage with Gary when he breaks down with the truth
• Gary offers to sell his memorabilia to offset the costs… Franny tells him some are not as authentic as they look. Both are mad, but neither one wants to express it.
• The woman in the room starts to wake, or die, so the doctors rush in. Loose wire. But the doctor ask which is Mrs. Warner’s son - Tray punches Justin and has to be wrestled off of him by 3 orderlies
• Raja realizes that Franny may not know her boundaries, but she is his mom
• Franny is singing Sound of Music with Justin (who is not quite so good as Franny says he is)

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