Alien Nation: Millennium (1996)

Made in 1996 but set in 1999, this is a pretty good entry in the series of TV movies spun off from the show based on the film. There's a nice, bitter satirical jab at the fate of the program as characters watch a (dire) sit-com called My Brother the Alien only for it to be cancelled before the first commercial break by an automated Nielsen rating. The main plot is about the use of an alien religious artefact which creates a sort of virtual reality environment based on their home planet by unscrupulous alien crooks – headed by the always-welcome Kerrie Keane, who looks great with the spongehead – to create a suicidal millennial cult among rich human folks.

All the regulars get sub-plots: the Francisco family have different relations to 'PSM' (Post-Slave Mentality), either searching for non-material spiritualism or becoming rabid consumers-on-credit; the teenage daughter spends to keep in with a cute, rich human boy who turns out to be on a 'shag the slag' bet; the human cop semi-cheats on an exam for a promotion, but learns his lesson. The cast are in sync, and the alternate world of an alien-human-inhabited LA still makes for nice background details (a police station has a 'no smoking' sign in four languages, including Tenctonese). Written and directed by creator Kenneth Johnson.
KIM NEWMAN

First published in this form here.

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