Aliens in the Family (Links Updated 7/23/18) - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

Aliens in the Family aired from March until August 1996 on ABC.

Can an alien abduction lead to romance? Perhaps but not for long,
judging by this sitcom that lasted just 2 weeks on ABC's prime-time
lineup. Doug ( John Bedford Lloyd) was an easygoing office worker and
single dad who was abducted by alien scientist Cookie ( Margaret
Trigg); they fell in love and married, combining his earthly and her
otherworldly families. Doug's kids were self-absorbed Heather ( Paige
Tiffany) and cute Adam ( Chris Marquette). Hers were supercool teen
son spit ( voice of Joe Mazzarino & Michelan Sisti), rambunctious
daughter Snizzy (voice of Alice Dinnead & Michael Gilden) and
sarcastic baby Bobut (voice of David Rudman & John Kennedy), who
acted like he was the emperor of the Universe-because he was. Sally
(Julie Dretzin) was the harried nanny.

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).

The aliens were portrayed by life-sized muppets designed in the Jim
Henson studios.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 finally burned off the rest of
its episodes on Saturday mornings in the summer of 1996.

Here's a review from the Orlando Sentinel

Abc's 'Aliens In The Family' Is So-so Sitcom
TELEVISION - Television Review
March 15, 1996|By Hal Boedeker Sentinel Television Critic

Mom eats a bouquet of roses and sucks on a vacuum cleaner. The 14-year-old son devours a toaster and makes his eyes pop out. The 10-year-old daughter uses radioactive plutonium to resurrect a frog.

The baby, an adorable but overbearing creature, plays mind-control games and terrorizes his ''boring stooge'' of a sitter. Baby Bobut can get away with such horrendous behavior because this extraterrestrial infant will grow up to control . . . the universe!

For now, he rules over a so-so ABC sitcom called Aliens in the Family, debuting at 9 tonight on WFTV-Channel 9. Like the new Muppets Tonight! - which airs right before it - Aliens comes from Jim Henson Productions and boasts nifty puppetry.

But although Muppets Tonight! soars, the derivative Aliens reaches inspired heights only occasionally. The animatronics and self-absorbed baby will remind viewers of Henson's Dinosaurs.

Yet Aliens owes even more to The Brady Bunch, which it parodies by blending a human family (Dad, two kiddies) and an extraterrestrial clan (Mom, three offspring) in earthly suburbia.

The fabulously intelligent mom abducted her not-so-bright husband and jokes, ''I couldn't have asked for a better husband if I had made one myself.''

Unfortunately, like The Brady Bunch and Dinosaurs, Aliens tends to turn preachy.

In the opener, hard-working dad Doug Brody (John Bedford Lloyd of Remember WENN) spends too much time at work, upsetting wife Cookie (Margaret Trigg) and the kids.

Two of the ignored Brody brood transform a dead frog into a giant creature that rampages through town. When Dad realizes his selfishness, baby Bobut snaps at him to ''stop this tedious moralizing.''

Aliens in the Family displays oddball charm when it sticks to campy situations. The sitcom wisely saves most of the clever lines and situations for the baby.

A pudding addict, Bobut splatters the chocolate goo against the wall to resemble a beloved masterpiece. Demanding to be picked up, Bobut orders, ''Elevate me.'' He and his mom chuckle while reading Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

And when the baby complains about fearing the dark - ''the dark of the cosmos,'' that is, and ''the yawning chasm of eternity'' - Dad replies, ''Maybe we'll get you a little night light.''

If Aliens in the Family spends more time developing its offbeat take on families, ABC could have something special.

For now, Bobut will probably elevate this uneven show to success - and do wonders for the toy industry.

A Review from The Desert News

ALIENS IN THE FAMILY' IS THE NEW `BRADY BUNCH'

By Scott D. Pierce, Television Editor
Published: March 15, 1996 12:00 am

"Aliens in the Family" is an extremely familiar show - in an extremely weird sort of way.

It's what "The Brady Bunch" would have been if Carol and her children had been aliens from outer space.The premise for "Aliens" is the same as that of "The Brady Bunch." Single father Doug Brody (John Bedford Lloyd) and his children, Heather and Joey, try to form a new family with Cookie (Margaret Trigg) and her three kids, Spit, Snizzy and Bobut.

There's even a housekeeper, a la Alice, named Sally (Julie Dretzin).

The Brody Bunch, as it were.

Of course, Doug and Cookie didn't meet under the most average of circumstances - Cookie abducted Doug and was about to do medical experiments on him when she fell in love.

"(She) puts his head under a cranioscope, which is her device for analyzing a brain," said Andy Borowitz, the show's co-creator and executive producer.

"And she literally falls in love his mind," said Susan Borowitz, the other co-creator and executive producer (and Andy's spouse).

Cookie looks slightly alien, what with some weird stuff on the sides of her head. But her kids are completely alien - they all take after he ex-husband.

There is some magic involved in "Aliens in the Family" - Muppet magic. The folks at Jim Henson Productions who created the Muppets and the "Dinosaurs" are also responsible for creating Spit, Snizzy and Bobut.

As a matter of fact, "Aliens" has quite a bit in common with "Dinosaurs," most notably the inclusion of a baby that threatens to take over the show. And Bobut isn't just any baby.

"Like most babies, he acts like's he's the center of the universe," said Andy Borowitz. "In this case, it's somewhat justified because he actually is the center of the universe."

Indeed. Bobut is the future emperor of the galaxy. Not only is he as demanding as any small child, but he's got powers like mind control and levitation to back him up.

What "Aliens in the Family" is not about is how weird it is to have aliens living next door. They're just accepted as members of the community.

"They make a big splash initially in America, but it's sort of like Kato Kaelin," said Andy Borowitz. "They have their 15 minutes of fame and they're on all the covers of all the magazines, and now people are just kind of used to having aliens on the planet. . . . It's sort of the post-modern approach to aliens in our society. They're just one other group struggling to make ends meet in American life."

The show's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness - it has great kid appeal. But, although it's cute and occasionally clever, "Aliens" somewhat misses the mark when it comes to entertaining adults.

Still, there's much to recommend the show if you're a parent. It's not risque. It's not even suggestive.

"This show is not going to have a single dirty joke in it," Andy Bor-o-witz said. "I really feel there is a plethora of opportunities for people who want to see jokes about breasts. The networks have handled that very well."

And tonight's pilot episode carries a strong pro-family message. Sort of a weird family, but a family nonetheless.

"Aliens in the Family" is the sort of show a parent can feel comfortable having the kids watch. And there aren't many of those on network television anymore.

To watch clips of Aliens in the Family go to https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=aliens+in+the+family+full+episodes

To watch the opening credits go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wXzeH7XE78