Resident Alien Dominates iTunes Charts a Year After Cancellation

Even with showrunner Chris Sheridan suggesting he knew the writing was on the wall for the show's cancellation, Season 4 of Syfy's Resident Alien should never have marked the end of a show of such quality. Blending sci-fi with comedy and drama, and featuring a leading performance from Alan Tudyk to rival any other in his career, Resident Alien was an acclaimed series with a devoted fanbase that simply and sadly couldn't pull enough viewership to encourage a fifth season renewal.

Just over five months since the finale, "The End is Here," aired to just under 400,000 live viewers, Resident Alien is having a resurgence on a surprising platform. At the time of writing, the hit sci-fi series is one of the five most-streamed shows on the iTunes charts in the U.S., joining the likes of IT: Welcome to Derry, Taylor Sheridan's Landman, the brilliant Mr. Robot, and the chart-topping RuPaul's Drag Race. Sadly for Tudyk, the early cancellation of one of his shows is nothing new, with the actor part of the main ensemble of Firefly, another acclaimed series axed way before its time. A synopsis for Resident Alien reads:

"An alien crashes on Earth and hides in a remote Colorado mountain town. After assuming the identity of the town doctor, Harry Vanderspeigle, his nefarious mission to kill all humans is threatened when he realizes one of the townspeople, a 9-year-old boy, can see his true alien form. Harry starts off living a simple life, but things get a bit rocky when he's roped into solving a local murder and realizes he needs to assimilate into his new world and slowly begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his secret mission on Earth."

'Resident Alien' is a Critical Darling

For each of Resident Alien's four seasons, critics were quick to gush over the quality of this underrated series. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Resident Alien averages a near-perfect 98% score from critics, incredibly 2% higher than perhaps Tudyk's most-famous recent triumph: Andor. Few TV projects in Tudyk's career are rated higher than Resident Alien on Rotten Tomatoes, with 2021's Devil May Care earning a perfect 100% rating. Perhaps, if this streaming success continues, a return to the fictional town of Patience could be on the cards.

Resident Alien is proving popular on the iTunes charts. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for the latest streaming stories.

Release Date 2021 - 2025-00-00

Writers Nastaran Dibai, Sarah Beckett, Jenna Lamia, Christian Taylor, Emily Eslami, Donald Todd, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Njeri Brown, Aaron Wiener, Biniam Bizuneh

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  Sara Tomko

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