NoBadPicks

Shows Like Alien Nation

If you loved Alien Nation's Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Action & Adventure storytelling, these series deliver a similar experience — chosen for tone, narrative quality, and viewer satisfaction. Each includes where to stream it now.

Top Picks

Lethal Weapon
7.3

Lethal Weapon

2016

A slightly unhinged former Navy SEAL lands a job as a police officer in Los Angeles where he's partnered with a veteran detective trying to keep maintain a low stress level in his life.

Angie Tribeca
6.4

Angie Tribeca

2016

Lone-wolf detective Angie Tribeca and a squad of committed LAPD detectives investigate the most serious cases, from the murder of a ventriloquist to a rash of baker suicides.

Continuum
7.5

Continuum

2012

The series centers on the conflict between a group of rebels from the year 2077 who time-travel to Vancouver, BC, in 2012, and a police officer who accidentally accompanies them. In spite of being many years early, the rebel group decides to continue its violent campaign to stop corporations of the future from replacing governments, while the police officer endeavours to stop them without revealing to anyone that she and the rebels are from the future.

Torchwood
7.3

Torchwood

2006

The exploits of a team of people whose job is to investigate the unusual, the strange and the extraterrestrial.

Dragnet
6.4

Dragnet

1951

Follows the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

Black Lightning
6.9

Black Lightning

2018

Jefferson Pierce is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community.

Fastlane
6.4

Fastlane

2002

Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on Fox from September 18, 2002 to April 25, 2003.

Lucifer
8.4

Lucifer

2016

Bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar abandoned his throne and retired to Los Angeles, where he has teamed up with LAPD detective Chloe Decker to take down criminals. But the longer he's away from the underworld, the greater the threat that the worst of humanity could escape.

More Shows Like Alien Nation

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
7.5

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

2013

Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) puts together a team of agents to investigate the new, the strange and the unknown around the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary.

The Rookie: Feds
7.2

The Rookie: Feds

2022

Special Agent Simone Clark, the oldest rookie in the FBI, is a force of nature, the living embodiment of a dream deferred – and she works together with her new colleagues at the Los Angeles office of the Bureau to bring down the country’s toughest criminals.

Minority Report
6.0

Minority Report

2015

Ten years after the demise of Precrime, crime-solving is different and justice leans more on sophisticated and trusted technology than on the instincts of the precogs—individuals who able to see the future. In Washington, D.C., a man haunted by the future and a cop haunted by her past race to stop the worst crimes of the year 2065 before they happen.

Police Woman
6.2

Police Woman

1974

Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.

Fringe
8.1

Fringe

2008

FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, brilliant but formerly institutionalized scientist Walter Bishop and his scheming, reluctant son Peter uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and realize they may be a part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.

The Mod Squad
6.2

The Mod Squad

1968

The Mod Squad was the enormously successful groundbreaking "hippie" undercover cop show that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Pete Cochren, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as Linc Hayes, and Tige Andrews as Captain Adam Greer. The executive producers of the series were Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas. The iconic counter-culture police series earned six Emmy nominations, four Golden Globe nominations plus one win for Peggy Lipton, one Directors Guild of America award, and four Logies. In 1997 the episode "Mother of Sorrow" was ranked #95 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.

Dark Blue
6.9

Dark Blue

2009

Wandering in and out of he underbelly of Los Angeles, where criminals roam free under the veil of night or hide in the shadows of day, is routine for Lieutenant Carter Shaw and his special undercover task force. This team understands that to bring down a criminal, one must first get on their level.

Falling Skies
7.1

Falling Skies

2011

Falling Skies opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

Beauty and the Beast
7.4

Beauty and the Beast

2012

Detective Catherine Chandler is a smart, no-nonsense homicide detective. When she was a teenager, she witnessed the murder of her mother at the hands of two gunmen and herself was saved by someone – or something. Years have passed and while investigating a murder, Catherine discovers a clue that leads her to Vincent Keller, who was reportedly killed in 2002. Catherine learns that Vincent is actually still alive and that it was he who saved her many years before. For mysterious reasons that have forced him to live outside of traditional society, Vincent has been in hiding for the past 10 years to guard his secret – when he is enraged, he becomes a terrifying beast, unable to control his super-strength and heightened senses.

The Closer
7.9

The Closer

2005

Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson transfers from Atlanta to LA to head up a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Johnson's quirky personality and hard-nosed approach often rubs her colleagues the wrong way, but her reputation as one of the world's best interrogator eventually wins over even her toughest critics.

Life on Mars
6.4

Life on Mars

2008

After a car crash, police detective Sam Tyler mysteriously finds himself transported back to 1973 and still working as a detective.

Ahsoka
7.4

Ahsoka

2023

Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.

Why These Shows Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Alien Nation (1989): Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Action & Adventure themes, similar pacing, and comparable production quality. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface series most likely to resonate with fans of Alien Nation.

See full details for Alien Nation (1989)

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