Will the Third Season of Resident Alien Be Its Last?

Last week, Syfy announced that it would be trimming back the episode count for the upcoming third season of Resident Alien from twelve to eight, though it did not give a reason for the cut. The first season of this dramedy about an alien sent to Earth to destroy humanity consisted of ten episodes and it proved to be a hit for the cable channel. The second season was expanded to sixteen episodes which was broken into two eight-episode parts. The first part did well in the ratings, but then the numbers dropped during the second part. And now the third season has seen its episode order count which is not a good sign.

Resident Alien premiered on Syfy in January 2021 at a time when the network seemed to be shying away from scripted programming. It brought the star power of fan-favorite Alan Tudyk, and the show pulled in good viewership when it premiered and actually grew its audience through its first season. It averaged a 0.20 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic in its freshman year, the best numbers that a Syfy original had seen in quite a while. The second season premiered with a series-high rating in January 2022, though the numbers tapered off in subsequent weeks. But it still averaged a 0.15 rating in the demo which is decent for the basic cable nets these days. Then the show went on hiatus only to return to a much smaller audience in Summer 2022 with the second half of its second season. It averaged only a 0.07 rating across those eight episodes, less than half of the ratings average of its Winter run.

There have been grumblings from the fans that the second season was padded out, and cutting the show into two parts seemed to break its momentum. Interest in the show seemed to wane, and that can’t be blamed completely on the second half of the second season airing in the low-viewership Summer months. Syfy has actually done quite well during that time of the year in the past, programming against the broadcast networks when they have less in the way of scripted programming available. A lack of promotion may have been one of the issues, but Syfy has given Resident Alien a better marketing budget than it does for most of its originals.

The question now is whether cutting back on the third season episode count indicates that the network is giving up on the show. Syfy does have a bad rap for its frequent cancellations, though that usually applies when the network does not have an ownership stake in a show. With Resident Alien, it does appear that the network will see future financial gains, though it is certainly sharing revenue with co-owners Amblin Television and Dark Horse Entertainment. But the network’s financial stake may be enough to keep it going for a fourth season if the ratings justify it.

So at this point, the future of the show may be in the hands of the fans. A premiere date for the third season has not been set yet, but I expect it to arrive somewhere around Summer 2023. The fans need to start getting active on the social networks to bring the show more attention. If the ratings improve with the third year, that could lead to a fourth season nod. If they remain low or drop further, then Resident Alien could be done. It is very possible that the creative team has been told to wrap up as many storylines as possible with the upcoming eight episodes. But if viewership picks up when the show returns, the story could continue into a fourth year. The fans will need to make some noise to muster the troops and get people watching for that to happen, though.

Are you still watching Resident Alien and would you support efforts to assure it gets a fourth season?

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