Aliens in America

Thanks to DVR, I'm watching about a billion hours of additional television per week. While I wasn't much of a TV junkie before, there have been a number of decent shows that have graced our airwaves this Fall season. One of the better (and my opinion, truly under-rated) sitcoms to debut has been the CW's Aliens in America.

16 year old Justin Tolchuck's main goal in life is to fly under the radar screen of high school just long enough to graduate and attend college far, far away. Fearing that her son isn't out-going enough, Franny Tolchuck is on a mission to host a foreign exchange student that in her mind will win her son instant popularity at his suburban Wisconsin high school. Her dreams of taking in a Nordic, athletic genius are quickly shattered when learns that she will be hosting Raja Musharraf from Pakistan as her adopted son.

The interactions between Raja and his stereo-typical American hosts are hilarious. A devout Muslim who dresses in traditional garb, Raja is wide-eyed to the pecularities and flat-out ignorance of most Americans. During his first day of school, a fellow student calls him out on the fact that Pakistan was responsible for the events of Sept 11 (obviously not true). When he refuses pork chops in the school cafeteria a lunch lady bemoans that "now she's seen everything". During last night's episode Raja attempts to buy supplies for the rocket club and is interrogated by local police, fearing that he must be a terrorist.

With his good manners and desire to become part of our society, Raja manages to rise above the fray during each cultural hiccup. He is helpful around the house, an outstanding student, and is slowly giving Justin the confidence he needs to scrape through his high school tenure.

In 2007, being a television geek is almost cool. However, for anyone that's ever been considered a geek and also happens be part of a religious, race, or cultural minority, Aliens in America will likely be resemble the biography of your high school existance. Aliens follows the hit show Everybody Hates Chris on Mondays at 8:30 on Channel 56. After watching back-to-back episodes of Chris and Aliens, you'll be very happy that you somehow managed to survive the tenth grade.