'Resident Alien's mysterious cancellation leaves industry stunned

Alan Tudyk’s journey is nearing its end as Resident Alien gears up for a shocking final run after a surprise cancellation that left viewers stunned.

For the unversed, Resident Alien is a science fiction mystery comedy-drama television series, which was created by Chris Sheridan and is based on the comic book of the same name.

The series, which first premiered in 2021 on SyFy, has been cancelled for season 5 before the final episode of season 4.

While having a conversation with TV Insider, series creator and showrunner Sheridan articulated his thoughts by saying, "I knew going into it that this was likely going to be our final season.”

He added, “Creatively, that was exciting because I knew we could spend the time wrapping up some storylines and driving toward an ending."

"I’m so proud of how good season 4 is and especially proud that we were able to finish as strongly as we did,” the creator of Pagan Warrior noted.

Notably, the reason behind the series cancellation has not yet been revealed; however, Deadline stated that the series "came close to cancellation after Season 3."

Still, Resident Alien was renewed for season three but the budget was reduced and it was moved from SyFy to USA Network.

The Hollywood Reporter reported that the network change was “in hopes to expand its audience,” and Resident Alien’s views significantly increased after its first three seasons started streaming on Netflix in summer 2024.