Alien Nation

Set in what is vaguely termed as the near future, this show chronicles the lives of an alien species that crash landed in the Mojave desert and were somewhat welcomed to the city of Los Angeles. The aliens in question were of a slave race bred for intelligence and strength as well as to be able to work in any environment they encountered.

As the show takes place, these aliens were assimilated into society and took on a lot of the jobs no one else could or would do, until there was an uproar and they were granted the rights to work in any career they chose to pursue.

Alien Nation centers around a police detective and his alien partner whom he has been forced to work with despite feelings of animosity toward their species. The natural progression of enemy to friend takes place while they are out solving crimes, both of the human and Newcomer variety.

Behind the efforts of the newcomers to build a life based on freedom and the ability to choose for themselves is the fear of the overseer class taking control of their lives again. This was accomplished with a drug that was used to pacify and control the Newcomers and is being manufactured on Earth.

The differences in these Newcomers are touched on in nearly every episode, one of which is that spoiled milk has the same effect on them as alcohol has on humans. Some of their diet is repulsive to the people they interact with, and inter species dating is frowned upon by most of the society they live in. Salt water also has the same effect on them as acid does to humans which causes their extreme fear of being near the ocean.

The aliens face prejudice and discriminatory treatment as they try to build a life on their new home planet. Viewers get a look into the family dynamic of the married alien, who's marriage survives the fact they were selected to breed but would have chosen each other in any case. His human partner develops an attraction for an alien woman, which leads to all sorts of problems for him and his partner.