# Earliest TV series about aliens fitting in badly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 21, 2021, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939 "2021-07-21T02:52:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/1 "2021-07-21T02:52:02Z")
I recently watched _Home Invasion_ (it is okay, but really derivative of lots of things) and was wondering what the first TV series (_ **not movie** _, this is a “did you actually read the OP” test) with one or more aliens attempting to live on Earth as humans and not doing a good job of hiding. Without searching, the earliest I think of is _My Favorite Martian_. What beats that? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IFLB25B0000/maxresdefault.jpg "Home Invasion | Official Trailer | A Viaplay Original") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFLB25B0000) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/2 "2021-07-21T04:42:59Z")
I guess it depends on your definition of “fitting in badly.” Doctor Who beat My Favorite Martian by a year. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/3 "2021-07-21T05:06:49Z")
Adventures of Superman should beat out both in 1952. > **[Adventures of Superman (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Superman_(TV_series))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created in 1938. The show was the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California on RKO-Pathé stages and the RKO Forty Acres back lot. Cereal manufacturer Kellogg's sponsored the show. The first and last airdates of the show, which was produced for first-run syndication rather th... ETA: Did have to look up to get the exact date, but was pretty sure it was an early 50’s production off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/4 "2021-07-21T06:30:48Z")
I don’t think _The Adventures Of Superman_ fulfil this part of the OP’s requirement. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > live on Earth as humans and not doing a good job of hiding. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/5 "2021-07-21T06:47:32Z")
Yes, technically his Clark Kent was faultless, and no one ever twigged. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/6 "2021-07-21T07:08:32Z")
[This animated Superman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_djxH-q0e48) from [1941](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(1940s_animated_film_series)) describes him as showing his super powers as an orphan. That should presumably count as fitting in badly, though it doesn’t seem to be an ongoing plot point. Not a TV series, but also not a movie. This was before TV was popular and film shorts were probably the nearest equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/7 "2021-07-21T12:53:30Z")
Depends on what you mean by fitting in. He had to have a secret identity, and the only reason that it was not seen through was due to plot. It’s been a _long_ time since I’ve seen the original b&w’s, but I do remember various eccentricities that were handwaved away. According to [the wiki page on the show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Adventures_of_Superman_episodes) “Several episodes raise the threat of exposing Superman’s secret identity as Clark Kent.” If we mean not doing a good job of hiding in only by not being outed, then My Favorite Martian doesn’t really count either. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/8 "2021-07-21T14:54:59Z")
By “fitting in” I mean acting in a way that doesn’t seem “off” to humans. Examples of “not fitting in” include _Resident Alien_, _3rd Rock From the Sun_, and _Mork and Mindy_. Aliens that don’t fit in have not sufficiently mastered local culture to not be weird. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/9 "2021-07-21T15:29:03Z")
Fair enough. He understood human culture well enough to mimic it, by being raised by humans from an infant. I don’t think that it prevented him from being a bit “off”, in a similar way that a sociopath is “off”, in that they are just pretending to be human, but not _quite_ pulling it off. It sounds as though you are looking specifically for comedies that _focus_ on the cultural differences and the hijinks that ensue from those misunderstandings. In that case, I would say that My Favorite Martian would be the first. I don’t know that I would include Dr. Who, as he’s not really trying very hard to fit in, only his “Granddaughter” is, and is only on Earth for the first episode anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/10 "2021-07-21T15:35:20Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > It sounds as though you are looking specifically for comedies that _focus_ on the cultural differences and the hijinks that ensue from those misunderstandings. Yes. (extra Discourse characters) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/11 "2021-07-21T16:35:50Z")
Didn’t My Favorite Martian only act weird in the company of his “nephew”, who was in on the secret, and fit in outside of that? Been a while since I’ve seen that show. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/12 "2021-07-22T13:32:39Z")
“Black Leather Jackets” an episode of the Twilight Zone is an early example of an alien not doing a good job of fitting in - some of it is eerily like later works like Starman. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/13 "2021-07-22T19:42:29Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I guess it depends on your definition of “fitting in badly.” Doctor Who beat My Favorite Martian by a year. Also your definition of “living on Earth”. Although The Doctor visits Earth quite frequently, I don’t think you could say he lives here. It’s more like he doesn’t really have a permanent home and just lives in the TARDIS, traveling around the universe to different places and times. Sort of like a retiree living in a motorhome. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/14 "2021-07-23T02:12:56Z")
I’m not the expert on The Doctor but I seem to recall the first and third Doctors primarily stayed on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/15 "2021-07-23T02:20:59Z")
I will take your word for it. I’m not really an expert on The Doctor from that era, either. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/16 "2021-07-23T02:50:50Z")
“The **Third Doctor,** who was [exiled by the Time Lords](https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Exile_on_Earth) to [Earth](https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Earth) in the [20th century](https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/20th_century) for a significant period of his life …” > **[Third Doctor](https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Third_Doctor)** > > The Third Doctor, who was exiled by the Time Lords to Earth in the 20th century for a significant period of his life, was a distinguished man of high class and gadgetry, often tinkering away and privy with machines. He also liked to share his wisdom... ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/17 "2021-07-23T12:05:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Didn’t My Favorite Martian only act weird in the company of his “nephew”, who was in on the secret, and fit in outside of that? Been a while since I’ve seen that show. Uncle Martin understood Earth culture well enough to easily pass for human. While he had certain powers, he used them in secret and never had a problem fitting in (thought Tim sometimes had to make up explanations on the spot). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/18 "2022-03-28T16:17:10Z")
“The Professor” on _Gilligan’s Island_. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/19 "2022-03-28T16:36:15Z")
You want “aliens” who don’t fit in well, even though they look normal? The cavemen from the sitcom **It’s About Time** (1966-7). The first 18 episodes were about two astronauts who did a Star Trek IV and ended up in the Stone Age, but after that they got their spaceship working again and came back to the present with three cavemen (Joe E. Ross, Imogene Coca, and Mary Grace – I don’t remember if they brought her kid brother, too). They definitely didn’t do a good job of fitting in. You could argue that the characters in several sitcom series of the 1960s weren’t exactly standard modern humans and didn’t fit in Bewitched (witches and the like) I Dream of Jeannie (Genies) My Living Doll (A female Robot – 1964) Hymie the robot on Get Smart (1967) Holmes and Yoyo (Robot cop partner – 1976-7) Others have already been mentioned ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939/20 "2022-03-28T17:09:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t remember if they brought her kid brother, too Yep. Breer. I remember all their names as if it were yesterday. Make it STOP!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-tv-series-about-aliens-fitting-in-badly/946939.md?page=2)