With offerings ranging from Alien 3 to an early "mythology arc" X-Files episode, today's space programming is on the humorless side. Thank heaven for the misadventures of Dr. Smith!
(all times Eastern)
12:30 AM The Invader (HBOPlus)
Mars needs women: An alien decides to impregnate a schoolteacher (Sean Young) in order to provide his dying race with females, all of whom have been wiped out by a rival species.
12:00 PM Alien 3 (FX)
Most somber of the Alien saga, this installment shows the dark hand of director David (Seven) Fincher. Bereft of her adopted daughter, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is marooned on an icebound penal colony where the only tools available in her crusade against the aliens are a small population of tonsured convicts (including Charles S. Dutton) and a thriving local waste-refining industry.
12:05 PM The Day of the Triffids (Showtime3)
Mutant plants make a bid to conquer the Earth after a freak meteor shower in this apocalyptic 1962 classic.
2:00 PM Lost in Space (SciFi) - The Derelict
Balloon people steal the Jupiter 2, giving Dr. Smith and Will Robinson some time to bond through their soon-to-be-time-honored method of getting into trouble.
4:00 PM Star Trek (SciFi) - The Cage
Original pilot episode pits the dashing young Captain Pike against big-headed aliens. Clever quasi-Buddhist allegory ("is it better to live a comfortable illusion or escape into the uncertainty of reality?") was later reworked both within the Trek mythology and elsewhere.
7:00 PM The Outer Limits (SciFi) - Tempests
An astronaut carrying medical supplies crashes his ship.
9:00 PM The X-Files (FX) - The Erlenmeyer Flask
Harrowing first-season finale sees evidence of alien viruses, human genetic manipulation, and the final fate of Deep Throat. A groundbreaking episode in its day.
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