TV CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Actor __ Everett
5 Vigoda of “Barney Miller”
8 __ McEntire
9 “Beauty and the __” 12 Savalas of “Kojak”
13 __ Ann Inaba of “Dancing with
the Stars”
14 Actor Nicolas
15 Diplomacy
16 “Scarecrow and __. King” 18 Hawaiian instrument, for short 19 Husband on “King of the Hill” 20 Spiral
21 Actress Patricia __
23 Colorful, velvety flower 24 “NYPD __”
25 Series for Alan Alda
26 “__ for Adano”; Gene Tierney
movie
28 Muscle pain
29 “__ Unmarried”
30 “__ and the Fatman”
32 “__ & Order”
35 High school subj.
36 “The Newlywed __” 37 Woodwind instrument
38 One of the twins on “Little
People, Big World”
40 “Are We __ Yet?”; Ice Cube film 41 Deliver an address
42 Trumpeter & bandleader Al __ 43 “How the West __ Won” 44 Hindu exercise/meditation
system
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DOWN
Sound of a noisy floorboard
Marg of “CSI”
Competent
“One __ at a Time”
Taken __; surprised
Ernie’s “Sesame Street” friend “A Flea in Her __”; movie for Rex Harrison and Rosemary Harris 10 “Big Bang Theory” actor
11 Garr and Hatcher
12 Fort Worth school, for short 13 “Catch Me If You __”; Tom
Hanks/Leonardo DiCaprio film 15 “A __ of Two Cities”
17 Sylvester Stallone, familiarly 19 Pull along behind; tow
20 Singer Johnny __
22 __ May Clampett
23 __ the floor; walk back and forth 25 “Let’s __ a Deal”
26 “Ice __: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” 27 Instrument for Roy Clark on “Hee
Haw”
30 John Amos’ “Good Times” role 31 Winehouse or Grant
33 Major blood vessel
34 “__ Willie Winkie”
36 “Boy, Did I __ Wrong Number!”;
Bob Hope/Elke Sommer movie 37 Cincinnati’s state
39 “__ Deal”; Arnold
Schwarzenegger movie
40 Your, in the Bible
LOS ANGELES — “Resident Alien,” a new Syfy series that caught the attention of veteran TV critic Rob Owen and approving viewers, is evidence that inventive shows exist outside premium cable and streaming services.
“It’s been awhile since there’s been a basic cable show on USA or Syfy or one of those channels, that’s struck me as something I would go back and give another look,” Owen, a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist, said of the comic book-inspired series that arrived in January.
An hour-long dramedy about an extraterrestrial being stuck in a small town, “Resident Alien” gained traction in ratings.
It pulled in a bigger audience for its second episode than its first, a rarity in the era of dizzying decisions about what’s worth your time and money.
The numbers are on a modest scale but with promise enough to gladden the heart of Syfy’s parent company, NBCUniversal, which gave the series a blastoff that included a NBC network promotional spot starring a UFO.
“We launch shows all the time and we want to pretend that every show can be the next big hit,” said NBCUniversal executive Jeff Bader, who heads its TV programming strategy group. “But it’s actually rare that you have a show that people seem to respond to ... and this is one of those shows.”
The Rotten Tomatoes website tallied robust approval from critics and viewers, both in the 90th percentile. “Resident Alien” airs at 10 p.m. EST Wednesdays.
A key element: Alan Tudyk’s layered comic performance as alien
Capt. Ha Re, who takes a crash course in human conduct and speech from “Law & Order” reruns.
His otherworldly appearance is cloaked with the appearance of an Earthling he killed, the memorably named Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle.
Tudyk (“Firefly,” “Suburgatory” and numerous TV and movie voice roles) milks abundant nuance out of Harry’s often heavy-lidded, deadpan expression that it begs comparison to the master, classic film star Buster Keaton.
Series creator Chris Sheridan gladly raves about Tudyk’s work, but he was determined that
the quirky residents of fictional Patience, Colorado, be as compelling as the alien in their midst.
The cast includes Sara Tomko (“Sneaky Pete”) as Asta Twelvetrees, assistant to Vanderspeigle; Corey Reynolds (“Selma”) as town sheriff Mike Thompson; and Judah Prehn as Max, the boy who sees Harry as the menacing interloper he is. (Spoiler alert: Ha Re’s mission is to wipe out humans.)
In ratings for the first two episodes in their Syfy airings combined with the next three days — an extended window that media companies say more accurately reflects today’s on-demand viewing — the second episode drew 581,000 more viewers than the first (2.765 million vs. 2.184 million).
That’s the biggest weekover-week increase for a cable or broadcast drama debut since “Outlander” in 2014.