Are we alone in the universe? This question has boggled everyone’s mind, and no one can determine whether the answer being yes or no would be scarier. However, while things such as the Wow Signal and Phoenix Lights do exist as seemingly unexplained phenomena that intellectuals are genuinely mesmerized by, those who claim to have met extraterrestrial life are often dismissed as mistaken, lying for their own gain, or labeled as insane. While People of Earth makes no effort to convince its audience that these kinds of people aren’t odd, it does propose a comedic yet still frightening hypothetical: what if we aren’t alone, and what if those beings have been among us for centuries already?
With Conan O’Brien back on HBO Max with Season 3 of Conan O’Brien Must Go, there’s no better time to revisit one of the stranger shows he helped bring to television. The Conan O’Brien-produced sitcom follows Ozzie (Wyatt Cenac), an investigative journalist whose life is upended when he meets a group of people called StarCrossed, who all believe they have been abducted by aliens, with three species being identified: Whites, a Nordic, kind alien; Grays, a species more akin to typical representations of small-body, big-headed aliens; and Reptilians, the equivalent of the lizard-people conspiracy theory. While this may seem like a typical sitcom aiming to have you laughing with each scene, there is an unexpected depth to both the characters and themes that is very welcome in how it makes us engage with the potentially silly plot. Even the plot itself is a mystery that is constantly being peeled back, keeping the audience on their toes and the momentum high.
Each Character in ‘People of Earth’ Is Both Comedic and Tragic
Our protagonist, Ozzie, leaves a prestigious news organization to move to a small town called Beacon and lives in a motel. The leader of the group of “experiencers” (as they prefer to be called over abductees), Gina (Ana Gasteyer), is an alcoholic who has given up being a therapist and barely keeps it together when dealing with her clients in StarCrossed, and Richard (Brian Huskey) is so obsessed with the idea of everyone being reptilians that he loses his wife and is desperate for love.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
This continues through every character in the show and even the aliens we watch, with Jeff the Grey (Ken Hall) heartbroken over the death of his Reptilian love, Kurt (Drew Nelson), and Don the White (Björn Gustafsson) seeking a human connection, and it is key in making us engage with their arcs. While laughter does make them entertaining, the tragedy breeds sympathy and makes their deeper journeys something we actively root for.
‘People of Earth’ Explores One’s Desire To Be Special
Wyatt Cenac in People of EarthImage via TBS
As with every show, there is a deeper meaning to People of Earth that could be hard to miss with the hilarity throughout with its quirky comedy. That is the pursuit of wanting to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Simply put, we all want to feel as if we are special. This is something the aliens repeatedly tell humans, whether they believe it or not, and Gerry (Luka Jones), an alienologist, dwells on it throughout. In fact, while he is one of the most obsessive in the group, he is the only one who has not had an experience with aliens as all the others have.
Gerry goes to ridiculous lengths to purposefully be abducted and has some truly heartfelt scenes with Ozzie where he expresses an anxiety we likely all share, which is that, perhaps, we aren’t as important as we hoped we would be. However, People of Earth reassures both characters and viewers that we don’t need to do anything incredible to be special. By supporting others, as the StarCrossed group shows, we can have a significant impact on people’s lives in which they feel heard and seen, and in doing so you do become a part of something far bigger than yourself.
‘People of Earth’s Narrative Is Layered in Mystery and Surprise
Of course, while it is characters who keep us coming back to any narrative, without a strong plot to funnel these characters through, the pacing can feel lacking, and audiences can lose interest, which is something you certainly cannot say of People of Earth. In every episode, whether it is revealing that the Mother Ship is on its way to finally conquering Earth after 200 years, or telling us more about Ozzie’s particularly inexplicable encounter with a Reptilian who is far closer to the character than we at first realize, there is always something new to be learned. In doing so, there is a constant momentum towards the next chapter of the story, with even Ozzie saying in Episode 9, “Lost and Found,” that he has been given an answer that only leads to more questions. This is how to keep an audience engaged with your tale, and is something People of Earth is particularly effective at.
Sitcoms are not everybody’s cup of tea, and that’s okay. However, to brush over People of Earth for fear of it being simplistic or a dumbed-down adventure would be criminal. Across its two seasons, there is always something more to learn, and the characters are people you always want to be with. You will wish for them to succeed and celebrate when they do, and feel as disheartened as them when they do not. Furthermore, in an age where comparing ourselves to others on social media is practically unavoidable, People of Earth shows us how we can still feel like we are making a difference every day we are on this planet.
