During the opening credits, we hear alien lyrics being sung: "E take nas naj...nah sus gah nilpa." This is actually the names of producer Kenneth Johnson's wife and daughter (Katie Johnson and Susan Appling Johnson) sung backwards. In fact, most of the alien language was in fact backwards English, which helped to keep gramatical rules intact. Other inspiration for the language came from Russian, as well as nonsensical and made-up words.
Growing pains during the Fox Network's first year resulted in a cash crunch that forced the cancellation of this series after its first season, despite a season-ending cliffhanger. The never-produced second season opener was adapted as a novel and a comic book, and the series itself was later revived as a series of TV movies beginning with Futur immédiat 2: Les esclaves du futur (1994).
Brian Thompson (Peter Rabbit) is the only actor to appear in both Futur immédiat, Los Angeles 1991 (1988) and Alien Nation (1989).
While never said in the series, Detective Francisco's original human name was "Samuel." Sykes made him change it so he wouldn't have a partner named "Sam Francisco."
The series takes place from 1995 to 1996.