Roswell (1999–2002)

Adapted from Melinda Metz's young-adult *Roswell High* novels, Jason Katims's *Roswell* takes the founding American UFO-crash myth and reworks it as a high-school drama^[1]. Max Evans and his sister Isabel are "survivors" of the 1947 crash, adopted as children by the Evans family and passing as ordinary teenagers. The female lead, Liz Parker, is human; her family runs the UFO-themed Crashdown Café, where she waits tables. When Liz is shot during a scuffle at the café and Max heals her with his powers, the secret is out — and a covert government unit begins closing in. The show isn't really about saucers; it's about aliens written as outsider kids who can't afford to be seen.