SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21

"ALIENS IN AMERICA" � (7:30-8:00 p.m. ET)

"Pilot" (TV-PG, DL) (HDTV)

WELCOME TO AMERICA � Justin Tolchuck (Dan Byrd, "The Hills Have Eyes") is a sensitive, lanky 16-year-old just trying to make it through the social nightmare of high school in Medora, Wisconsin, with the help of his well-meaning mom Franny (Amy Pietz, "Caroline in the City"), aspiring-entrepreneur dad Gary (Scott Patterson, "Gilmore Girls") and his beautiful and popular younger sister Claire (Lindsey Shaw, "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"). Worried about Justin's lack of friends, and thinking that an athletic, brilliant Nordic teen will bestow instant coolness on her outsider son, Franny signs up for the school's international exchange student program. However, when the Tolchuck's exchange student arrives, he turns out to be Raja Musharaff (Adhir Kalyan, "Fair City"), a 16-year-old Muslim from a small village in Pakistan. Despite the cultural chasm between them, Justin and Raja quickly develop a bond that makes them both feel a little less "alien." Luke Greenfield directed the episode written by Moses Port and David Guarascio (#100).