It premiered Oct. 1 (8:30 p.m. EDT), and explores Americans’ fears and cultural ignorance of Muslims. Port, who’s Jewish, and Guarascio, who was raised Catholic, were at the Islamic Center this night to introduce their new series to the faithful.

Though not unique — the popular Canadian series "Little Mosque on the Prairie" also deals with anti-Muslim attitudes — it’s rare these days for an American sitcom to tackle such sensitive social and political issues.

At first, "Aliens in America" seems more akin to NBC’s short-lived 1999 series "Freaks and Geeks" with its story of Justin Tolchuck (Dan Byrd), a nerdy Wisconsin high school student who just doesn’t seem to fit in.

Then the twist: His overly involved mother, Franny (Amy Pietz), agrees to take in a foreign exchange student, hoping it will help Justin become as popular as his sister Claire (Lindsey Shaw). Only the student who arrives is Raja Musharaff (Adhir Kalyan), a Muslim from Pakistan.

Raja is polite, idealistic and hardworking, much to the pleasure of Justin’s father, Gary (Scott Patterson). But everyone else in town sees Raja as a potential terrorist.

In one scene from the pilot, Raja sits wearily in class listening to a student confess that she is angry with him because "his people" blew up the twin towers. The teacher then asks if others in the class are angry with Raja and all raise their hands.

The response from the Islamic Center crowd was overwhelmingly positive, just as it has been with TV critics. Guarascio and Port, who created "Aliens" in 2005 for NBC, insist that their intent was not to be edgy or socially provocative — just funny.

"Everybody will be able to get it on some level because irrespective of who you are or where you’re from, your race or religion, we all at some point in our lives feel as though we don’t quite fit in," says the 24-year-old South African-born Kalyan.The Hollywood Bureau of the Muslim Public Affairs Council helped consult on the show.