ROAD
TO ROSWELL, PART 2
From theWB.com
Part 1 can be found here.
In the second part of
this two-part series, Roswell creator Jason Katims talks with the
WB about the new season, new storylies, and whether or not he reads the
message boards.
What
aspect of Roswell gives you the most fulfillment?
For me it's the
writing because I'm a writer. At the end of the day that's really
what I love to do, and it's what I'm best at. However, the other
side of what writers get to do in TV which is so wonderful is we get to
produce. We get to be part of the decision-making - meaning
everything from casting to looking at visual effects to talking to
directors and helping them - guiding them along the way in terms of how we
want to see the scripts realised.
What
is the hardest part when you have to take off the writer hat and be the
Executive Producer of the show?
The challenges for me
are being able to let go and realise that another writer's vision for an
episode might be different than mine, not better or worse, just different,
and to be able to let go and try to encourage that vision and help that
vision get to the screen rather than take it over. That's something
that has been part of my growth as a producer, and what I've been trying
to do, and I have a wonderful writing staff which makes it easier.
What
is it about Roswell that has attracted the following that it has?
Last year there was a
considerable drop-off in our ratings after we launched, and there started
to be some question about whether Roswell had enough audience
appeal. When that campaign kicked in, it was more than a message to
the network, it was a message to us showing support about what we were
doing, and when I say "us" I mean us as writers and producers
and cast and crew and everybody because when you're doing a show, you're
in this little bubble, in this little world where you don't know what's
happening out there, so it was great to feel that response. The only
thing I can say as to why they had that response comes from just hearing
from them and seeing what they write and say about the show. I think
the fans are responding to something where they feel that they are really
connected to our characters. And they feel there's a tone and a mood
that's different than other things that they're seeing and they're just
drawn to it. I just keep hearing about people who are addicted to Roswell,
and what's really meaningful to me is that they come from all walks of
life. You hear about older people who are into the show. All
different kinds of people are starting to find the show, and it's really
great.
What
are your expectation for the new season?
I'm very excited about
this season. I think that the first year was exciting in a way that
you were starting something new. At the end of last season, we
started to hit our stride and we've carried that momentum into the second
season. So I'm very excited about the episodes we're doing. I
liked all the episodes last year, but I felt like it took us a little
while to find the voice and find where the show would sort of sing and
have an energy to it and so it's very exciting to come out of the box this
year with really strong episodes.
Now
that Ron Moore has been brought onto the show, what do you think he brings
to the plate?
Well, Ron has been a
great addition to the show and has brought, I would say, his long
experience that he's had in the genre of science fiction. He's
brought a kind of fearlessness with him about the science fiction stories
or the science fiction aspects of Roswell. It's been a
wonderful working relationship between us because I think our strengths
really complement each other, and he's as enthused, by the way, about the
relationship aspects of the show and the human relationships of the show
as he is about the science fiction, and I think that's the only way it can
work. It not like I'm the relationship guy, and he's the sci-fi
guy. I know that's the way it looks on paper, but in fact, we're
both working on and juggling both aspects of the show.
What
do you mean by fearlessness about science fiction?
Well, one thing is we
would have conversations when we were first starting to break stories
where an idea would come up, not necessarily from him, but an idea would
come up about what if... and whatever, and I would say, "Well, you
know, I don't know if you could do that," and Ron would say,
"Why not?" I think because he's been down this road before
and he has experience in this world. There's fearlessness in sort of
going into that terrain. We're really playing into what I'm thinking
of as imaginative storylines this year - a lot of "what if" type
stories. For example, we're doing the episode where we revisit 1947
- we revisit the time of the original crash which is something I've always
been wanting to do, and this year we found a way to tell that story.
In another episode, a version of Max from the future has travelled through
time and comes back to our present-day Roswell. He comes back
to Liz because he need to, in some way, change what's about to
happen. We're doing a lot of stories like that.
Do you
and the staff ever read the internet message boards, and does if affect
storylines?
You know, it does
affect us. It's not in a way where every day we go online and see
what the audience thinks of an episode or a character and make a decision
based on that, but in terms of larger trends. For example, there was
a poll on what they wanted the show to be - very simple. It was part
of the sci-fi versus relationship show, and the overwhelming majority of
people wanted it to be a 50-50 mix. They were very concerned about
losing the relationships, but they didn't want it to just be a
relationship show, and that's something I've actually sort of taken off as
a model for what I want the show to be. That doesn't mean that
literally it's 50-50 like in every episode we'll have half of the scenes
be about relationships and half the scenes be sci-fi cause it doesn't work
that way. Some episodes will be more driven by story and mythology
and science fiction and some episodes more by relationships. But I
think that the audience's desire to have that mix of both things - they're
saying to us that's what the show is to us, and that's what we're
responding to. And I definitely do get that message.
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