|
"TIME
HASN'T BEEN KIND TO ROSWELL"
ADDED: 17.05.02. SOURCE: AZ
CENTRAL
Two
dramas from The WB network made the leap this season to UPN,
notable previously mostly as the home of professional wrasslin'.
It's been almost a year now, and time hasn't been particularly
kind to either hsow.
Buffy
the Vampire Slayer was the big-ticket item, adored by fans
and critics alike. It hasn't been bad this year, just unceasingly
dark, to the point where you're better off taking a pre-emptive
aspirin to ward off the inevitable headache afterwards.
Following
in Buffy's footsteps was Roswell, another alienation
drama about actual aliens, the ones who supposedly crashed in
Roswell, N.M., in 1947. They must age slowly; the three of them
don't get around to graduating from high school until tonight.
But like any show worth its weight in WB heritage, these would-be
geezers are handsome and beautiful and so full of angst (albeit
interplanetary) that it's practically leaking out of their ears.
I
liked this show a lot the first season. Yes, the metaphor of
alienated hihg-school student as genuine alien was heavy-handed,
but Roswell was fun - kind of a starter X Files
kit for kids.
Some
people loved it. When The WB threatened to cnacel it, thousands
of viewers sent in tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce (the aliens'
favourite snack) to try to save it. And it worked. But in Roswell's
second season, it became less fun, a trend that continued this
year at UPN.
Which
brings us to tonight's series finale. It's meant to tie up loose
ends, and it does, but in such insipid ways that you might want
a return on your Tabasco. To lay out the plot would be both
unfair and agonising. But Liz and Max resolve their relationship,
as do Michael and Maria and ... oh, who cares.
At
one point, Max must distract bad guys with a graduation speech
- apparently by boring them into submission (worked on me).
What happens next proves that rescue by motorcycle is always
an iffy proposition in a high-school graduation scene.
Cult
hits ask a lot of viewers. You've got to look past a lot of
ludicrous nonsense. Despite the darkness, Buffy is still
good enough to make you want to.
Roswell
isn't.
Not
that it matters what I think. Fans devoted to the show will
swoon over every word tonight, even as they box their bottles
of hot sauce and prepare them for shipping.
Save
the stamps, gang. The spice is gone. And after tonight, so is
Roswell. BACK
TO THE TOP
RELUCTANTLY,
WE BID FAREWELL TO ROSWELL
ADDED: 16.05.02. SOUCE: DALLAS-FORT
WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
You
have to wonder if the creators of Roswell, which exits
Tuesday after three quiet seasons, view the out-of-the-gate
success of Smallville with a sense of longing and envy,
or even downright dread. Smallville is the series that
creators David Nutter and Jason Katims wanted to make, and did,
for a handful of episodes while on The WB.
Like
Smallville and its focus on Clark Kent as a teen trying
to make sense of the world, Roswell slyly used a similar
escapist fantasy - the space ship that reputedly crashed in
Roswell, N.M., in 1947. But it still gave the network's young
audience what it really craved: stories of love, lust, identity
and teen angst.
Sharp
writing elevated the series above the strained concept. Max
(Jason Behr), his sister ISabel (Katherine Heigl) and best bud
Michael (Brendand Fehr) survived the crash in a suspended state,
awakening in 1983 [sic] and looking like normal children. All
three were adopted and hid (up until now) their true identities
from their adopted parents, who have cameos in Tuesday's finale.
(The parents were never much of a factor, but the fact that
Max and Isabel landed in a stable, middle-class home while Michael
contended with life in a trailer with an abusive father gave
the series a simmering realistic edge).
But
the strength of those early episodes rested on the oh-so-sweet
courtship of Max and Liz (Shiri Appleby), whose lives intertwined
when Liz was shot and Max brought her back to life by placing
his hand over the gunshot wound. From there Max and Liz tiptoed
through love, fear and misunderstanding, trying to figure out
what Max was and who Liz was when she was with him.
The
two nursed their mutual crush while scheming to prevent a suspicious
sheriff and later a host of villains from discovering the truth:
a love forbidden by extreme circumstances. (Think Angel and
Buffy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Max and Logan on
Drk Angel.)
Audiences
can be notoriously fickle, but based on the early episodes,
Roswell looked like a winner; it seemed to have the potential
to build as viewers caught on to what the producers were trying
to do.
But
they never did. My theory is that Roswell suffered the
cruel blow of network re-creation by committee. The WB panicked
too early and insisted on drastic changes in tone and story,
opting out of the romantic aspects of the series for more sci-fi.
(Nutter, a former X Files producer, and Katims, whose
background included the terrific My So-Called Life, probably
conceded just to keep the series on the air.)
Roswell's
core audience became frustrated and bolted, and just as The
WB was to cut its losses after a low-rated second season, in
rode UPN, which figured that by packaging the series with its
acqusition of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it could reach
a larger audience. It didn't.
This
isn't to say that Roswell didn't have its built-in problems.
Writers never quite knew what to do with Heigl's character and
seemed compelled to pair everyone up, with no relation to story
progression. Behr played MAx with such restraint, he looked
as if his face was frozen. I often wanted someone to slap him
out of it.
Fans
of the series will find solace in a finale that ties up loose
ends, even though the episode is something of a mess. The premise
surrounds Liz and her newfound premonitions (lifted from Charisma
Carpenter's Cordelia on Angel). She can "see"
all their deaths, and it seems the bad guys are closing in.
As
they do, the characters bicker about what to do and how to do
it, deciding eventually to simply high-tail it out of Roswell.
I
have to admit that I checked out of this series long ago, catching
up with it shortly after hearing that UPN was scrapping it.
That I was able to tune in and pick it right up says something
about both the simple-mindedness and stagnation of the scripts.
Longtime
fans are bound to feel a sense of loss Tuesday, and not just
because they're saying farewell to these characters. The door
will officially close on a promising series that should have
been truly great but never was. BACK
TO THE TOP
ROSWELL
THAT ENDS WELL
ADDED: 16.05.02. SOURCE: NEWSDAY
The
teen aliens who had a world of chacnes are taking off tonight.
In
the brutal world of prime-time television, first chances are
won at the cost of many therapy sessions, while second chances
are about as common as fur coats at a PETA convention.
In
any realistic scenario, Roswell never should have gotten
on the air, and never should have been renewed, let alone snagged
from the jaws of death by a different network. As described
by its stars and producers, it's "the little show that
could."
But
all dreams, especially the Hollywood kind, eventually must end,
and Roswell, having run out of chances - if not devoted
fans - bids farewell tonight at 9 (WWOR/9), at least until it
pops up in reruns on Sci-Fi Channel this fall, but that's another
story.
Based
on a series of young-adult novels by Melinda Metz, who later
joined the show as a staff writer, Roswell was shepherded
to the screen by Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation),
an occasional guest star, his producing partner Lisa Olin and
My So-Called Life producer Jason Katims.
The
show began life as Roswell High, a pilot for Fox, which
passed. With the title trimmed to Roswell, it found a
home on The WB, which liked the idea of orphaned aliens passing
as ordinary high-schoolers in the New Mexico town made famous
by reports of a UFO crash in 1947.
Also
attractive was the show's romantic element, in which lead teen
alien Max, played by the broody, dark-eyed Jason Behr, risked
exposure to save the life of fellow student Liz, played by the
perky, dark-eyed Shiri Appleby, because he was totally in love
with her.
This
led to Liz and her best pal, Maria (Majandra Delfino), finding
out about the aliens, which in turn led to lots of romantic
complications, including Maria falling for Michael (Brendan
Fehr), an alien, and previously clueless Alex (Colin Hanks),
his [sic] human pal who finally got a clue and a serious crush
on Max's sister, Isabel (Katherine Heigl).
Then
there was scheming alien temptress Tess (Emilie de Ravin) and
Isabel's eventual husband, lawyer Jesse (Adam Rodriguez).
The
potboiling blend of science-fiction, romance, teen angst and
action-adventure hooked fans of all ages. They were loyal and
true, and even staged massive campaigns to keep the show alive,
but they never showed up in large enough numbers to make The
WB happy. The show hopped time slots and suffered long hiatuses
during its two seasons there, and at the end of its second season,
the end seemed seriously nigh.
But,
just as the bell began to toll, in swept UPN, which had just
shelled out major bucks to liberate Buffy the Vampire Slayer
from The WB, and had high hopes that Angel, Buffy's
spinoff, would follow. This hope dashed, UPN put out a hand
to Roswell, in hopes of recreating the young-adault-oriented
Tuesday night that Buffy and Angel long had provided
for The WB.
Little
did anyone know that the slot chosen for Roswell - Tuesday
at 9pm - would become the biggest traffic jam in recent TV history,
with The WB's Smallville, ABC's NYPD Blue, CBS'
The Guardian, Fox's 24 and NBC's Frasier
and Scrubs elbowing for viewship. Even with Buffy
as a lead-in, Roswell got nailed.
"Honestly,"
Katims says, "the biggest disappointment to me is that
we didn't do better in this Tuesday time slot on UPN, because
I felt it was a chance for us to really resurrect the show.
We really just got crushed."
When
the formal cancellation announcement came in April, no one really
was surprised. Katims and fellow producer Ronald D. Moore, who
recently was hired to write Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica
miniseries, collaborated on a finale, Graduation, that
they hope will leave the faithful with a warm feeling inside,
especially those pulling ofr Max and Liz, the ultimate star-crossed
lovers.
"There's
definitely closure for Max and Liz," Katims says. "At
the end of the episode, our charaters essentially are - I'm
not suire, I'm just thinking as I say this whether I should
say this - at the end, there's a sense of them going off together
as a group, leaving Roswell, but being together."
"I
like the image of that ending, because it gives you the sense
that these characters are still out there somewhere."
BACK
TO THE TOP
SAY
FAREWELL TO ROSWELL
ADDED: 15.05.02. SOURCE: TV
GUIDE
With
UPN's Roswell signing off tonight (at 9pm ET), TV
Guide Online called creator Jason Katims to do a postmortem
on his teen sci-fi sudser. Or is it more of an alien autopsy?
Either way, find out what went wrong - and whether space stud
Max and Earth girl Liz still have a future.
TVGO:
We're so sure Liz's dire premonition - that her aliens pals
will be killed by the Feds - comes true. What really happens?
And why is Liz suddenly psychic?
Katims:Are
all these couples going to stay together or not? That's what
the meat of this episode is. The finale nostalgically hearkens
back to the show's beginning - so Liz has certain powers she's
not in control of, as a result of Max having healed her [gunshot
wound] in the pilot. Max and Liz fell in love then, and now,
they essentially decide to be together in a permanent way.
TVGO:
Which we won't spoil by giving away. So, Roswell spent
two seasons on WB, then was axed after just one on UPN. Why?
Katims:
Personally, the toughest blow for me is that from day one on
UPN, our numbers were way too low. The writing was on the wall
even then, although the network lilked the show and, frankly,
gave it their best shot. We just wound up in a highly competitive
timeslot. Unfortunately, for us, Smallville did incredibly
well. Plus, other unexpected [sucesses] like The Guardian
took some of our audience. We just did not hold enough of our
lead-in audience [from Buffy the Vampire Slayer] - that
was a great disappointment for me.
TVGO:
The show has had trouble balancing its sci-fi and soapy aspects.
Looking back, what might you have done differently?
KAtims:
I would've stayed with the Skins as antagonists - and not gone
off on things like the whole storyline about alien DNA. And
in the second season, the mythology of the show became very
complicated and the audience started to get lost. I think that's
what people got frustrated with more than the soap-opera element
of the show. It is a soap opera!
TVGO:
Is there any truth to fansite buzz about Roswell coming
back as a TV movie or feature film?
Katims:
Over the last few months, there have been murmurings, but there
is nothing planned. First, you'd have to establish enough [public]
interest to do it. Then, you'd have to assemble all the actors
at the same time, which could prove difficult - it's an extremly
appealing cast, and they're all going on to other things. It's
unlikely, but not impossible. BACK
TO THE TOP
ROSWELL
BLASTS OFF FOR THE LAST TIME
ADDED: 11.05.02. SOURCE: ZAP2IT
First
and foremost, Roswell has always been a love story.
Setting
aside aliens in human form, evil FBI agents, evil Air Force
personnel, befuddled parents (only Buffy's mom was denser than
these folks), vicious foes in borrowed skins and even all that
blither-blather about everybody feeling alienated in high school,
the beating heart of Roswell is the beating hearts of
its teen lovers, especially the doe-eyed duo of alien Max and
perky Liz.
So
when contemplating the big finale, which airs May 14 on UPN,
writer/producers Jason Katims and Ronald D. Moore decided to
feel the love - big time.
Oh,
there's plenty of danger in the closer - with secrets popping
out and the government hot on the trail of the teen aliens -
but who cares? The important questions are:
Does
Max propose to Liz? (Oh, yes, but as for the answer, you'll
have to tune in.)
Does
Maria hear the "l"-word from her beloved "space
boy" Michael? (Yep, but then he rides away.)
Does
Jesse reconcile with his alien bride Isabel? (More or less,
kinda sorta, but there's lots of hugging.)
And,
does ex-sheriff-turned-country-music-wannabe Valenti finally
get a job, for heaven's sake? (Fear not, bills will be paid.)
By
the way, if you thought slayer Buffy's pals were the Scooby
Gang, wait'll you catch the van in this one.
Featuring
a return to Liz's voice-over narration (missed that when it
went away), Graduation is a big, warm, green alien fuzzy
with an ending that could spark a whole new series of teen novels,
like the ones the show is based on.
Nothing
is assured, nothing is resolved completely, but a good time
is had by all and the ending brims with hope. Not a bad way
to close a show that beat the odds to ven survive for three
seasons.
Farewell,
Roswell. See you this fall in reruns on Sci Fi. BACK
TO THE TOP
DEATH
BECOMES ROSWELL
ADDED: 06.05.02. SOURCE: THE SAN FRANCISCO
EXAMINER, 30.04.02
The
San Francisco Examiner recently took a look at how four
series which are ending this season should end, and how they
will end. Roswell was one of them (the others
were Ally McBeal, Felicity and The X Files):
In
memoriam: The drama about the trials and tribulations of teenage
aliens living in Roswell, New Mexico was just not made for this
world. Roswell was always weak in the ratings, and no
one expected it to make it through its first season. But thanks
to strong support from hardcore fans who never gave up on it,
Roswell managed to survive a second season on The WB.
And after the frog network killed the show, it was resuscitated
by UPN. But the show's remission was not for long, and its low
ratings finally caught up with it. Maybe UPN did the humane
thing by pulling the plug.
The
end: In the series finale for Roswell - airing at 9pm
May 14 - Max pops the question and Liz develops the ability
to see the future just in time to see that the government plans
on killing the teenage aliens at their high-school graduation.
(How convenient.) This leads to some very difficult decisions
for the gang. Should they stay or should they go?
But
wouldn't it be cool if ... All the teen aliens of Roswell
moved to Sunnydale to help Buffy and the scoobies on Buffy
the Vampire Slayer in their never-ending fight against evil.
Or better yet, maybe Roswell could move to the Sci-Fi
Channel. I mean it wouldn't be the first time the cult fave
switched networks. BACK
TO THE TOP
KATIMS
REFLECTS ON ROSWELL
ADDED: 03.05.02. SOURCE: SCI-FI
WIRE
Jason
Katims, executive producer of UPN's teen alien series, Roswell,
revealed to Sci Fi Wire the regrets he has about the show, which
ends its three-year run this year, with just two more episodes
to go. "We were always trying to find the right balance
between the science fiction and relationship aspects of the
show," Katms said in a frank interview. "And ... it's
very much a show that sort of skewed one way or the other in
different episodes, and I was sort of fine with that. But sometimes
I felt like the show got off too much into too complicated of
a sort of mythology ... and became too serialised, particularly
in the second season. ... It just got out of hand."
Katims
added, "At the beginning of that season, we introduced
the Skins as [Max's] adversary. And looking back at it, I wish
that we had just stayed with the Skins and used that as the
running adversary throughout that season. If we had, they might
have even stayed in for the third season. But we dropped it
and just moved on, and I think that I would have done that differently.
I think ... we went on to other things, and I think ... things
became so complicated that it was hard to keep up with it. So
that was what I would have done differently, definitely."
But
Katims added that he remains proud of the series, though it
struggled to find an audience through its first two years on
The WB and its last on UPN. "The things that I'm happy
with about the way that it's turned out is I feel that we have
used the metaphor of the show - of these aliens hiding in plain
sight and living as humans, but being outsiders - and ... we've
used it as a metaphor for growing up and coming of age. And
by this third season we were dealing with much more adult themes.
... One of these aliens was entering into a marriage, another
one had a child, and the other one was trying to figure out
what he was going to do for work and deal with the neurotic
relationship that he was in. So they have grown up a lot. But
I think that ... we did stay with the basic theme of what this
show always was, which is about how in a way we're all outsiders,
and we're all living as outsiders with secrets, and I think
that that was always the strength of the show."
Roswell
airs its final two episodes at 9pm ET/PT May 7 and May 14. BACK
TO THE TOP
FINALE
ALL FOR THE FANS
ADDED 16.04.02. SOURCE: ZAP2IT.COM
Jason
Katims, executive producer of UPN's Roswell, has never
let fan likes and dislikes dictate his writing, but the show's
third-season - and series - finale on Tuesday, May 14 may be
an exception.
"Normally,
when I write," he says, "I try not to think too much
about how the audience is going to respond. You just try to
write the best story and hope that people are going to respond
to it, because you'd drive yourself crazy [otherwise]."
"In
writing this episode, I had very much the audience in mind,
particularly the loyal fans of the show. I wanted to write something
that I felt would be a satisfying ending for people who have
been with the show since the beginning."
"I
feel it certainly has a lot of story and twists and turns and
all that, but what's more important to me, it has a lot of heart.
We go back to what I think has been the central relationship
of the series, which is Max and Liz."
For
three seasons (two on The WB, one of UPN), Roswell has
centered on the dangerous liaison between two teens - alien
Max (Jason Behr) and human Liz (Shiri Appleby). Also in the
mix since the beginning have been Max's sister, Isabel (Katherine
Heigl), their alien friend Michael (Brendar Fehr) and Liz's
best pal, Maria (Majandra Delfino).
"There's
definitely closure for Max and Liz," says Katims. "At
the end of the episode, our characters essentially are - I'm
not sure, I'm just thinking as I say this whether I should say
this, at the end, there's a sense of them going off together
as a group, leaving Roswell, but being together."
"I
like the image of that ending, because it gives you the sense
that these characters are still out there somewhere."
Since
its premiere, Roswell has lived on borrowed time, much
of it bought and paid for by the dedication of the show's fans.
Subjet to time-slot shifting and frequent hiatuses while on
The WB, Roswell lasted through two season there, in part,
because fans deluged the network with letters, e-mails and bottles
of the aliens' beloved Tabasco sauce.
While
the most loyal fans followed Roswell to UPN, the show
still fell short. Even putting it after fellow WB expatriate
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Tuesday nights didn't keep
ratings up in the competitive slot, ho,e to several top dramas,
including freshman hits 24 on Fox, and Smallville
on The WB.
"We
just got crushed," says Katims, who cites the ratings drop
as his biggest disappointment.
But
the fans make him proud. "They are responsible for keeping
the show on the air, which is amazing," says Katims. "Their
campaigns for the show had a real effect. The other thing that
I'm very moved by is they have joined together not only to be
fans of the show, but also to do things. They've raised money
for different charities."
"It
makes you feel great. You feel like, in some way, you created
this thing, and now it's doing some good out there. That's the
thing I go to as the thing that's most meaningful to me, how
these fans have responded to the show and how much it means
to them. That really is humbling."
Back to the top
GO
HOME, UPN TELLS ROSWELL ETs
Added 12.04.02. Source: The New York Daily News, 11.04.02
Fans
of the sci-fi drama Roswell will soon bid the cult favourite
farewell.
UPN
programmers have cancelled the three-year-old series, which
has spent the season in the Nielsen cellar, averaging 3 million
viewers each week.
Though
the show was critically acclaimed, it had a difficult time attracting
an audience.
UPN
acquired Roswell last May from The WB, which shifted
the show from Thursday to Monday after its first season in an
attempt to generate better ratings.
When
that failed, The WB ditched the series. UPN, which also picked
up Buffy the Vampire Slayer from The WB, launched Roswell
last October, airing it Tuesdays at 9pm.
The
show revolves around a group of teenage aliens living in New
Mexico.
It
was created by Jason Katims and Ronald D. Moore, the executive
producers, and is based on a popular book series, Roswell
High, by Melinda Metz.
Yesterday,
Katims promised a finale with unexpected twists.
"Ronald
D. Moore and I had the fans very much on our minds when we were
writing this final episode," Katims said. "We felt
they deserved a great ending."
Indeed,
Roswell fans have proved to be among the most loyal -
and quirky - and viewers of a prime-time drama in years.
Two
years ago, when Roswell devotees heard of The WB's plans
to dump the drama, they peppered executives with e-mails and
shipped bottles of Tabasco - the alien's drink [sic] of choice
- to the network as a show of support.
The
response was enough for WB executive to give the series another
shot.
That
campaign has continued, though not as fervently, among fans
who have sent not only Tabasco but litres of peach Snapple -
a favourite of series star Brendan Fehr - to UPN programmers.
But
it seems no amount of Tabasco or Snapple could help float Roswell
for another season.
Back to the top
IT'S
THE END: ROSWELL CANCELLED
Added 11.04.02
The
news will hardly come as a surprise, but now it's been confirmed
- Roswell has been cancelled.
According
to a UPN affiliate, the finale episode, which airs on 14 May,
will "present shocking plot twists and resolve many of
the distinct romantic - and emotionally moving - storylines
that have been the trademark of the fan-obsessed series."
"I
would like to thank Twentieth Century Fox Television, UPN and
especially our fans whose combined efforts helped get us a third
season for Roswell," said executive producer Jason
Katims. "[Executive Producer] Ronald D. Moore and I had
the fans very much on our minds when we were writing this final
episode. We felt they deserved a great ending."
Writing
to the "Producers, Cast and Crew of Roswell,"
Jason Katims had this to say:
"I
have been informed that tomorrow morning UPN will be putting
out a press release announcing that our final episode of the
season will be the UPN 'Series Finale.' Obviously, this means
that barring the unlikely event of another network change, Roswell
will not be returning for a fourth season.
"I
am writing to let you know that this is about to happen and
to once again thank you all for your invaluable contributions
to the show. I am very proud of the work we have done on Roswell
and am honored to have had the opportunity to work with, and
get to know, all of you."
I
wish you all the best of luck in the future and sincerely hope
we get the chance to work together again soon.
Although
there is a fan-campaign to get the US Sci-Fi Channel to pick
up the series for season four, with most of the cast keen to
move on, this is almost certainly doomed to failure from the
outset.
Back to the top
SCI-FI
ACQUIRES ROSWELL RERUNS
Added 06.04.02. Source: Sci-Fi Wire
The
(US) Sci-Fi Channel has announced that it has acquired the rights
to air reruns of all nine seasons of The X Files and
all three seasons of Roswell.
Sci-Fi's
Roswell deal is an exclusive five-year deal, which will
see the series debut on the channel this autumn.
Back to the top
ROSWELL
CANCELLED?
Added 06.04.02. Source: Teenmag.com
While
there has been no official announcement yet, the rumours of
Roswell's cancellation seem to be growing daily.
Teenmag.com
had this to say:
...Might
as well get the bad news out of the way upfront: the demise
of Roswell is official. Sources at UPN say the production
company gave up its space where the show was filmed, and that
- along with the news we got a couple of weeks ago about the
fact that the show's sets had been torn down - means it's definitely
over. Now, I've gotten a couple of e-mails from you all, asking
about the rumours that the show might move to another network.
I've heard those rumors, too, and the most persistent one is
that the show would like to move to the Sci-Fi Channel on cable.
Here's what I can tell you about that: it's true that Roswell's
producer, Jonathan Frakes, has confirmed that he and the
other show producers have tried shopping it around to other
networks. But what everyone seems to want to ignore is the fact
that the cast members - as I've been telling you for months
now - just don't want the show to continue. As for whether
that will ultimately be a fatal glitch in the plan to move it
to yet another network (remember, before UPN cancelled
it, it had been cut loose by The WB at the end of last season),
remains to be seen. As it stands right now, however, the series
finale on UPN is scheduled for May 14 and will find the Roswell
pals contemplating their future as they prepare for their high
school graduation. New episodes of the show, by the way, are
set to return to UPN on April 23.
Back to the top
FRAKES
DOWNBEAT ABOUT FUTURE
27.03.2002
- While speaking about the forthcoming Star
Trek movie, Nemesis, Jonathan Frakes had some less
than hopeful news about Roswell.
Appearing
to confirm that UPN will not be renewing the series, Frakes
said that the show's creators are looking for another broadcaster
to take it on:
"There
is no official word and we're trying to find a home for it on
another network."
Frakes
confirmed that the network in question was the Sci-Fi Channel.
Back to the top
UPN
BINS ROSWELL REPLACEMENTS
23.03.2002
- Although the chances of Roswell returning
for next season look remote, its replacements during its March/April
hiatus have fared even worse.
The
ratings for Random Years and As If have been so
bad that the two shows have been replaced by a repeat of UPN's
new reality series, Under One Roof. Roswell's
return has also been brought forward by a week so it will now
return when Buffy reverts to new episodes on 23 April.
E!
Online's Wanda still says that the chances of a reprive
are almost non-existence, especially since most of the cast
don't want the series to return.
Back to the top
SADLER:
NO CANCELLATION - YET
28.02.2002
- Despite Majandra Delfino's comments that UPN
has ordered Roswell's sets to be dismantled, William
Sadler announced on his official website that "Roswell
has not been cancelled."
Instead,
Sadler claims that the series is getting an overhaul, but suggests
that viewers keep writing to UPN so that the axe doesn't fall.
Sadler is also directing a forthcoming episode of the series.
Back to the top
WANDA:
"ROSWELL WILL BE CANCELLED"
12.02.2002
- Asked whether Roswell will be cancelled,
E! Online's Wanda
said this week, "barring all miracles, yes. UPN seems
to have a lot of faith in Roswell's replacements (As
If and Random Years). I have yet to see Random
Years, but As If actually looks pretty good - most
likely because the actors actually want to be there."
Back to the top
KATIMS
ON NETWORK SWITCH AND MORE
09.02.2002
- "I think [the new direction is] good and
bad," Jason Katims tells Cinescape
Online. "This is a show that's grown and
evolved over three years, and I'm very proud of that.
I think that we've been through a whole lifetime of these characters,
and they've gone through a lot. They've changed and they've
grown up... There have been moments when I feel that we've gone
a little bit too far in certain directions at certain times.
For example, in the middle of the second season, I felt that
the show got too drenched in mythology - too complicated.
I think we've lost a little bit of the heart of the show."
That
confusion may have promoted The WB to let the show slip to UPN,
notes the site.
And
while Katims did not have an official announcement about whether
the show will be back next year, he did promise, "We're
planning a two-hour finale this year, and we definitely know
what we want to do. We believe that it will be both a
satisfying conclusion to the series, and will also serve as
almost a pilot to launch the show into a new direction, which
we think well play well with UPN. Hopefully, we'll be
able to move in a new and improved version of the show.
There has been a little talk of one or two two-hour movies subsequent
to that. But, I'm hoping we'll get another season on UPN."
Back to the top
WE
COME IN PEACE
04.02.2002
- The midterm "check-up" can't be easy
for any producer to live through, especially if the series in
question is fighting for a return season. For a time,
Roswell seemed to be as homeless as the aliens on its
show, but ever since it was given a new life on UPN the programme
continues to steadily build an audience. And while the
show has made the move to a new network, creator and executive
producer Jason Katims insists that audiences don't start counting
them down for the count.
"Things
have been going really well," says Katims. "UPN
has been great with us. They really have been happy with
the direction of the show creatively, and are very enthusiastic
and remain that way."
Viewers
shouldn't be daunted by the fact that the show is on a new network
and they definitely shouldn't feel as if they've walked right
into the middle of something they can't understand.
"That
was one of the intentions when we started on UPN, to make it
welcoming to a viewer that wasn't familiar with the show,"
says Katims. "Not make you feel like, 'I don't know
what the hell's going on."
While
UPN has been excited about the creative direction of the show,
the numbers have been a little slow to develop. This is
something that Katims can't help but be a little frustrated
with.
"You
know, we're all a little disappointed with the numbers,"
says Katims. "The number are not what we had hoped
for. And I think that's partially due to a very, very
competitive timeslot. We knew it was going to be competitive,
but it turns out that it's even tougher than we thought.
So, that's the one challenge. And we're continuing to
hope that we build on that, and things have been going very
well."
Even
if the numbers aren't where Katims and the network would like
them to be, the show continues to move ahead in new directions.
"We're
doing a total of 20 episodes this season," says Katims.
"In terms of next year, we don't know yet. We're
in the same position we always happen to be in around this time
in the year, which is a wait and see position."
But
Katims isn't as nervous about being in this "wait and see
position" as one might think. Remember, this is familiar
territory for him. He is very aware of the importance
of past experiences and the enthusiastic fan base that the show
has, and he considers them both assets.
"I
have some experience with that now, and I know that the only
thing that I can do about that is make these stories and these
episodes the best we can possibly make them," says Katims.
"We have a wonderful cast on the show. We have a
small but passionate audience. We have a great crew and
team of producers behind the show. So we have a lot going
for us. When push comes to shove that means a lot, it
really does. I hope we have a chance to come back because
I think we have a great idea of where we could take the show
next year." Source:
Cinescape.
Back to the top
ROSWELL
NOT CANCELLED - YET
30.01.2002
- It would appear that rumours of Roswell's
death have been exaggerated, at least for now.
According
to the show's publicist, its final fate will not be known until
May, but as things stand for now, Roswell has not officially
been cancelled. Source:
Crashdown.
Back to the top
ROSWELL
CANCELLED?
29.01.2002
- Citing an unnamed source close to the show,
Crashdown claims that
UPN has reduced its season three order to 18 episodes and that
there will be no season four.
The
site reports that the cast were informed of the decision on
28 January, with a public announcement due soon. Production
is expected to wrap in mid-March.
UPN
had previously announced that the series would be going on hiatus
for the February sweeps, but would return later in the season.
The next new episode is due to air in the US tonight at 9pm
ET/PT.
If
true, the cancellation can hardly be described as unexpected
as Roswell has been consistently placed last in the highly
competitive 9pm Tuesday slot, even lagging way behind The WB's
Smallville.
The
chances of any other network picking up Roswell must
be virtually non-existent, with the best fans can realistically
hope for that the production team are able to provide some sort
of closure to the series.
Back to the top
MORE
ROSWELL ORDERED
16.01.2002
- Jason Katims told Sci-Fi Wire that UPN
has picked up seven more episodes of the current season, taking
the total for the year to 20.
"They
picked up another seven, so we're doing 20 episodes this year,
a total of 20," Katims said in an interview at UPN's winter
press tour in Pasadena. "Which is good. We're
shooting now the 14th episode. ... We're more than halfway into
shooting." The season finale, which will count as
two episodes, will be aired in a two-hour block.
The
show, which has faced stiff competition from The WB's Smallville
this year, has been in danger of disappearing altogether, as
it has for most of its life. As for whether UPN will pick
up the series for a fourth season, Katims said, "For next
year, we're essentially where we always are around this time
of year, which is we don't know. This is where we were
the first season and the second season, which is we're kind
of at this point not sure about whether the show is going to
come back."
Back to the top
FRAKES
TALKS ROSWELL
29.12.2001
- We all know that Roswell's been getting
a thrashing in the ratings Stateside. Speaking to Cinescape
Online, co-executive producer Jonathan Frakes has given
his opinion on the subject.
"I
think we've suffered for being in what the L.A. Times
calls the most competitive hour on television. 9 o'clock
on Tuesdays is wicked and because we were partnered with Buffy
it wasn't realistic to move Roswell to another slot.
So I'll be curious to see how we survive."
He
adds, "But somehow the show from the beginning when the
pilot was made has managed to have a very interesting life,
cause it was made for Fox and at the last minute it was sold
to The WB where it ran for two years and then after The WB lost
Buffy, UPN decided to buy Roswell as well.
So it's really been on three networks. [But] I like going
over there. I like those kids. I think they're all
really talented and I like to keep my hand in it."
Back to the top
IS
IT THE END? (AND IS THE MOMENT BEING PREPARED FOR?)
03.12.2001
- UPN appears to have ordered six additional
episodes of Roswell, taking the season three total to
nineteen.
Crashdown,
citing Brendan Fehr's manager, reports that this is the case,
although according to Variety, the network may be looking
to get out of the series earlier than planned.
When
UPN picked up the series earlier this year, it said that it
had ordered 22 episodes for 2001-02. But on Thursday,
CEO Dean Valentine said that the network has the right to cut
that order back to only 13 episodes based on ratings.
It
now appears that season three will comprise 19 episodes, but
Variety claims that there's an outside chance it will
simply stick with the thirteen already guaranteed. (This
could be cutting it fine as episode 10 is due to air on New
Year's Day.)
Whatever
happens, UPN may air midseason replacements As If (based
on the Channel 4 series) and Leap Years in the 9pm Tuesday
slot during March or April - displacing Roswell repeats.
Assuming
that season three is only nineteen episodes, the outlook for
Roswell must be bleak. No doubt a fan campaign
will be launched in an attempt to save the series again, but
the chances of UPN or another network renewing the series for
a fourth season must be slim.
(If
this is the final season of Roswell, at least the six
additional episodes could allow the production team to wrap
up ongoing storylines and bring the series to some sort of conclusion.)
Back to the top
UPN
REPEATS
03.12.2001
- In an attempt to boost Roswell's flagging
ratings, UPN will broadcast a couple of repeats over the next
two weeks.
Tomorrow
sees another chance to see the Pilot, followed by The
End of the World on 11 December. UPN describes this
episode as follows:
As
Max and Liz begin to rekindle their relationship, a future version
of Max comes to Liz and asks for her help. Liz learns
that she must push present-day Max into the arms of another
in order to save the earth from future destruction.
Back to the top
ROSWELL
STILL ALIVE
23.11.2001
- Jason Katims told Sci-Fi Wire that he's
still waiting to hear, but it hopeful that UPN will order the
nine final episodes of season three.
The
show is currently showing episode 10, A Tale of Two Parties,
which is the first script from fledgling staff writers Laura
J. Burns and Melinda Metz, the editor and author who created
the Roswell High young adult novels on which the series
is based. Parties, dealing with New Year's Eve
celebrations, will air on 1 January.
"We're
waiting to hear about our back order right now, and my understanding
is they will give us a back order, yes," Katims said.
"It should be imminent. I'm waiting to hear.
I'm not sure whether we'll get the full nine episodes. ... I
have not heard from anybody directly about this, so I can't
say for certain. But my understanding is that we will
be getting a back order."
Roswell
has been "on the bubble" since it moved to UPN
this season. Averaging a 1.4 rating/3 share among adults
18-49 and 3.2 million total viewers, compared with 2.7/7 and
5.6 million viewers for lead-in Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Roswell faces stiff competition from The WB's Smallville,
as well as ABC's NYPD Blue. Source:
Sci-Fi Wire. Back to
the top
UPN
TO REPEAT ROSWELL PILOT
18.11.2001
- In an unexpected but nevertheless welcome move,
UPN is to repeat the Roswell pilot episode on Tuesday,
4 December, providing a chance for anyone who missed it on The
WB to see how it all began. Back
to the top
TOO
FEW VCRS FOR TUESDAY - PART 2
04.11.2001
- Further to the story below, Fox is doing its
bit to help out viewers faced with too much choice at 9pm on
Tuesday. Fox's cable channel FX will be re-broadcasting
24 on the Sunday and Monday following the original Tuesday
night transmission. Back
to the top
TOO
FEW VCRS FOR TUESDAY
31.10.2001
- Anyone following Roswell's ratings this
season will know that it's been struggling so far, but according
to Mark McGuire of the Albany Times Union, its Tuesday
9pm timeslot just has too many good shows to choose from:
With
the critical November television sweeps slated to start Thursday,
I have only one question:
Has
the fall season started yet?
Friends
is up, Survivor is slipping and CSI is avoiding
the sophomore jinx - but I'm not watching. Instead, I'm
surfing the cable stations. I can tell you more about
Ashley Banfield's glasses than Rachel's pregnancy. If
I want to see a curmudgeon, I'm tuning in to Bill O'Reilly on
Fox News Channel, not Becker.
That's
not even mentioning my recent heavy consumption of postseason
baseball, football, hockey and, of course, reruns of Get
Smart.
That's
not to say there are no dramas or comedies worth watching on
network television. The West Wing is still one
of my regular stops, and so is ER, if only to track who's
coming and going. In fact, there are a host of other new
and returning shows I like.
Of
course, almost all of them are on the same night. At the
same time.
Welcome
to 9pm Tuesdays.
Across
the dial, from CBS to UPN, that's the hour when almost every
network offers shows that range from very good to excellent.
Couldn't they be spread out over the course of the week?
Of course not - that would be too easy, make too much sense.
Look
at this lineup:
*
The Guardian on CBS (WRGB Ch. 6): The freshman drama
about a high-rolling finance lawyer forced to perform community
service as a child law guardian has gotten better in recent
weeks, even as it tries to skirt the traps of mawkish sentimentality.
In the lead role, Aussie Simon Baker is wonderfully restrained.
*
NYPD Blue on ABC (WTEN Ch. 10): The venerable cop drama
returns in a new time slot on Nov. 6. Yes, the series
is on its last legs, but Dennis Franz would be compelling while
reading the New York City Yellow Pages.
*
Frasier and Scrubs on NBC (WNYT Ch. 13): Frasier,
which premieres Tuesday, can still provide some of the best
laughs on television. Scrubs manages to mix in
some serious issues among the hilarity. (No, don't think
Ally McBeal.)
*
24 on Fox (WXXA Ch. 23): "Kiefer Sutherland"
and "great" can at last be used in the same sentence.
Debuting Nov. 6, this thriller about domestic terrorism and
domestic (as in family) strife is set in real time - 24 episodes,
each covering one hour of the same day. If the rest of
the series lives up to the inventive pilot, it could be a hit.
*
Smallville on the WB (WEWB Ch. 45): This was maybe my
third favorite new show of the season - right behind Scrubs
and 24.
*
Roswell on UPN (WEDG Ch. 4): This WEB import has gone
back to some of the interplanetary romantic elements that made
it so satisfying in the first season.
This
is sad: I'm a television critic with not enough VCRs to cover
it all.
If
they wanted, networks could move solid shows into voids; one
additional new episode of Scrubs will air next month
in the 8.30pm Thursday time slot vacated by the benched Inside
Schwartz. But the nets want to use solid shows to
weaken the other guy's contenders, turning it into a giant game
of "you go first."
Nothing
to watch on TV? At least at 9pm on Tuesdays, there's simply
too much. Source:
Albany Times Union, 29 October. Back
to the top
ROSWELL
HAPPY WITH UPN
26.08.2001
- Ronald D. Moore, Roswell's co-executive
producer told Sci-Fi Wire that he's pleased with the
direction the show is taking on its new network.
"We
feel very good about the show creatively," Moore said.
"It seemed like by the end of the second season and the
last, like, half-dozen episodes, we had sort of found what we
thought was the best and most comfortable mix of science fiction
and the relationship aspects of the show, and we were really
happy with where we ended up last season."
Moore
added, "So this year what we tried to do was sort of stay
in that groove and maintain that kind of feeling to the show
and the mix of stories. ... The opportunity to introduce the
show to a whole new crop of viewers also meant that we could
also re-launch the show in a certain sense. So we looked
at the first episode as almost like a new pilot, to sort of
say, 'Here's the show, here's the characters. And here's
where they are in the world, and what you've kind of missed.'
And then to sort of look at the rest of the episodes a little
more episodically than we had previously."
Moore
is referring to the show's shift away from long, multi-episode
story arcs. "On The WB, the network really wanted
long, continuing complicated storylines, making it heavily serialised,
which also kind of put new viewers at a distance to a certain
extent. And at UPN, it's sort of the opposite. We
want it to be more episodic. We want you to be able to
tune in and not feel like you've missed everything. But
it's a delicate balance, because at the same time, we need to
maintain the continuity of the show to the people who are already
our fans and who expect a certain follow-up. But we don't
want it to be so burdensome to the new viewer that they turn
it off and go, 'Oh, God, I don't know what's going on.'
But we feel pretty good about it, and we think we've sort of
struck that balance."
One
of the main threats to Roswell this season has been The
WB's Smallville, which has enjoyed impressive ratings
for its first two episodes. "We knew going in that
it was going to premiere very big. It's the new Superman
show. I mean, it's like, I'm curious. There's a
given curiosity that is going to bring people over to that show
to just see it. 'Yeah, what's this new Superman
thing they're doing?' So we knew that, and so we were
prepared to let them have a big premiere and a solid follow-up
rating or two. ... But after the bloom is off the rose, and
they have to do it every week, then it's going to be a fair
fight, and we'll just see what happens."
Roswell
might be happy with UPN, but is UPN happy with Roswell.
Let's hope that they're not as quick to make scheduling changes
as the BBC are these days.
Back to the top
KEY
MATCH-UPS: ROSWELL VS. SMALLVILLE
26.08.2001
- Mediaweek has taken a look at some of
the interesting schedule clashes of the 2001-02 season, including
Roswell vs. The WB's Smallville:
Although
there is plenty of talk of UPN acquiring Buffy, NBC cooking
up Emeril, ABC hoping Bob Patterson is not just
a show about nothing and The WB's Gilmore Girls moving
to Tuesday, here is a look at what could be quite a battle,
UPN's Roswell vs. The WB's Smallville, Tuesdays
at 9pm.
Strategically,
quite a few people (including myself) have questioned why The
WB didn't leave Angel in the hour and schedule the young
Superman saga Mondays at 9pm out of 7th Heaven.
Buffy viewers accustomed to Angel could have easily
used their remote, right? Regardless, this is one of the
more interesting programme match-ups this season.
The
potentially good news for Roswell is core viewer familiarity
and a stronger and more compatible lead-in, Buffy.
And the positive news for The WB could be interest (at least
initially) in a known TV hero. If Fox's highly touted
24 doesn't take off (hype doesn't always mean tune-in)
both weblets will obviously benefit.
According
to UPN, who just conducted two separate focus groups on Roswell
ads here are some interesting findings. Note that these
groups consisted of adults 18-34, one with 10 Roswell
viewers and the other with 11 Buffy viewers.
Roswell
Group:
- Of the 4 people who had heard of Smallville, only one
was familiar enough to recall a promo. Based on the promo
that person said she would check it out.
-
After hearing a description of the promo half the group said
they would give Smallville a shot over Roswell.
-
After learning the show was about Superman as a teenager before
he discovered he was Superman, those would be Smallville
viewers said they would now watch Roswell.
Buffy
Group
- Similar to the Roswell group, more than half of the
respondents said they would check out Smallville after
hearing a description of the promo.
-
After describing the show and mentioning that it was with Superman
as a teenager before he discovered he was Superman, only one
person said they would watch.
Although
two focus groups is not necessarily ample representation of
the potential success of any new series, don't be too surprised
if Smallville opens big and potentially peters out.
Time will tell. You
can read the complete article here.
Back to the top
ROSWELL
IN CROSS-PROMOTIONAL DEAL
26.08.2001
- From the Wall Street Journal:
"Omnicom
Group's media-buying arm is negotiating a deal with Viacom's
UPN that could result in show sponsorship, special cross-promotions
and even product placements for six of its most important clients.
"The
media shop, OMD, has tentatively agreed to buy an estimated
$30 million of television time on UPN during the coming season.
But it wants a little extra for having made such a big commitment.
"The
deal is tentatively expected to involve McDonald's, Cingular
Wireless, Gillette, Sony's PlayStation, State Farm Mutal Automobile
Insurance and Vivendi Universal's Universal Pictures, according
to those familiar with the situation.
"State
Farm, which has bought airtime on UPN for the first time, is
negotiating a product placement within The Hughleys,
a sitcom about an African-American suburban family starring
comic D.L. Hughley. The show formerly aired on Walt Disney's
ABC Network.
"A
spokesman at Sony PlayStation says the video-game maker will
team up with UPN's sci-fi drama Roswell in an undetermined
cross-promotional deal.
"The
network and the studio recently teamed up on a promotional effort
involving the theatrical release of the studio's American
Pie 2, which stars a Roswell cast member [sic]."
So
could we see Max and Michael indulging in a bit of gaming, while
the Crashdown starts selling Big Macs?
Back to the top
UPN
TO SELL ADS DURING PROGRAMMES?
22.08.2001
- Regular visitors to this and other sites in
the network may have noticed the occasional dig at current TV
presentation, but now it looks like sinking to a new low, and
Roswell could be one of the shows affected.
Previously
on-screen graffiti has been mostly confined to a station bug
in the corner of the screen, although many US stations also
run other information during programmes. Now, UPN
plans to over the space occupied by its station bug to advertisers
during programmes. Fortunately, this sort of thing
is prohibited in the UK, at least for now, because if it wasn't,
you could probably put money on Sky or MTV doing it.
Back to the top
NEW
SEASON THREE PREMIERE DATE
03.08.2001
- UPN have pulled the start dates of both Roswell
and Buffy forward by a week, probably to capitalise on
the debut of Enterprise on 26 September.
The
two-hour Buffy season six premiere will now air at 8pm
on 2 October, with Roswell's third season kicking off
at 9pm the following week (Tuesday 9th).
Back to the top
WHY
THE WB LET ROSWELL GO
19.07.2001
- While appearing at the Television Critics Association
press gathering in Los Angeles, The WB explained why they finally
let Roswell go, even after they had lost Buffy The
Vampire Slayer.
Talking
to the press, The WB's Jordan Levin explained, saying, "I
think you have to evaluate how many time slots are available.
It came down to, in some cases, whether not you wanted to pick
up Angel and/or Roswell or both. And we
tried to do what we felt was in the best interest of The WB.
We try not to make fear-based decisions. I think trying
to keep something from another network would have been a fear-based
decision, and we need to do what's right for us and bet on ourselves,
which we've always had success doing."
Back to the top
SPACED
OUT: ROSWELL BEAMS TO UPN WITH BUFFY
04.07.2001
- The Roush Review by Matt Roush
Note:
this contains spoilers for season 2 finale The Departure.
A
year ago I argued for WB to save Roswell. Now I'm
wondering why anyone would want to spare it.
Having
watched this teen-alien romantic thriller deteriorate in year
2 from guilty pleasure to pleasure-free embarrassment, I was
shocked when UPN rescued it from arch rival WB's cancellation
heap. (UPN outbidding WB for Buffy the Vampire Slayer
is another cutthroat matter entirely.)
In
the fall, Buffy will no longer be teamed with its spin-off
Angel on Tuesday, thanks to the game of corporate chicken
between companies. (Angel stays behind on WB, now
airing Mondays at 9pm ET.) Instead, Buffy will
be followed on UPN at 9pm ET by Roswell, which in theory
makes sense but in reality is like displaying a Picasso alongside
an Archie comic.
Buffy
layers its violent allegories with emotional empathy, nimble
wit and barbed humour, all of which is beyond Roswell's
muddled reach.
"You
aliens are the most pathetic group of people I've ever met,"
muttered the sheriff's son, Kyle (Nick Wechsler), in a May episode
that had me chuckling in agreement as he mocked the E.T.'s "boring
and brooding" nature.
By
then the show had become so convoluted, comic-relief human Maria
(Majandra Delfino) was opening each episode with a recap on
a chalkboard. As if we still cared, especially after that
"alien summit" episode in New York City, a laughably
self-important low point.
Truth
is, Roswell did improve in its last weeks, spinning a
mystery around the death of good-guy Alex (Colin Hanks) that
was revealed to be the handiwork of alien series Tess (Emilie
de Ravin), who seduced fellow alien Max (Jason Behr) into impregnating
her with, yes, an alien baby.
Playing
Nancy Drew with ridiculous earnestness was Max's strident soul
mate, Liz (the robotic Shiri Appleby), who as the season ended
was reunited with her pensive beau while Tess soared into the
cosmos alone.
When
Max and Liz gaze at each other, it's possible to recall the
show's early irresistibility. Alas, that spaceship has
sailed.
And
with WB fighting back in the same time period this fall with
the promising Smallville, about a teen Clark Kent who's
just learning how super he is, I figure my alienation from Roswell
will only intensify.
While
Roswell needs every viewer it can get, it would help
if they actually watched the show before criticising it.
At least two of Maria's blackboard introduction are necessary
because of The WB's scheduling of Roswell - the month
and a half of pre-emption after Viva Las Vegas and the
shifting of Off The Menu to the penultimate episode of
the season. And surely it's stretching a point to claim
that Buffy these days has the "nimble wit"
of old.
Smallville
promising? Don't make me laugh...
Back to the top
SEASON
3 START DATE
14.06.2001
- Despite initial reports that Roswell
season 3 and Buffy season 6 would start on UPN in August,
both series will in fact debut in October.
With
the official start date of the season not until the week of
24 September, the expected large viewing figures - especially
for Enterprise and Buffy - wouldn't be counted
for the season overall had the series started in August.
Roswell's
third season kicks off at 9pm ET/PT on October 16, a week after
the sixth season of Buffy debuts on UPN with a two-hour
episode.
Thanks to Kevin Taphouse. Back
to the top
EMMY
CONSIDERATION WEBSITE
10.06.2001
- Fox TV has put up a site
full of critics' quotes about its Emmy consideration shows,
including Buffy and Angel. Back
to the top
ROSWELL
ROLLS ON
09.06.2001
- "The decision wasn't made until the night
before they announced their schedule," says Roswell
producer Ronald D. Moore about his show's jump from The WB to
UPN. "There were many phone calls back and forth
between me and [executive producer Jason Katims] and both of
our agents, who were talking to the networks."
"I
got the phone call the night before the upfronts, and that was
it. Then I left for vacation two days later."
Moore
and his fellow producers are now back at work on their third
season, which begins this fall on Tuesday nights at 9pm EST,
right after fellow WB expatriate Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
"We're
in a good place," says Moore. "Buffy's
a tremendous lead-in for us, that's for certain. We're
in the perfect slot in the schedule at the moment."
One
dark cloud is that the slot pits Roswell, a show about
aliens teens, against The WB's Smallville, centered on
the teen years of alien Superman/Clark Kent.
"Hey,"
says Moore, "we're on the air. That's all that matters."
Spoilers
for the season two finale follow.
In
the Roswell season finale, the aliens (Jason Behr, Brendan
Fehr, Katherine Heigl, Emilie de Ravin) were preparing to abandon
Earth for their home planet. In the end, only the duplicitous
Tess (de Ravin) left, carrying Max's (Behr) child. This
launched a new story arc and opened the door for the reunion
of Max and human love Liz (Shiri Appleby).
With
the future of the show so uncertain, it would have been understandable
if producers had yielded to the temptation to wrap up the story,
just in case.
"Jason
set the tone for the rest of us," says Moore. "Early
on, he said, 'I just believe this is the show you can't kill.'
They've tried, and they've tried, ever since the pilot was made,
and it went from Fox to The WB."
"It's
been down so many times, and this time he just believed, somehow,
some way, it was all going to work out. He said, 'Let's
just proceed on the assumption that we're going to have a third
season.'"
"We
sat down and plotted out the opening episodes for season three
before the season was over. We just proceeded as if he
was right. Until they tell us to go home, we're just going
to keep doing it."
At
this point, Moore doesn't anticipate any cast changes beyond
the departures of Colin Hanks (whose character, Alex, was killed
off to allow Hanks to pursue film opportunities) and de Ravin.
As for plot, Moore promises more of the same.
"The
template for what we want to do is where we ended up in the
last six episodes of season two. That's the groove where
we |