Alias

[matt35mm]

The new bitch is HOT.  The idea is supposed to be that she replaces Garner after a while (should the show continue), when Garner leaves the show.

[edison]

and who might this be?

any pics?

[matt35mm]

And just for fun...

[modage]

It's a shame the show got buried and has lost it's viewers because this season is turning out to be really, really good.

thats good to hear.  i'm slogging through season 4 now.  it's so funny because every season has me LONGING for the previous one.  even 3 seems so good in retrospect...  

[MacGuffin]

The idea is supposed to be that she replaces Garner after a while (should the show continue), when Garner leaves the show.

I like her character. She's a complete opposite of the tough characters which kinda grounds the show now, and way more vulnerable than Sydney ever was at the start of the series. The scene where she had to go back and retrace the steps of the office, seeing the employees, was nicely done.

[MacGuffin]

Thank the Lord ABC got wise and will move the show back to Wednesdays!


This season just keeps getting better and better, and WooHoo, Sark returns!!!

[modage]

so i just finished Season 4 finally.  and it truly has jumped the shark.  as i mentioned above, i thought season 3 was disappointing, but season 3 was gold standard compared to this schizophrenic mess.  i couldn't even tell you what it was about.  the other seasons i could atleast see even if there were some weak episodes the overall arc was worthwhile.  but here besides introducing the sister who was completely unneccesary there really wasnt anything going on here.  they had to bend over backwards in order to get all the characters into the same dynamic they had in the first season, which was unbelievable here and now devoid of any of the real mystery/tension that made the first season and a half so good.   it seems like there are no certainties on alias.  anybody thats dead can be not dead, anybody thats good can be bad.  and it doesnt seem like earlier where the writers were leading you towards something only they knew.  it just seems like they're making shit up episode to episode without even communicating with the other writers.  but i'm still hooked on the characters even though i know how ridiculous the show is now.  its like being addicted to crack and now it doesnt even get me high anymore, i just need it to get back to normal.  i'm glad 5 is much better, i cant wait to get into it. 

[MacGuffin]

If the writers can work out stretches like that, some of the better seasons' magic will come back, although I have a feeling this will be it's last season.

I knew it was a matter of time:

ABC: 'Alias' mission to end in May

ABC has confirmed that its cult-fave spy-fi drama "Alias" will wrap its five-year run at the end of this season in May.

The Touchstone TV drama, which stars Jennifer Garner as covert CIA agent Sydney Bristow, has never been a top-rated show but has long been buoyed by a loyal cadre of fans who track every nuance of its highly complex and mysterious storylines. It was also among the first of a new breed of TV series that can be sustained for multiple seasons of modest primetime numbers on the strength of ancillary businesses, like DVD sales and video games.

"Alias" was in many ways the perfect spooky, moody, terrorism-fighting drama for its moment, debuting in the grim shadow of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on Sept. 30, 2001. The series that made Jennifer Garner a major star was the brainchild of creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams, now riding high on ABC with "Lost."

"Right out of the box, 'Alias' attracted a cult following of fans that were completely invested in the show," said ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson, praising Abrams' talents and dedication to the show. "We owe both the storytellers and the fans a send-off worthy of a show that has been such a big part of the pop culture vernacular."

Touchstone president Mark Pedowitz made special mention of the contributions of Garner, who has earned four consecutive Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe trophy in 2002 for her work on the show. Garner has consistently shown her "dedication to the role and (has) unarguably the best demeanor in the business," Pedowitz said.

"Alias" executive producer Jeff Pinkner promised that the writing team was prepared to "wrap up the story of Sydney Bristow in a surprising and, we think, thrilling way." Instead of prolonging the tough decision about the show's fate, the early notice from ABC and Touchstone will allow cast and crew "the freedom to end the series in the climactic way it deserves," Pinkner said.

ABC said it would begin a "countdown" approach to the series finale in May. The series aired in the Sunday 9 p.m. slot in its first three seasons before moving to Wednesday last year and to the tough Thursday 8 p.m. slot this fall. So far this season, "Alias" has ranked No. 75 among all primetime series with an average of 7 million viewers and 2.9 rating/7 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research.

In addition to Abrams and Pinkner, "Alias" exec producers this season also include Ken Olin, Jesse Alexander and Jeffrey Bell. Garner's costars this season include Victor Garber, Ron Rifkin, Carl Lumbly, Kevin Weisman and Balthazar Getty.

[matt35mm]

That really sucks.  I thought it would last longer.

I know it's been generally going downhill, but I've been a part of this whole journey.  It's been a fun trip.  I hope this show ends as mindblowingly well as I know it can.

I used to huddle up at the TV with a cup of hot chocolate every Sunday night (back when it was on Sunday night).  I shall miss it. 

[modage]

yeah this sucks.  i think i ruined it.  every tv show i watch started out cancelled (freaks&geeks,twinpeaks) and then the ones i started watching on the air are all getting cancelled  (arrested, alias).  and i am almost caught up finally.  oh well.  it seemed like they were priming the show for a new cast to takeover anyhow like the last season or two of xfiles when i think they could've ended that show with the mulder scully kiss.  so i guess now they've just got to figure out some silly way to turn sloan way evil, get her sister out of the coma to marry weiss, bring vaughn back and end happily with sydney.  i'm sure they'll pull something out of their asses.  still sad though, i really love garner as bristow even when the story gets ridiulcous, its her character that keeps me coming back (and the surrounding characters).  that always bums me out, never getting to see these people (together) again.

[MacGuffin]

I wish I would've had a re-cap show because it took me a while to catch-up and remember everything that went down months ago. It seemed like the first hour was the left over episode before the hiatus and notice of cancellation, and the second hour was recently done with the thought of, "let's get this baby out of her so she can get back to kicking ass for the remained five episodes." They're bringing back some old faces (Will) so I hope the series does go out with a (satisfying) bang.

[MacGuffin]

Jennifer Garner Says 'Alias' Had a Good Run

BURBANK, Calif. - "Alias" is coming in from the cold. "I think we have done these characters justice and to do any more would be pushing it," says series star Jennifer Garner, who plays double-agent Sydney Bristow, perhaps TV's most gorgeous female spy since Diana Rigg played Emma Peel on the `60s British series "The Avengers."

After five seasons, the ABC series that revitalized the espionage genre with a visually dazzling combination of glamor, angst and trickery concludes Monday, May 22, with a pair of episodes (9 p.m. EDT).

The brainchild of J. J. Abrams (who has since created ABC's hit drama "Lost" and directed "Mission: Impossible III"), "Alias" leaves behind a loyal, cult-like group of fans who understood the minutia of the double-dealing plot twists.

Yet mainstream viewers were often left scratching their heads over the spies' constantly shifting alliances between good and evil, not to mention their occasional faked deaths.

Show runner and executive producer Jeff Pinkner says it's "always been a family drama" and has "always played with the question of whether or not Sydney Bristow had a choice in what she was doing in her life ... fate versus free will."

The role made Garner an A-list star and her private life media fodder. Supermarket tabs tracked her divorce from "Felicity's" Scott Foley, her dating of "Alias" co-star Michael Vartan, her marriage last year to film star Ben Affleck and the November birth of their daughter, Violet.

Simply clad in black, action-star work clothes, the gracious, fresh-faced actress arrived promptly for lunch at the Mickey Mouse-themed Rotunda restaurant on the Walt Disney Studios lot, where the final episodes of "Alias" were in production.

Pinkner joined her and they shared feelings about the bonds that develop among cast and crew during the series run.

"This show will always be the backdrop to me growing up and I did it with these people. They've seen me struggle through stuff, figure stuff out, struggle through it again," said Garner, now 34. "They have been enormously kind to me the entire time and have done nothing but facilitate my growth, and been very patient."

That included her real-life pregnancy, which was worked into the plot, with Bristow giving birth to a daughter, Isabelle, in the April 19 episode.

Filming that sequence felt "too intimate," Garner said. "It was a horrible scene to shoot. I felt ridiculous. I kept saying to the crew, 'This wasn't what it was like. I wasn't like this. I was very calm.'"

Certainly more fun for the actress over the years were the many disguises Bristow adopted to go undercover, including "hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of wigs," Garner recalled. Her favorite was "the blonde bob," which she donned, along with blue contacts, to pose as a Nordic beauty. "It's the only time I've ever felt, `I wish I was this person.'"

She also mastered snippets of many foreign languages, the hardest being Czech.

And Garner is proud to say she performed many of her own stunts, though she's miffed that as her fame grew so also did Disney's insistence on stunt doubles.

She said she had wanted to do a "descender" in one of the final episodes, where "you're rigged in a harness. Couldn't be safer. A hundred and fifty feet. I've done higher than that several times."

But she was told insurance wouldn't cover her. "I was crushed. I was so bummed."

So on this day, she was happy to be going back after lunch to shoot a rappelling scene, even though "it's just a wussy thing."

Pinkner co-wrote one of the final episodes, but, teasingly, would only say, "People die; people live."

However, he assures the conclusion honors Bristow's ongoing romance with CIA agent Michael Vaughn (Vartan) and her relationship with her parents, particularly her father, double agent Jack Bristow (Victor Garber).

The final episodes also pay off the mythology of the show, based on the mysterious prophecies of 15th century seer Milo Rambaldi, and add another kink to the machinations of treacherous spymaster Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin).

Garner admitted to some ambivalence as production on the series drew to a close.

"I feel very much like a college senior," she said. "Kinda, `When will this ever end? I'm never going to get out of here!' and at the same time, `Oh, don't let it end. Who am I without it? I don't want it to end! I love these people.'"

[MacGuffin]

 

G'bye, Sydney.

A suitable ending. Cheers one moment, tears the next. I'm sad to see the series and characters go, but, like I said, it was time, especially with this series recycling ideas from movies (the final episode was straight out of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). The last few episodes felt contrived and rushed to sew everything up and give old characters their 'curtain call,' but it was a nice farewell.

[modage]

yeah even though the last few years more or less sucked i'm still sad to see the characters go.  it had some nice moments though i still hardly feel like any of it was 'real', you know?  if jj abrams had come back to do it i think it could've really ruled.  the last season or so has been more like an alternate universe that hardly relates to the early stuff.  but it was still a good, if ridiculous, time. 

[MacGuffin]

Just announced for DVD release by Buena Vista Home Entertainment is Alias: The Complete Collection - Seasons 1-5 (due 11/21, SRP $199.99). The set is expected to include all five seasons as previously released on DVD (complete with all of the extras therein), along with a hidden bonus disc that includes 6 new featurettes: Head of Security (an interview with Abrams and Jennifer Garner's first interview after being given the role of Sydney Bristow), Case Closed (the final on-set cast reunion during the show's last week of filming), Identity Theft (Sydney's best disguises), Secret Agents (a tribute to the fans), Dossier 47 (on the show's infamous number) and the Alias in Overdrive action montage. You also get a hardcover book with introduction by Abrams, and a stamp of authenticity. All of this will be contained in a foil-embossed replica of The Rambaldi Box (a key prop from the series). Here's what it'll look like (photo by ComingSoon.net of the packaging on display at Comic-Con):

Dear Universal Disney,

FUCK YOU.

Sincerely,

Me