General Articles about Roswell


Articles from various sources about Roswell.
Here is a list of the articles and interviews below -











From the WB

Aliens have invaded our civilization - and they look just like you and me. The aliens in question are the cast of the new show Roswell starring Jason Behr (Dawson's Creek) and newcomer Shiri Appleby. Also joining the cast - Katherine Heigl, Majandra Delfino, Brendan Fehr, Colin Hanks, Nick Wechsler and William Sadler.

Roswell is set in the New Mexico town made famous by the alleged crash of an alien spacecraft in July of 1947. Several witnesses claim to have made contact with the ship's debris, stating that the material would not burn or scratch, and it would return to its normal state after being crumpled. And others recount tales of alien bodies lying dormant in the wreckage. All of this, naturally, has been refuted time and again by the US military. They still say the craft was nothing more than a weather balloon.

Producers David Nutter (The X-Files) and Jason Katims (My So-Called Life) are spinning a new angle on the story in Roswell. They reveal that not only did aliens dive bomb into the American west 50 years ago, but their descendants are living among us under the guise of human personas.

"To me, one of the exciting things about the premise of the show is that the three alien characters in the show don't know about their history," says Katims. "From a writing point of view, it's exciting because as they discover their backstory, the audience is discovering it."

Although it would be easy to define Roswell as a science fiction program, Katims and Nutter have opted to steer away from the sci-fi aspects and focus more on the quest for identity and acceptance. The stories will be told from the point of view of the human residents of Roswell, but will also call upon the unique voice of the aliens. It is they who must struggle to conceal their otherworldly identities while discovering what it means to be human.

Says Katims, "We have a way of doing it in a way that can be personal and hopefully very emotional and not just about the facts about what's happened. It's something we're going to discover with the characters and it will be a long ride and hopefully a really fulfilling journey."

Katims and Nutter have been able to set Roswell aside from thematically similar programs like The X ­Files by emphasizing the romantic facets of the story. Nevertheless, the show does have aliens, and the actors that play them have taken a strong interest in the events surrounding the alleged UFO crash.

"My father actually sent me the official government records on Roswell, and it's very interesting," says Roswell actress Katherine Heigl. It's all based on the weather balloon, but supposedly now, people that were involved in the supposed crash are able to speak freely. And they still say it was a weather balloon. I don't know. There's still that mystery there."

Roswell actor Jason Behr, who says the movie ET had a strong impact on him when he was a child, is forthright on the topic. "For me to sit here and to tell you that we are the only intelligent life form that ever existed would be very arrogant of me."

If we are living elbow-to-elbow with aliens, and if we are one day to communicate with them, we should be prepared to face a frightening possibility. They may know a lot more about being human than we do.









Loving the Aliens "It's a metaphor for alienation"

Roswell we confidently predict, will be featuring prominently in certain Reader Awards categories next year. Andy Mangels talks to the crew behind the stylish new aliens at-high-school serires.

Jonathan Frakes bounds onto stage and whips the crowd into a frenzy. The countdown begins and a large UFO slides down a wire crashing to the ground and dumping a cargo of aliens onto the Earth. At the moment they burst into flames a cheer rises to the celebratory and jubilant crowd.

Everyone's joyful except for three teenagers who stand behind a nearby fence, watching the burning aliens and wondering if this is their future fate.

The three teens are Max Evans, (Jason Behr of Dawson's Creek), his sister Isabel Evans (Katherine Heigl of Bride of Chucky) and their friend Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr of Disturbing Behavior) and the scene is the denouement to the pilot episode of Roswell, a fascinating and gripping new television serires that has drama fans and science fiction fans alike cheering. The trio live in Roswell, New Mexico, site of the infamous UFO crash of 1947, but the secret that they share with only a select few friends is that they are aliens themselves! Can they live as humans, or will their secret be exposed by a snooping sheriff and assorted government agents?

The genesis of Roswell can be traced to Roswell High, a teen novel line by author Melinda Metz. The right to that series were purchased by a group of producers (including the aforementioned Jonathan Frakes). When the group brought the project to Twentieth Century Fox, the studio presented the idea to Jason Katims (the man behind the critically-acclaimed series My So-Called Life and Fox's Relativity). Katim notes that he read the first Roswell High novel, "and I thought that in it was this wonderful idea that merged these two genres of high school ensemble drama with a very compelling science fiction conceit. I decided I wanted to jump in and become involved." Katims became an executive producer and writer, adopting a position called "show runner". This means that in addition to writing many episodes -- and managing the other writers -- he is involved with every other aspect of the series, from pre-production to post-production.

Executive producer/director David Nutter came onto the project at Fox's request. "When Fox decided they were going to make this thing for real, they had contacted me and were interested in me directing it, " says Nutter. "I'd read the paperback novel and upon reading that and meeting with Jason, I thought that we definitely had a real meeting of minds in terms of how to approach the story, and how to make it so that it's not like you would imagine it to be told. What we were able to do with it is give it the reality that it needed and give it the weight that it needed, and also make it entertaining and fun and humorous and exciting.

"After multiple seasons working on The X-Files, Nutter seemed like a good choice for a science fiction series. But he doesn't see the similarity between the shows in quite the same manner, "I never really looked at The X-Files as a science fiction show," Nutter notes. "I looked at it as a wonderfully complicated and involving dramatic work, with many aspects of science fiction thrown into it. But the way the show has always been treated and has always been looked at is in a very serious way. What I thought was important and would be fun with Roswell, was to do something in that similar vein, but also dealing with young people. I had directed a movie last year, Disturbing Behavior, that ended up getting chopped up, but I wanted to do a lot of the things (there) that we're doing on Roswell. I always felt that people who really love science fiction are people who love to really dream and wear their heart on their sleeves, and they're ver interested in stories that are told well, and in an emotional way. I thought this would be a show that would really capitalise on that."









Roswell Close Encounters (for authorized eyes only)
The Wb has given us one more reason to look forward to Wednesday nights. Roswell airs at 9 p.m. following Dawson's Creek and it's packed with hot hunks, daring chicks and gripping story lines. If you've been living under a rock for the last couple months, here's the lowdown on the hottest new show that is truly out of this world.

The Story
In the infamous Roswell, New Mexico, Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby) serves up grup to tourists in her dad's restaurant, Crashdown Cafe. When an argument between customers turns violent, Liz gets caught in the crossfire. It doesn't look good for Liz until classmate Max Evans (Jason Behr) saves her life with a magical touch and soulful gaze.

Turns out Max is "not of this earth" and in saving Liz, he has put himself, sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and bud, Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr) in serious danger. Max reveals that the alien trio was aboard the UFO that crashed in Roswell over fifty years ago. After they emerged from incubation pods, they were adopted by locals and lead normal lives.

But, Max's herioics have changed all that. Now Sheriff Valenti (William Sadler) is suspicious and Max has lost Isabel and Michael's trust by spilling their secret. The rest of the cast is in shambles as well: Liz's best friend, Maria De Luca (Majandra Delfino) is freaked out by the news and the girls don't think their childhood friend, Alex Whitman (Colin Hanks) can handle it. Liz's ex-boyfriend, and son of the sheriff, Kyle Valenti (Nick Wechsler) has joined his father in his quest to bring down the Evans family, after suspecting Liz has feelings for Max.

Which leads us to one of the best reasons to tune in -- the blossoming romance between Liz and Max as a modern day Romeo and Juliet. These star-crossed lovers have one colossal problem -- they are different species.

Fun on the Set
Brendan, 21, reveals that he and Jason, 25, are always goofing off in between takes. "[the conversation] usually ends up being kind of perverted. Not in a really gross sense. But I mean.. our sense of humor is so immature, we find absolutely anything funny.."

The stars make fun of each other, but it's all in good spirits. Cast members imitate one another and play up each other's mistakes -- all in the name of friendly competition. Brendan gets teased a lot when his native Candian accent slips out.

Do You Believe?
No wonder Roswell seems so real -- the actors really prepared for their roles. Jason says he saw E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial about 12 times. Seriously, he also read a lot of books and watched documentaries about Roswell. The cast believes that aliens may exist. "I think working on the show you really have no other choice but, you know, to kind of believe that there is a possibility." Shiri, 20, asays laughing.

Real Life
So, have any of the stars of Roswell ever felt alienated in real life? Jason confesses that he was a "shrimp" growing up: "I was probably half the size of my friends and half the size of most of my girlfriends. I felt just awkward and misunderstood and lost as a lot of people do.Jason reveals that he did a lot of soul-searching in those days, much like his character, Max.

Jason also had to endure people mistaking him for a girl on the phone. Of course, that would never happen to him now.

Speaking of real life -- Colin Hanks is the son of superstar Tom Hanks of course. You saw the resemblace, right? But don't expect Colin to talk up this famous relationship. He wants to be appreciated as an actor in his own right; no special favors for this guy.

Sensitive Alien
Jason is as dreamy in real life as he is in Roswell. Check out this babe's thoughts on love: "When I'm in love, I don't like to talk about it too much. Words can't fully express the emotion." Jason also reveals that he loves to paint: "I'm an aspiring Picasso." Looks, talent, sensitivity, what more could a girl ask for?

We can't get enought of Roswell and we know you can't either. Luckily, you can get a weekly dose every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on the WB.

Back Track
they look familiar.. here's where you've seen the stars before they beamed up to Roswell.

Shiri Appleby
Guest appearances on: 7th Heaven, Beverly Hills 90210, thirtysomething, ER, Xena: Warrior Princess and Doogie Howser, M.D. Starred in the cable TV movies: Perfect Family, Family Prayers and Sunday Dinner. on the big screen: The Thirteenth floor and I Love You To Death

Jason Behr
Guest appearances on: Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, th Heaven, Profiler, JAG and Push. On the big screen: Pleasantville and Rites of Passage

Katherine Heigl
On the big screen: That Night, My Father the Hero, Child's Play IV: The Bride of Chucky; Under Siege 2; Prince Valient, King of the Hill and Wish Upon a Star Starred in the TV movie: The Tempest

Majandra Deflino
On the big screen: Zeus & Roxanne, I know What You Screamed Last Summer, The Secret Lives of Girls, and the Learning Curve Starred in the TV series, The Tony Danza Show

Brendan Fehr
Guest appearances on TV series: Breaker High and Millennium Starred in the TV movies: Our Guys, Perfect Little Angels and Every Mother's Worst Fear On the big screen: Disturbing Behavior, Flight 180 and Christina's House

Colin Hanks
On the big screen: That Thing You Do! and I'll be You.

Nick Wechsler
Role in the TV movie: Full Circle Guest appearances on Team Knightrider, Silk Stalkings, and Lazarus Man On the big screen: The Perfect Game









Say What? Overheard : Alien Nation

Roswell was developed by the same individuals who brought My So-Called Life and The X-Files to the small screen, making it just about the best collaboration that we can think of to explore the subject of teen alienation.

"My paranormal character reminds me of my days in high school." --Jason Behr

The WB has ordered 22 episodes of the popular show--nearly double that of any other new program--making it their ace in the hold for new teen drama in 2000.

"When it came time to find a humanoid of the female variety, it turned out to be an easy casting call." --Shiri Appleby

Sexy Loveline hostess Diane Farr will join the alien high school crew in a recurring role as the sheriff's new love interest.

"Sometimes when you go through that little awkward stage where yo're kind of growing and changing you tend to get a little withdrawn. I think that's when you do a lot of soul searching." --Jason Behr

Jason Behr (Max) joined forces with B*Witched at the recent WB Radio Music Awards.

Shiri Appleby (Liz) first got her start by doing commercials for M&M's, Taco Bell and Cheerios.

"I believe that working on Roswell leaves me no other choice but to believe that there is a possibility of other beings in the universe." --Shiri Appleby

Both Jason Behr and Shiri Appleby spent some time doing episodic work--she in Zena Warrior Princess and he in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

As a child, Jason claimed that he loved sci-fi movies but Battlestar Galactica "scared the beejeebies" out of him.









I WAS A TEENAGE ALIEN
Entertainment Weekly September 10, 1999

The youth-crazy WB launches ROSWELL--an invasion of adolescent angst with an out-of-this-world twist
by Kristen Baldwin
ROSWELL The WB, 9-10 PM - Debuts Oct. 6

Another day, another teen drama on The WB. On a sawdusty Hollywood soundstage, two young, blithely beautiful players, Shiri Appleby and Jason Behr, perch side by side in preparation for their close-up. So what will the scene call for today--the usual dramatic recitation of hormone-fueled melancholia? Another teary-eyed insight into the teenage condition articulated in dizzying SAT-speak? Um, not exactly. Let's listen in, shall we, as Appleby breathlessly addresses her co-star: "Before you took human form were you three feet tall and green and slimy?"

Yep, a show about adolescent extraterrestrials--you just knew it had to happen. It's Roswell, a moody teen drama centering on three aliens--Max (Behr), his sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl), and their friend Michael (Brendan Fehr)--who fell to earth (specifically, New Mexico) in the infamous UFO crash and now hide in plain sight as everyday kids in the titular conspiracy-theorist capital of the world. Based on Melinda Metz's book series Roswell High, the story was adapted for television by the odd couple of Jason Katims (a writer-producer for touchy-feely fare like My So-Called Life and Relativity) and sci-fi guru David Nutter (a well-known X-Files director and helmer of last year's MGM Stepfordesque teen flick Disturbing Behavior).

"Before the studio killed [Behavior] and chopped it all up, I was trying to make a film dealing with the metaphor of teens as the aliens among us," Nutter says. "I got [the Roswell] script and I said, This is exactly what I want to do. All the metaphors are there." Behr, who exudes soft-spoken charm as the alien trio's levelheaded leader, perused the part while guesting on Dawson's Creek last year. "I thought it was a great premise," he says. "It kind of reminded me of Buffy and The X-Files. It's a nice hybrid."

And one The WB was near-apoplectic about snatching up. Says network president Susanne Daniels: "Teenage aliens? We were like, Yes! We get that!" Originally, Daniels' landing Roswell was about as likely as those 7th Heaven kids lighting up a joint: The show's studio, Twentieth Century Fox TV, planned to sell it to sister network Fox. When Fox wanted a revamp and a mid-season start date, however, Twentieth went with rival WB--but only after securing an out-of-this-world 22-episode order and the plum post-Dawson's time slot. "It's a large commitment and it makes one nervous," admits Daniels. "Basically, that's what it was going to take to make a deal."

The producers, meanwhile, felt they had finally landed in the right TV galaxy. "I had heard that The WB liked us for who we were, while Fox possibly wanted us to adjust more to their 90210/Melrose Place audience," says Nutter. "One of the things The WB has about it that a lot of other networks don't is they lead with their heart."

There's no question it's a match made in demographic heaven, but really, isn't it stretching the youth-soaked zeitgeist just a bit to throw backpacks and Adidas on little green men? "There's something innately silly in the idea," concedes Katims. "If you allow the audience to dismiss it, they will. So we wanted to make sure the show played as real as possible." Meaning Roswell eschews My Favorite Martian-style antics for a soulful, serious approach: In addition to tales of teen self-discovery, Max, Michael, and Isabel will search for a fourth alien who may hold the secret to their cosmic past. Upping the dramatic ante are an alien-hunting sheriff (William Sadler), who knows there's something spooky about Max and his pals, and the truly star-crossed romance between Max and Earth girl Liz (Appleby), a waitress at the town's Crashdown Cafe.

"It's written in a realistic way," says the 20-year-old Appleby. "It really spoke to me." Adds Katims: "The thing that first drew me to the show more than the sci-fi aspect was the love story. A lot of writers love that idea of two people who want to be together but can't, and it's hard in telling a contemporary [love] story to find a real obstacle. This one really has it--they're different life-forms."

Sure, but they both come from the Planet of the Impossibly Attractive Teens. So tell us, Mr. Behr, what would a hottie like you know about teenage alienation? "Oh, come on," groans the blushing 25-year-old. "I can tell you that growing up I was a little shrimp. I was probably half the size of my friends, and half the size of most of my girlfriends. I felt just as awkward and misunderstood and lost as a lot of people do." Uh-uh. You're going to have to do better than that. "Um, sometimes people said that I sounded like a girl on the phone." Not exactly intergalactic geekdom, but it'll do.

--Kristen Baldwin









TV Guide Fall Preview Favorite
ROSWELL
9-10 P.M., WB (premiers October 6)

STARS: Jason Behr, Shiri Appleby, Katherine Heigl, Brendan Fehr, Majandra Delfino, Colin Hanks, Nick Welchsler, William Sadler

PREMISE: Star-crossed teen romance. Literally. When Max (Behr) mysteriously cures Liz (Appleby) of a gunshot wound, she learns his secret: He, his sister (Heigl) and best friend (Fehr) are orphaned aliens from the alleged 1947 spaceship crash in New Mexico. As their attraction grows, so does danger, with the local sherrif (Sadler) determined to find the truth that's out there. It will be hard to keep things hush-hush. Liz has already clued in her dizzt best friend (Delfino), and others are getting curious, including Liz's boyfriend (Welchsler), who is also the sheriff's son. Based on the Roswell High book series by Melinda Metz.

THEY SAY: "It's really a cross between The X-Files and My So Called Life-two shows which, of course, we know a little about," says executive producer David Nutter (The X-Files). He teams with Life veteran Jason Katims, who says the show is about "taking any kind of love story that would happen between teens and sort of ratcheting up the obtacles coming between them, because they're diffrent life-forms." Nutter belivies "that for a long time, science-fiction shows really haven't been able to touch upon the heart and the emotions. And sci-fi fans really have their hearts on their sleeves.... We're all suckers for a good love story. I think that's somthing that will go on long after the teen craze has come down to Earth."

WE SAY: Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this show transcends genre with clever writing, suspenseful plotting and unexpectedly evocative performances by its charismatic young leads. Like a really fun B movie, Roswell os this season's most instantly addictive guily pleasure.

TAKEN FROM TV GUIDE, ISSUE SEPT. 11-17 1999.









Get with the Program, Teen People - Oct 1999

WHO:
Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr, Katherine Heigl, Brendan Fehr, and Majandra Delfino.

WHAT:
Every teenager feels like an alien at some time, but in Roswell, NM., a few of them really are.

WHY YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO WATCH:
Two genres merge in this deservedly buzzed-about drama, with inexplicable occurances worthy of The X-Files, plues a star-crossed romance reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. The young lovers--Max (Jason Behr), who's truly "not from around here," and the earthbound Liz (Shiri Appleby)--share "a very deep connection...almost [seeing] into each other's souls," says executive producer Jason Katims. But there's one obstacle: The explosive truth about Max's origins puts him at peril every minute of the day. "He can't let anybody in his life," says Jason Behr, "especially Liz."









But that Romeo and Juliet problem remains.

There's a lot of unfinished business between Angel and Buffy; their obstacle-strewn romance is just too hot to drop. Until the day when these lovers meet again (crossover, anyone?), WB is shrewdly filling the lovers-from-different-worlds void with "Roswell," an engaging "Buffy" meets "The X-Files" meets "My So-Called Life" drama about a human girl and an extraterrestrial boy who fall in love in Roswell, N.M.

Created and written by Jason Katims ("My So-Called Life," "Relativity"), co-produced and directed by former "X-Files" director David Nutter and based on the popular "Roswell High" series of novels for middle-school readers, "Roswell" has the best-written, most charming pilot episode of the season.

Liz Parker (the captivating Shiri Appleby) is an A-student who works in her parents' Crashdown Cafe, a diner that caters to/mocks the town's place in UFO-hunter lore (it's the site of the alleged 1947 crash of an alien spacecraft) -- the Crashdown's menu offers such items as "the Sigourney Weaver" and "the Will Smith." One day at work, there's an altercation between two patrons and Liz is shot by a stray bullet. A classmate of Liz's, Max Evans (Jason Behr), who is in the cafe, leaps to her aid; in the commotion, he touches her wounded abdomen, she experiences some sort of mind-meld and the wound heals. He begs her to tell people the bullet didn't touch her, only broke a bottle of ketchup near her, then he flees. Later, she finds a silver handprint on her stomach.

Liz staunchly protects Max's secret (she always did have a crush on him, with his shy puppy-dog eyes), even though she's a little freaked by his confession that he's not of this earth. But Sheriff Valenti (William Sadler), who, unfortunately, is Liz's jealous boyfriend's father, is snooping around.

Valenti's father was an FBI agent who was laughed out of the bureau when he became convinced that the silver handprint he found on a corpse in the 1950s was proof that aliens really did crash-land in Roswell. Now the sheriff wants to believe, in order to clear his father's name.

"Roswell" is an enchanting, bittersweet first-love story: "My whole life changed in an instant," Liz writes in her diary. "It's just so ironic that when something like this finally happened to me, it was with an alien." And the sci-fi stuff is pretty cool, too. Max, his sister Isabel (the imposing Katherine Heigl) and their surly pal Michael (Brendan Fehr) believe they survived the spaceship crash at Roswell and were hidden in suspended animation pods for over 30 years. When they hatched (taking human form), they were found wandering around and were assumed to be abandoned children.

Max and Isabel lucked out and were adopted by loving parents; Michael lives in a trailer park with his abusive foster father. Max, Isabel and Michael have the power to heal, can change the shape of solids and listen to CDs by just holding them up to their ears. They also have a strange and as yet unexplained fondness for Tabasco sauce. When they learn about the sheriff's autopsy photo of the corpse with the handprint, they become excited: Do they have a relative somewhere? Can they go home?

The "Roswell" pilot deftly blends breathless teen romance with witty nods to our alien-conspiracy soaked culture. At the show's climax, everyone in Roswell dons sci-fi movie costumes and gathers in the desert for the Crash Festival, where a model of a UFO drops and alien dummies burn. (The show's co-executive producer, Jonathan Frakes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame, has a cameo at the Crash Festival.) But "Roswell" also poignantly depicts what it feels like to be an outsider, a minority, a stranger in a strange land. The looks on the faces of Max, Isabel and Michael as they watch the dummies burn is heartbreaking.

The second episode of "Roswell" is less beguiling; the conspiracy widens to include the obligatory duplicitous government agent (played by Richard Schiff, doing double-duty between this and NBC's "The West Wing"). And the theme of small-town secrets introduced in the episode feels a little "Twin Peaks"-y, without that show's genuinely upside-down weirdness. (Peakheads will be amused, though, by the presence in "Roswell" of actor Michael Horse; he plays the sheriff's deputy, just like he played on "Twin Peaks.") For now, what grabs you about "Roswell" is its lyrical depiction of being 16 and in love and feeling like everything you thought you knew about yourself has become alien to you. "Five days ago I died," recites Liz from her diary. "But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life."

salon.com | Oct. 4, 1999











October 4, 1999
by Joyce Millman

Created and written by Jason Katims ("My So-Called Life," "Relativity"), co-produced and directed by former "X-Files" director David Nutter and based on the popular "Roswell High" series of novels for middle-school readers, "Roswell" has the best-written, most charming pilot episode of the season.
Liz Parker (the captivating Shiri Appleby) is an A-student who works in her parents' Crashdown Cafe, a diner that caters to/mocks the town's place in UFO-hunter lore (it's the site of the alleged 1947 crash of an alien spacecraft) -- the Crashdown's menu offers such items as "the Sigourney Weaver" and "the Will Smith." One day at work, there's an altercation between two patrons and Liz is shot by a stray bullet. A classmate of Liz's, Max Evans (Jason Behr), who is in the cafe, leaps to her aid; in the commotion, he touches her wounded abdomen, she experiences some sort of mind-meld and the wound heals. He begs her to tell people the bullet didn't touch her, only broke a bottle of ketchup near her, then he flees. Later, she finds a silver handprint on her stomach.

Liz staunchly protects Max's secret (she always did have a crush on him, with his shy puppy-dog eyes), even though she's a little freaked by his confession that he's not of this earth. But Sheriff Valenti (William Sadler), who, unfortunately, is Liz's jealous boyfriend's father, is snooping around. Valenti's father was an FBI agent who was laughed out of the bureau when he became convinced that the silver handprint he found on a corpse in the 1950s was proof that aliens really did crash-land in Roswell. Now the sheriff wants to believe, in order to clear his father's name.

"Roswell" is an enchanting, bittersweet first-love story: "My whole life changed in an instant," Liz writes in her diary. "It's just so ironic that when something like this finally happened to me, it was with an alien." And the sci-fi stuff is pretty cool, too. Max, his sister Isabel (the imposing Katherine Heigl) and their surly pal Michael (Brendan Fehr) believe they survived the spaceship crash at Roswell and were hidden in suspended animation pods for over 30 years. When they hatched (taking human form), they were found wandering around and were assumed to be abandoned children.

Max and Isabel lucked out and were adopted by loving parents; Michael lives in a trailer park with his abusive foster father. Max, Isabel and Michael have the power to heal, can change the shape of solids and listen to CDs by just holding them up to their ears. They also have a strange and as yet unexplained fondness for Tabasco sauce. When they learn about the sheriff's autopsy photo of the corpse with the handprint, they become excited: Do they have a relative somewhere? Can they go home?

The "Roswell" pilot deftly blends breathless teen romance with witty nods to our alien-conspiracy soaked culture. At the show's climax, everyone in Roswell dons sci-fi movie costumes and gathers in the desert for the Crash Festival, where a model of a UFO drops and alien dummies burn. (The show's co-executive producer, Jonathan Frakes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame, has a cameo at the Crash Festival.) But "Roswell" also poignantly depicts what it feels like to be an outsider, a minority, a stranger in a strange land. The looks on the faces of Max, Isabel and Michael as they watch the dummies burn is heartbreaking.

The second episode of "Roswell" is less beguiling; the conspiracy widens to include the obligatory duplicitous government agent (played by Richard Schiff, doing double-duty between this and NBC's "The West Wing"). And the theme of small-town secrets introduced in the episode feels a little "Twin Peaks"-y, without that show's genuinely upside-down weirdness. (Peakheads will be amused, though, by the presence in "Roswell" of actor Michael Horse; he plays the sheriff's deputy, just like he played on "Twin Peaks.") For now, what grabs you about "Roswell" is its lyrical depiction of being 16 and in love and feeling like everything you thought you knew about yourself has become alien to you. "Five days ago I died," recites Liz from her diary. "But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life."
--End--










10/13/1999-Roswell article from thewb.com

The aliens in question are the cast of the new show Roswell starring Jason Behr (Dawson's Creek) and newcomer Shiri Appleby. Also joining the cast - Katherine Heigl, Majandra Delfino, Brendan Fehr, Colin Hanks, Nick Wechsler and William Sadler.

Roswell is set in the New Mexico town made famous by the alleged crash of an alien spacecraft in July of 1947. Several witnesses claim to have made contact with the ship's debris, stating that the material would not burn or scratch, and it would return to its normal state after being crumpled. And others recount tales of alien bodies lying dormant in the wreckage. All of this, naturally, has been refuted time and again by the US military. They still say the craft was nothing more than a weather balloon.

But producers David Nutter (The X-Files) and Jason Katims (My So-Called Life) are spinning a new angle on the story in Roswell. They reveal that not only did aliens dive bomb into the American west 50 years ago, but their descendants are living among us under the guise of human personas.

"To me, one of the exciting things about the premise of the show is that the three alien characters in the show don't know about their history," says Katims. "From a writing point of view, it's exciting because as they discover their backstory, the audience is discovering it."

Although it would be easy to define Roswell as a science fiction program, Katims and Nutter have opted to steer away from the sci-fi aspects and focus more on the quest for identity and acceptance. The stories will be told from the point of view of the human residents of Roswell, but will also call upon the unique voice of the aliens. It is they who must struggle to conceal their otherworldly identities while discovering what it means to be human.

Says Katims, "We have a way of doing it in a way that can be personal and hopefully very emotional and not just about the facts about what's happened. It's something we're going to discover with the characters and it will be a long ride and hopefully a really fulfilling journey."

Katims and Nutter have been able to set Roswell aside from thematically similar programs like The X Files by emphasizing the romantic facets of the story. Nevertheless, the show does have aliens, and the actors that play them have taken a strong interest in the events surrounding the alleged UFO crash.

"My father actually sent me the official government records on Roswell, and it's very interesting," says Roswell actress Jessica Heigl. It's all based on the weather balloon, but supposedly now, people that were involved in the supposed crash are able to speak freely. And they still say it was a weather balloon. I don't know. There's still that mystery there."

Roswell actor Jason Behr, who says the movie ET had a strong impact on him when he was a child, is forthright on the topic. "For me to sit here and to tell you that we are the only intelligent life form that ever existed would be very arrogant of me."

If we are living elbow-to-elbow with aliens, and if we are one day to communicate with them, we should be prepared to face a frightening possibility. They may know a lot more about being human than we do.









Viewer alienation not a problem for teen drama 'Roswell'
From Laurin Sydney CNN Entertainment News Correspondent NEW YORK (CNN) (Oct 14,1999)

High-school years are often filled with feelings of alienation, of not belonging, of almost like being from another planet. That's exactly what the creators of "Roswell" are banking on. On the new WB drama, aliens walk the halls of a Roswell, New Mexico, high school. They carry backpacks and gossip. In fact, these aliens look better and talk smarter than any high-school students from any known galaxy. It was some 30 or 40 miles northwest of Roswell that conspiracy buffs say an alien spacecraft crashed in July 1947. Tales of coverups by the United States military have since proved as hardy as cacti in the desert terrain. Among the most persistent allegations is that the remains of downed aliens were taken to a facility called Hangar 18 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (then known as Wright Field) near Dayton, Ohio. Originally, Army Air Corps personnel from the 509th Bomb Group are said to have referred to a crashed "flying disk." The term used shortly thereafter by the military was "weather balloon." Washington for more than 50 years has been dogged by questions about the "Roswell incident." And the southwestern town today has a tourist industry thriving on the subject and centered around such installations as the International UFO Museum & Research Center. The producers of the WB's new show -- David Nutter of "The X-Files" and Jason Katims of "My So-Called Life" -- have layered onto the basic idea a new concept: The alien ship delivered an incubator containing three alien teens. It's those three kids who, in the pilot aired on October 6, found their cover blown when one of them revealed his identity to a friend, along with a power to adjust molecular structure and heal humans. Says Jason Behr , who plays that alien teen, Max, says the show is "about a bunch of high-school students and their friends and how they relate to each other and how they deal with the whole dynamic of that relationship when it's taken an unexpected turn."

A Romeo-and-Juliet tale That unexpected turn comes when one of Max's fellow students, Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby ) is shot while working at her father's diner, the Crashdown Cafe. Max heals her mortal wound with a touch of his hand, leaving behind a telltale silver handprint. Then he asks her not to reveal his secret. A relationship blooms between the guy from outer space and the girl whom Appleby describes as "very smart, into science, biology -- and she somewhat has a crush on this guy." All this, in spite of the strong disapproval of Max's two fellow stranded aliens, Isabel Evans (Katherine Heigl) and Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr). They fear Max is putting them at risk by opening up to an Earthling girl. "I saw me as he saw me," Appleby's character says in the show, describing the brief interaction. "And the amazing thing was, in his eyes, I was beautiful." "It's kind of like a love story, it really is," says Behr. "But it's about two different people that shouldn't be together but want to." In one of the pilot's most pointed scenes, a Roswell festival, crawling with people costumed as "aliens," sends a mock spaceship on a wire to crash and burn on the ground. The three alien teens look on, made outsiders in the crowd by the fact that they're seeing a tawdry replay of their violent arrival on Earth.

Sky-high ratings, for WB "Roswell's" premiere posted the WB's second-highest debut ever, indicating that these two previously unknown actors, Behr and Appleby, may soon be household names. The sudden success feels alien to Behr, he says: "It's a weird feeling. I feel like I woke up in somebody else's bed." Appleby actually did wake up in somebody else's bed. Although anxious to know whether "Roswell" would be picked up and what time it would air, she was crashing at a friend's house so she wouldn't feel like she was waiting for the phone to ring. "So I woke up at 11:30," she says. "I'm like, 'I'm just going to check the machine; I know I don't have any messages, but I'm just going to check.' Checked, had three messages. They're like 'We've been picked up. Call for details.'" She'd later find out that the WB had ordered 22 episodes of the show, not just 13, and that it had landed in the coveted Wednesday night slot (9 p.m. Eastern) following "Dawson's Creek." "I didn't even know what to do," Appleby says. "It was unbelievable. It was like a dream come true."









TV-ZONE
October 22, 1999


Roswell

Jason Katims is probably thanking his lucky stars for Joss Whedon right now. The creator of WB's much anticipated teen alien drama ROSWELL would probably have had a much harder road to hoe with his new creation if it weren't for Whedon's BUFFY miracle, i.e. making the innately silly (a vampire fighting teenager named, well, you know) seem at once believable, moving, and cool.

After all, consider Katims' task: to take a series of, granted, much loved books about the offspring of Roswell aliens going to high school and leech it of all its seemingly indivisible camp factor, and then form it into a version that can snag the attention of increasingly sophisticated teenage TV audience. Pile on the fact the Roswell incident is the threadbare Rosette Stone of 1990s science fiction (no less than INDEPENDENCE DAY, THE X-FILES, SEVEN DAYS, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and STARGATE SG-1 have used it for plotting fodder) and Katims had more than an uphill battle to get the project from page to screen. It was a battle he, along with executive producers David Nutter and STAR TREK's own Jonathan Frakes, first fought at Fox. They lost.

"I think that when you develop a show, it's kind of like you know that a lot of other shows are being developed, too, and you hope that it fits in with the schedule," Katims says of his work at Fox, where ROSWELL was originally developed. "In this case, it didn't for Fox, where it didn't fit in as well as it did for WB. I'm not sure exactly why that was."

When asked why ROSWELL didn't fit in with the X-FILES friendly network, Katims, who came from movie production and writing to this, his first TV project, answers like an old television pro. "I don't know if 'edgy' is the right word," for why Fox didn't pick up ROSWELL, he says. "I think there might have been concern from Fox that they felt the show skewed young for their audience. Again, it's not that. It's not that Fox said, 'No, we don't want the show' and WB said 'yes we do.' Fox had never turned the show down. It was just them trying to find a fit for their fall lineup. And that seemed to be the most difficult thing for them."

And say yes WB did. In a move not too surprising for the bold upstart, the WB ordered a full 22 episodes rather than just the 13 most new shows snag. Once that order was nabbed, it was up to Katims, Nutter and series stars Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr, Majandra Delfino, Brendan Fehr, Katherine Heigl and William Sadler to populate the TV Roswell with to characters that will make Melinda Metz's series of popular books come to life. "I read the first one and took a lot of what was in the pilot and used it in the first episode," he says of Metz's original work. "[But] at this point I feel like we have to sort of go our own way and I think that's more because things happen so fast in television in terms of creating story. I feel the smartest and best way for us to go about it is to take these characters an make these our own."

Those characters include the three series stars who, like in the books, play the offspring of aliens who escaped from the legendary 1947 UFO crash at Roswell, and along with the normal struggles of teenage life and high school, have to deal with the emerging knowledge they're not like everyone else. And along the way a major obstacle is Sadler's character, the Roswell sheriff who may or may not have it in for the trio.

"I mean, the place that he's coming from," Sadler says about his character, "his entire belief system is going to be, I think, turned on its head slowly as he collects the pieces of the puzzle. My guess is that finally we'll see some sort of sea changes in his attitude. He's very single-minded and determined to get to the bottom of this mystery at the beginning, because of his father's being chastised for believing in aliens and so on. And all of a sudden, it's happening to him." Adds Nutter, "Our goal is not to make William Sadler the "black hat." Our goal is to give him another dimension and a sense of purpose and a sense that he needs to find the truth as well as these kids need to find the truth about their paths. And I think that journey can be an exciting one and I think a compelling, fulfilling one for him as well."

And it's that search for truth that has more than a few anticipators drawing comparisons to THE X-FILES. Earlier this summer, even executive producer Frakes (who will be directing an episode this season) called it "a teenage X-FILES." Fehr, for one, is ready for them "As to comparisons with THE X-FILES," he says, "Obviously there's certainly a comparison with the alien issues and all the rest of it... David Duchovny -- in that Fox Mulder was searching in a sense for the truth in concerns with aliens and his sister and all the rest of it. [In ROSWELL] You got me, Katherine, and Max on a search of our own, but it's in a sense it's a little bit more personal. It's not our sisters, but it's us, in fact. So in that sense, there's a comparison. But when you take in the age factor and all the rest of it - high school - it's got a little different twist on it." Nutter and Katims too are mindful of the comparisons, and for them that doesn't seem to be a bad thing.

"One thing Chris Carter is so very good at is being able to end on question mark and make the audience lean into the next episode," Nutter says. "I think that's something that this show can actually take as well and have that kind of sensibility that, I think, would be very exciting."

"We've plotted out the first season of the show," Katims says, referring to Carter's famous long range plotting style. "We have ideas of where it's going and of where it's going beyond that. So we have thought a lot about the mythology and all that stuff. To me, one of the exciting things about the premise of the show is that the three alien characters in the show don't know about their history, which makes -- from a writing point of view - it exciting because as they discover their back story, the audience is discovering it. So we have a way of doing it in a way that can be personal and hopefully very emotional and not just about the facts about what's happened. So it's something that we're going to discover with them and it will be a long ride and hopeful really fulfilling journey." o









X-TV
tvnow.com - November 1999
Fall Teen and Twentysomething Television Programming (excerpt)
Victor Evans, 1999

Now with all that said, let¡¯s finally talk about one the season¡¯s most successful new series, Roswell. Filled with everything you could possibly want in a television show from intrigue and action to a blossoming and thankfully cheeseless romance, Roswell is basically an X-Files with a angst-ridden teenage flair. The show features three attractive aliens (Jason Behr, Brendan Fehr and Katherine Heigl) who have taken the form of teenagers to conceal their true identity in Roswell, New Mexico, playing off the rumored 1947 UFO crash landing that supposedly happened there. However, Max Evans (Behr) risks his secrets when in the season opener he decides to save the adorable townie Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby) who is shot in a freak accident. Now entrusted with his secret, she and the other aliens must make sure no one else finds out about them, especially the town sheriff who definitely has it in for our alien friends. And it doesn¡¯t help that Evans and Parker are totally falling for each other, but, gosh, it makes for great television. I can¡¯t wait to see what happens next.









Say What? on Roswell facts and quotes, Teen Celebrity - Dec 1999

Roswell was developed by the same individuals who brought "My So Called Life" and "The X-Files" to the small screen, making it just about the best collaboration that we can think of to explore the subject of teen alienation.

"My paranormal character reminds me of my days in high school." -Jason Behr

The WB has order 22 episodes of the popular show- nearly double that of any other new program- making it their ace in the whole for new teen drama in 2000.

"When it came time to find a humanoid of the female variety, it turned out to be an easy casting call." -Shiri Appleby

Sexy loveline hostess Diane Farr will join the alien high school crew in the recurring role as the sheriff's new love interest.

"Sometimes you go through that little awkward stage where you're kind of growing and changing and tend to get a little withdrawn. I think that's when you do a lot of soul-searching." -Jason Behr

Jason Behr (Max) joined forced with B*Witched at the recent WB Music Awards.

Shiri Appleby (Liz) first got her start doing commercials for M&M's, Taco Bell, and Cheerios.

"I believe that working on Roswell leaves me with no other choice but to believe that there is a possibility of other beings in the universe." -Shiri Appleby

Both Jason Behr and Shiri Appleby spent some time doing episode work - she in Xena: Warrior Princess and he in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

As a child, Jason calimed that he loved sci-fi movies, but Battlestar Galactica "scared the beejeebies" out of him.









Alien teens right at home on the WB
By Alex Beam, Globe Columnist, 12/01/99

Every year I fall in love with one new television show. A while back, it was ABC's sanctimonious but energetic ''Nothing Sacred,'' about an inner-city priest. Last year, it was ''L.A. Doctors,'' a glossy, high-concept medical drama; to paraphrase the master of ceremonies in ''Cabaret'' - even the cancer patients were beautiful! This year, it's ''Roswell,'' the WB network's experiment in creative miscegenation, as in ''X-Files'' meets ''Dawson's Creek.''

Roswell, N.M., is the famous, purported landing site of an alien spacecraft in 1947. Hollywood marketers know that place names like Area 51 - another UFO hot spot, featured in the movie ''Independence Day'' - and Roswell have entered the youth lexicon. The show's premise, borrowed from a series of young adult novels by Melinda Metz is: Suppose there were descendants of alien spawn attending high school in Roswell?

Only on American television, you say. But ''Roswell'' surprises, in mostly good ways. ''When you first describe the show, people chuckle,'' admits Jason Katims, the co-executive producer. ''Usually, they think it's something more farcical than what we've been trying to do. We play it real, and we play it true.'' There are no distended green heads, or waist-high ''grays'' running around the set. Apart from a hankering for Tabasco sauce - ''It's a dietary quirk,'' one explains - the three nominal aliens, Max Evans, his sister Isabel, and their friend Michael Guerin, look and act more or less like the kids next door.

That they are not your run-of-the-mill 4-H Clubbers became apparent in the opening episode, when Max healed the drop-dead gorgeous Liz of an accidental bullet wound incurred at the local watering hole, the Crashdown Cafe. Now Liz and her waitress pal Maria know the threesome's secret - and you know how hard it is to keep a secret in high school!

Alien cornball? Of course. But ''Roswell'' has many saving graces. For one thing, it doesn't take itself too seriously. Max, Isabel, and Michael have mysterious powers, but no one's really sure what they are. Max can jimmy a Coke machine and cure bullet wounds; Isabel can hold a CD up to her ear and hear music (cool!), and dry-clean a blouse with her bare hand. But bad boy Michael apparently wasn't paying attention at Hogwarts' Spells & Divinations class, because when his Volkswagen breaks down, his intervention causes the engine to blow up.

Katims and his collaborator, former ''X-Files'' director David Nutter, have plenty of fun with the scripts. Maria, who is sweetening on the surly, otherwordly Michael, gets to say: ''I didn't realize there was this whole other side to you.'' Brendan Fehr, who plays Michael, is a dead ringer for ''X-Files'' star David Duchovny. And in the villainous Ms. Topolsky, the FBI agent working undercover as a guidance counselor X-fans immediately recognize an homage to Marita Covarrubias, the nefarious Uniblonder.

The show has been blessed with some success. WB has committed to 22 segments, a lot for a rookie outing, and it seems to be holding most of the Sure, the show has a few soft spots. The obligatory Native American flying saucer/spirit quest episode proved a bit much for me. And the young cast generally performs like graduates from the Keanu Reeves Acting School. But given that my home recently hosted what we believe to be the first Keanu Reeves Film Festival, that's not quite the insult it seems. spillover audience from the popular teen soap opera ''Dawson's Creek'' that it follows. Both air tonight, if you want to broaden your cultural horizon.

In a telephone interview, Katims wants to unpack lots of heavy baggage about ''Roswell'' as a metaphor for adolescence. But I just want to know one thing: Are the soulful Max and honor -student Liz ever going to be more than just friends? Apparently not. ''It's a great Romeo and Juliet romance,'' Katims says. ''In this story, they can't be together because they're alien life forms.'' As for the profound message, I think I get it. Teenage aliens are a lot like regular teens - or is it the other way around?









TV Guide Article (Dec. 11-17 - 1999)

HOW DO ANGEL, FREAKS AND GEEKS, POPULAR, AND ROSWELL RATE WITH THEIR INTENDED AUDIENCE - TEENS? TV GUIDE ASKED FIVE DISCERNING VIEWERS FOR THEIR REVIEWS.

TV Guide: Of all the shows you were asked to watch, which was your favorite?
Melanie Elkin: Roswell. I was expecting it not to be a great show but I wanted to know what happens next.
McAdoo: I was noticing that in all the shows, there isn't enough ethnicity.
Thacker: I saw two African-Americans on Popular. On Roswell, at the party that they had, I didn't even see any in the background. It was just all white. They really should have a variety of people.
Elkin: I never thought of it before you guys brought it up. Now I really think it's not fair. At my school there's a lot of every race, and I think that's not really shown in these series.
TV Guide: What do you think of Roswell?
Elkin: The acting was the best part, but it could happen, aliens coming to earth. You never know. Soo: They picked the right place to put them: high school. [everyone laughs]
TV Guide: Speaking of which, anybody got a vote for the next heartthrob?
Fuentes: I like Max [Jason Behr] on Roswell. Elkin: Oh, me too. I think he's really gorgeous.
TV Guide: Which shows do you still watch? Elkin: Popular, which is a really cute teen show, and Roswell. I never followed up on Freaks and Geeks.
McAdoo: I'm still watching Popular and Roswell. I like the setting of Roswell, and they filmed an episode of it at my school.









XPOSE SPECIAL YEARBOOK
1999-2000 #10

Flaming Hot!
Meet the beautiful people as Xpose profiles the 30 stars who brighten out TV screens.
By Gareth Wigmore

There was a time when science fiction stars hid their charms beneath obvious wigs and unflattering silver lurex outfits, but nowadays they’re regularly voted the sexiest people alive. From veteran heart-throbs to meteoric newcomers, we profile the thirty hottest star of science fiction. Watch out for them – they’ll be dominating magazines covers in the year 2000.

Shiri Appleby

Born: December 7 1978
Famous for: making friends with aliens as Liz in Roswell
Other work: includes appearances in Doogie Howser MD, Xena: Warrior Princess and first episode of ER

Although she’s not yet old enough to walk into a Californian bar and buy a bottle of beer, Shiri Appleby is hot property in Hollywood. And though Roswell, a sexy new cross-breed of Dawson’s Creek and The X-Files, may be making her into a star, Appleby’s no stranger to work on television. A veteran of commercials from her early childhood, she’s had dozens of guest spots on shows such as Beverly Hills 90210, and sci-fi and fantasy fan will recognize her from a recurring role in two episodes of Xena: Warrior Princes. She’s also just appeared in Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich’s ill-fated movie, The Thirteenth Floor.

Brought up in San Francisco Valley, with Hollywood just around the corner, perhaps it’s no surprise that Appleby kept shuffling out of school to earn a few bucks in television. But she always made sure that her education didn’t suffer. Even now that she’s probably got thousands of celebrity parties to fill her evenings, and plenty of producers courting her for alternative roles, she’s busy majoring in English at University of California.

It’s always good to have an education to fall back on, but I don’t think Appleby need worry too much: Liz and Roswell look likely to loom large in her life for the moment.

Jason Behr

Born: December 30, 1973
Famous for: playing friendly alien Max Evans on Roswell.
Other work: includes the role if sexual predator Chris Wolfe on Dawson’s Creek.

Jason Behr’s move to the new series Roswell could be seen as something of a risk. He made several appearances last year as a character on the wildly popular teen drama Dawson’s Creek, and could probably have been guaranteed steady work on it this year too. But the gamble seems to have paid off, and Roswell’s proving one of the hits of the season.

The 25-year-old may not have played an alien once a week before, but he is a veteran of almost as many episodes of sci-fi and fantasy TV as of teen dramas. He appeared in Lie to Me, a second season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and in one of the Alien Nation TV movies. Fans of British TV will also be interested to hear that he starred in Lemmings Will Fly, an episode of the US version of Cracker.

Behr’s said that if he weren’t an actor he’d try to make a living as a painter, but he obviously plans to hang around LA for sometime yet. He’s got his sights on the movies, having had a taste of them with a recent role in Pleasantville, and says he wants to work with the likes of Anthony Hopkins and Susan Sarandon. Hopefully Roswell will keep him in work for the foreseeable future, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he got his chance.









from AOL Television

TV's Sexiest Aliens, From Antarians to Vulcans

Jason Behr (Max Evans, 'Roswell')
It's never easy for a boy from out of town to find friends in a new high school - especially when "out of town" is actually outer space. But as Max Evans, aka Zan, king of the planet Antar, Jason Behr had no trouble getting dates, though his heart belonged only to Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby).









20 Secrets About Roswell
Twist Magazine Jan 2, 2000
By: Kristen Shaw.

1. It's not deja vu! if you've heard of Roswell before, maybe you've seen the book series Roswell High. The TV show is based on it.

2. Roswell was supposed to air on Fox. But then Fox wanted to change the whole show to be soap-opera-y like 90210. The Roswell peeps said "no way" and went with the WB instead.

3. Shiri Appleby, who plays Liz, is no alien to TV stardom. She played Teri Hatcher's daughter on the TV sitcom Sunday Dinner, and had a recurring roll on Xena: Warrior Princess.

4. Shiri's super smart (for a human, that is) She takes classes at the University of Southern California while filming Roswell. (She's an English Major)

5. On the show, the teen aliens have a way-weird diet. They dip cookie in wasabi mustard and put Tabasco sauce in their Cokes.

6. But Brendan Fehr, who plays the alien Michael, says he can handle the Tabasco. "Instead of spankings, my mom would make us stick our tongues out and pour Tabasco on them.

7. Brendan broke into the biz after he dropped by a modeling agency to ask for work- they told him to try acting instead. One week later, he got a guest role on the series Breaker High.

8. Before Roswell, Brendan wanted to be a teacher. But his mom encouraged him to put off college and go after his dream of becoming a star.

9. When Majandra Delfino- the chick who plays Maria- was 15, her 'rents told her she had six months to get an acting job, or she would have to totally concentrate on school. Luckily, she landed roles right away.

10. Majandra was in a band called China Doll, with Samantha Gibb, the daughter of Bee Gee Maurice Gibb.

11. He's being low-key about it, but Colin Hanks- the guy who plays Alex- is Tom Hanks' real life son.

12. Colin says he doesn't know if he wants mega-stardom like his dad's because he wouldn't want to go through everything his dad does.

13. Jason Behr, you know, the hottie Max, may look familiar. That's because he played Chris, a friend of poor ill-fated Abby's, on Dawson's Creek.

14. Jason says he skipped out on Dawson's because he was unsure where his character was going. But the sky's the limit on Roswell. After all, his character Max is from outer space.

15. Before landing the Dawson's gig, Jason ruled the tube with roles on Buffy, 7th Heaven, Cracker, and step by step.

16. Jason says he felt a little, well, alienated in high school because his voice sounded like a girl's.

17. Katherine Heigl (Isabel) modeled for the Sears Catalogs, which she says was demanding, and after doing a few TV commercials, she decided she liked acting tons better.

18. As a teen, Katherine was an expert TP-er. She would buy 48 rolls of toilet paper and then attack a neighborhood house with her friends.

19. Talk about zero gravity- Katherines big bro. used to hang her over the staircase banister by her feet.

20. Roswell rumor: Isabel, Max, and Michael are gonna be spending time looking for a fourth alien- the one who may hold the secret to the gang's cosmic past!









YM - YOUNG AND MODERN
March 2000
Who says Roswell Rocks?
By Alyssa Vitrano

Fans, sure. But find out what the out-of-this-would cast members love most about their show.

When Roswell landed on the WB last fall, it was clear that the show was going to stir up sensation her on planet Earth. Never before have aliens been so smart, so sensitive, so…swoonworthy. But the kids at Roswell High offer much more than mere viewing pleasure. Every week, the very human extraterrestrials provide a cool way to explore some of the toughest battles of teen life: the struggle to figure out where you fit in, the fear of exposing your true self (no matter how bizarre), and the devastation of falling for someone who’s a different species! Just think of Max and Liz as the Romeo and Juliet of TV land. But hey, don’t take our work for it. Here’s why the actors themselves think Roswell rules.

Tapping Into Teen Power

Any teenager growing up and changing and experiencing life hasn’t yet realized his or her full potential. On the show, the aliens are learning what their powers are and trying to figure out where they fit in this world and what they can achieve. You can apply that situation to a lot of people in high school. – Jason Behr (Max)

Bud Bonding

I’m really excited about the friendship between Liz and Maria. They’re best friends till the end, and it’s nice to see girls like and trust each other on TV, not being catty. I’ve had some really close girlfriends growing up, and those friendships are what keep me going. – Shiri Appleby (Liz)

Dealing with Differences

The Whole alien-outcast theme allows us to explore the issue of prejudice. People in Roswell are afraid of the aliens and don’t see them for who they are; they see what they think they are. And that’s really the basic of all prejudice. Maybe kids will watch this and start to be more understanding and compassionate toward each other – Katherine Heigl (Isabel)

Explaining the Strange

The plot’s sort of reassuring. I had a teacher in high school who I swore was from another planet – he always looked and acted the same, never had moods. So it would make sense to find out some people aren’t of this world! – Majandra Delfino (Maria)

Exploring the Unknown

Aliens and the supernatural are things we know very little about, so a well-done sci-fi show shapes and molds our views. You do watch a movie based on any significant historic period and you know what happens. But with this you don’t know what to expect, what the aliens can do. There is no right answer. – Brendan Fehr (Michael)









Press Release on Ad Campaign 4/3/00
Alien Blast

"Roswell Fans Rally"

LOS ANGELES - Fans of the WB teen, sci-fi drama, Roswell are joining forces to show their support for this unique Jason Katims Production. "We (the fans) have incorporated ourselves as ALIEN BLAST" says Kristi Bergman, co-founder of the fan movement.

The movement started as a letter writing campaign, prompting all devoted fans to drop a note to the WB telling them how much they enjoy the show. Letters came pouring in and soon after, Tabasco bottles were also mailed. "Roswell is HOT! is another facet of our campaign. The aliens have a dietary quirk which has them using Tabasco sauce on just about everything: fries, nachos... chocolate cake!" says Kim Hedland, co-founder and ad-designer for ALIEN BLAST. "It’s definitely attracting attention", says Bergman. Support has been received from all over the world, including France, England, Australia, Puerto Rico, Canada and of course, the US. Word was sent out over the Internet that it was time to rally! Fans who frequent www.Crashdown.com came together and annex sites were quickly created, like Fionna Boyle’s "Save Our Show - Roswell" site at how.to/save_roswell.

So, is the show in danger of being cancelled? "We don’t believe the show will be cancelled, but it has not been picked up by The WB yet" says Lena Dangcil, co-founder and LA party coordinator. "We wanted them to know what a huge fan base the show has, especially on the Internet", continues Dangcil. Look for the first of the series of ads launched, paid for, and designed by ALIEN BLAST on April 10th in Variety. "The ads were a group effort done completely over the Internet. The response has been amazing", says ALIEN BLAST publicist, Kelly Lyons "We raised enough money in donations to place a series of ads and make some charitable contributions".

ROSWELL will be moving it’s airtime from Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT to Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on The WB starting April 10th. If you hadn’t had a chance to tune in you may want to. They have a talented cast of young actors including: Jason Behr, Katherine Heigl, and Brendan Fehr as resident aliens, as well as Shiri Appleby, Majandra Delfino, Colin Hanks, Nick Wechsler, and William Sadler. The writers are also truly out of this world. Don’t miss it, Monday nights 9 p.m. on The WB. ALIEN BLAST’S final statement: "

ROSWELL. We Believe."









'Roswell' Changes Nights As Fan Campaign Heats Up By Scott O'Callaghan

Special to SPACE.com
posted: 03:46 pm ET
10 April 2000

As part of the WB Network's mid-season strategy for boosting ratings, teen alien drama Roswell moves to Monday nights starting April 10, following the network's highest-rated show 7th Heaven.

Meanwhile, fans worried about the show's renewal have taken an ad out in Monday's West Coast edition of entertainment daily Variety in support of the show.

"WE BELIEVE," the ad, which places the Roswell title over the image of a glowing hand-print, proclaims. "We would like to thank The WB for the hottest show on television. We are looking forward to next season!"

Coincidentally, Variety ran a piece on television series "on the bubble" -- adrift without concrete word of either cancellation or renewal for another season -- in that same issue. Roswell was one of those programs languishing in limbo

While the WB has said little about next season so far, it has only confirmed renewal of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel to date, and this was largely to prevent the popular Buffy -- which will soon outlive its initial contract -- from leaving the network.

Fans of Roswell, though, have been forced to wonder what the network has planned for their show.

A truly hot publicity campaign

The Variety ad, sponsored by an organization called "Alien Blast," is only the latest salvo in a fan-based movement in support of Roswell.

Dubbed "Roswell is hot!", early efforts invited fans to send letters of support along with bottles of Tabasco sauce to network executives.

Since the aliens on the show love the spicy taste of Tabasco and fans consider the show's photogenic cast "hot," organizers came up with the condiment campaign as the perfect symbol of fan support.

Entertainment Weekly has reported that the network has received at least 1,000 bottles of Tabasco sauce, while fan sites have reported a number three times as large.

The campaign is now turning to fan-friendly media giants like MTV and television hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Jay Leno as further ways to get news about Roswell to the general public.

Ratings worries

The WB Network had high expectations for Roswell from the start, including an initial order for a full season of programs (22 episodes).

But the show's ratings have not lived up to those expectations, generally languishing significantly below those of UPN science fiction heavyweight Star Trek: Voyager, which also ran on Wednesday nights.

The move to Monday night will take Roswell out of Voyager's path. Fans from both series will now be able to watch and enjoy each, instead of relying on videotapes of shows not watched.









VH1.COM
SHOW ME THE MEANING OF BEING RICH
By C. Bottomley

Who wants to be a millionaire? Lance Bass of 'N Sync and Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys already have plenty of cash, thanks. But after selling millions of records, both boy-band studs are going to make TV appearances. Bass will appear on the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, while Howie will play an alien on the WB series Roswell.

Lance couldn't increase his millions on the show, though, even if he tried. With tough questions like "Which one of these four people isn't in 'N Sync? Is it Abraham Lincoln..." we think he's a shoo-in. Other participants playing for charity will be music stars Queen Latifah and Vanessa L. Williams, actor David Duchovny, and comics Dana Carvey, Drew Carey, and Ray Romano. Rosie O'Donnell, Kathie Lee Gifford and - BAM! - loud-mouthed gourmand Emeril Lagasse are also taking part.

The rules have been changed so no one will suffer the humiliation of being unable to put key conflicts in the Hundred Years War into chronological order. Instead, each guest will warm the chair opposite Regis. Let's hope for the sake of ABC's coffers there aren't too many winners. You can see if Lance is a brain when the shows air May 1 through to May 3.

If he uses Howie Backstreet as his lifeline, then we've got a real news story. But while the Backstreet Boy's chum A.J. tries his hand at being Johnny No Name, Howie is flexing his acting muscles. He appears on the season finale of troubled WB show Roswell. A spokesperson for the WB said Howie will have a cameo as an alien who visits the New Mexico town. With only one line, however, it's a bit of a stretch to call it a real acting role.

Despite the size of the part, MTV is already reporting that this could lead to bigger things. The channel says Howie is negotiating to star in a feature film called Bloom. He is apparently up for the role of a bully out to spoil a young boy's bar mitzvah preparation. His first appearance as an actor was in 1989's Parenthood, as a kid in a classroom.

Roswell producers are just hoping that somebody is watching. Although the show about alien kids with hormonal hang-ups seems like a Buffy with tentacles, fans are worried network executives are about to give the show the axe. Prompted by the fan site www.crashdown.com, they've mailed thousands of Tabasco sauce bottles to producers.

Why? It seems the alien kids have to quaff the yummy pepper sauce whenever they eat anything sweet. The New York Post reports that Roswell is indeed getting another chance. The show is moving to Monday night at 9 PM ET, right after 7th Heaven.

"The final six episodes of the season are running in order beginning Monday, and fans of the show are going to go bonkers," said Roswell executive producer Kevin Brown. "One of the main characters will get shot, and we'll have a grittier, edgier sci-fi emphasis." Hmm, who wants to get their face sucked off?

From www.vh1.com









From the WB Session 4/13/2000

There's a rumor going around about one of the BSB's getting a role on Roswell, is that true?
TheWBAndrew: The rumor is true. Howie Dorough is going to be on the season finale of Roswell.

Do you plan to show repeats of Roswell all summer?
TheWBJay: The network will show repeats of ROSWELL over the summer. Probably starting sometime in June.

Do you know what the title of the Roswell ep scheduled for 5/15?
TheWBJay: The season finale of ROSWELL is titled Destiny.

Where is the wrap party for Roswell being held?
TheWBAndrew: in Los Angeles
TheWBJay: i'll be there
TheWBAndrew: I might go too

How tall is Shiri Appleby?
TheWBAndrew: ...I don't know for sure...but I think it's around 5' 2 TheWBAndrew: rather...she's around 5' 2

When will you be having more celebrity chats like you did last week?
TheWBAndrew: We're still trying to arrange the Majandra chat (as requested by all the fans out there)
TheWBAndrew: we're going to try and do as many as possible...if there's someone you'd like to see...e-mail us at sessions@talk.thewb.com

TheWBAndrew: thanks again everyone...questions can always be e-mailed to sessions@talk.thewb.com...general comments to faces@thewb.com









Roswell Actors Ponder Their Fate
TV Guide Online
Monday, April 17, 2000

With an apparently successful move to Monday nights and a revamped emphasis on science fiction, the cast of Roswell is paraphrasing a popular mantra from that other alien show: "The fans are out there."

Thanks to a massive Internet campaign, viewers from across the country are bombarding the WB with bottles — make that cases — of Tabasco sauce (a tasty treat for the fictional aliens of Roswell). The network has received thousands of bottles to date, but can the saucy effort save the freshman series?

The threat of cancellation permeated the atmosphere at the cult show's season-ending wrap party in Los Angeles last week. "If the WB's gonna say no, they're gonna say no," Brendan Fehr (Michael) laments to TV Guide Online. "But if the network is on the fence, this helps. Fans sending stuff in could really push it one way or another."

Co-star Katherine Heigl (Isabel) is flattered by the effort. "It's been a real awakening for us. I don't think any of us realized that people out there were so devoted to the show. It's made us work harder and appreciate being there."

Even an actor who comes from Hollywood royalty is blown away by the fan response. "The fact that there are people out there that I don't know, and who I don't tell to watch the show, who are putting this much effort, time, money and commitment into it, that's something that doesn't happen that often," a grateful Colin Hanks (Alex) tells us.

Coincidentally, Hanks recently launched his own SOS effort, to no avail. "I was a huge fan of Freaks and Geeks. I went to its web site and posted a bunch of stuff and sent e-mails to NBC along with everyone else."

Hopefully Roswell's saga will have a happier ending. — Eric Irondale









ROSWELL BRIDGES THE GALAXIES BETWEEN US
From space.com

On the WB’s Roswell, which chronicles the adolescence of three aliens living in New Mexico, normal anxieties about fitting in are blown up to galactic proportions. Despite its otherworldly concerns, the show's first season also sneaks in a subtle message about what it means to be human.

Max, Isabel and Michael -- all stranded by a UFO which crashed outside of Roswell in 1947 – have to confront the pressures of growing up as well as mysterious shapeshifters, guidance counselors on loan from the FBI and parents who don't understand who or even what they are

Their dislocation is made worse by being at a naturally insecure age. Roswell’s aliens have more than zits to worry about. They might wake up one morning with tentacles.

My so-called extraterrestrial

Television drama sometimes tries to be too realistic, presenting only the everyday events that most teens experience. Shows like the short-lived Freaks and Geeks fail because they regurgitate verbatim the trivialities that we don't need to watch on TV.

In contrast, fans and critics met Roswell’s far-out premise with immediate enthusiasm. Fans sent thousands of bottles of Tabasco sauce – which the aliens put in everything from pizza to ice cream – to the WB to ensure the show’s renewal.

Many of those bottles were sent by teenage girls, who traditionally do not care for science fiction. Roswell caught their attention because no matter what otherworldly metaphors are employed by the show, its core of emotional reality is easy to relate to.

After all, what parent hasn't wondered whether their offspring is from another planet? What adolescent hasn't felt that they live on a hostile, alien world?

This Earth thing called romance

Much of the first season focused on the mercurial relationships between the visitors and the three humans -- Liz, Maria and Alex. They have a lot in common – Isabel once told Alex that to understand her anxieties he should simply multiply his own by a hundred.

Some of the relationship issues are completely mundane. Michael and Maria have a conversation in the Eraser Room – it’s the one about how they just make out and never talk – that duplicates almost word-for-word a conversation between Angela and Jordan in My So-Called Life, the teen drama which Roswell creator Jason Katims wrote for back in the mid-1990s.

On the other hand, most of the dating problems get an interspecies twist.

Liz has to worry about being used for sex, not for the usual reasons but because she’s having visions of the original UFO crash when she makes out with Max. Is she being used . . . for breeding stock?

Max’s alien mother appears as a hologram in the season finale to tell Max that he’s already betrothed to another alien.

As for Liz’s parents, they’re already bothered that their little girl is growing up. If they ever find out about Max’s origins, it’s safe to say that the old "you’re from two different worlds" speech will take on a new meaning.

On the morality of Roswell

On the surface, Roswell is a fairly simple allegory of adolescence, but there’s a profound take on humanity of all ages hidden underneath.

After being captured and interrogated by government alien hunters, Max asks one of his tormentors "who's inhuman now?" Roswell is not the first series to question what makes one human, but it is one of the first to give a satisfying answer.

The first season presented FBI moles, shoot-outs, car crashes, harrowing escapes, near misses, a brutal torture scene and murder. What initiated it all was a simple act of compassion.

In On the Basis of Morality, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer asked why the suffering of another human being could move a bystander to endanger his own life. Believing reason unable to answer this, Schopenhauer explained it as a transcending of empirical perception.

When such an act of altruism happens, Schopenhauer wrote, the barrier between "I" and "Not-I" temporarily dissolves so that one suffers with the other individual, "in spite of the fact that [their] skin does not enfold [his] nerves."

Early in the series, Katherine Topolsky, the FBI agent posing as a guidance counselor, shows Max a picture of children playing. He identifies himself as the child who is hiding behind a tree in the picture.

Max may be secretive, but in the pilot he sheds his concern for his secret as quickly and efficiently as one might shrug off a t-shirt. When Liz is shot, the barrier between two different people – two different life forms, two different planets – is shattered.

On Roswell, compassion seems to be the key to humanity. Both Max and Liz repeatedly cite the day he saved her as the day each of them truly came to life.

The psychic connection Max and Liz make in the pilot reverberates throughout the entire season. Max proclaims to Liz that "knowing you has made me human," and who are we to disagree?









Highs & Lows / Dreamwatch June 2000

Roswell High bears many similarities to another highly popular teen fantasy series, as Keith Topping discovers when investigating it's possible demise..
We all know the scenario so well. It's a universal constant in science fiction, isn't it?

You find a series that you really like. You start to get interested in the characters, investing time and emotional attachment to them and their story. You look forward to forthcoming developments and then, just when you think that the future is in good hands and that nothing can go wrong, a bit of horrid reality shattered your little bubble universe and the rumours start that you series days are numbered. Typical. Most readers will, I'm sure, be able to quote dozens of examples of bygone favourites that have ended on the whim of a TV executive somewhere who, frankly didn't understand the whole concept of what the series was all about. And even if there was only you and four of your mates watching it well, what the hell, you liked it.

Television, being the business of compromise that it is, we sometimes have to take the rough with the smooth. True we only got five years of Quantam Leap when another two or three would have been nice. True, Dark Skies had far more potential than it was ever allowed to display. True (and just to prove that the principle is neither new nor wholly confined to the US networks), there is no way that Star Cops deserved to last only nine episodes. But sometimes, such threatened cancellations can really hurt. The latest victim of the rumours circuit is Roswell High. If you believe everything you hear, then all we may ever get to see of this strangest of strange love stories between Liz Parker and Max Evans is twenty two episodes. Just one season of looking at a world of hormone charged teen angst set amid the staggering New Mexico landscape. A mere six months worth of stories of alien children and suspicious adults. Roswell ('High' suffix added only for overseas sales) is one of the best new series (SF or otherwise) to have emerged from the US in the last five years. It's right up there with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Stargate SG-1. Yes, it really is that good.

For those of you who have never watched it on Sky, you're missing out on a genuinely impressive piece of imaginative, clever cross-genre television. A teen soap that wants to be science fiction, or an SF show with pretensions to be Dawson's Creek? In reality Roswell High is both. And it's neither. In actualy fact, it's so much better than any oneline description of it that, like Buffy, you have to wonder how it was that the series ever got off the ground in the first place. But once it did, it matured rapidly, showing a fine ability to be wryly amusing whilst keeping the dramatic storylines of creator Jason Katims and executive producer Jonathan Frakes never far from the surface.

So, the question has to be asked: Why on Earth is Roswell High in trouble with its ratings at all? Everybody should be watching it. The simple truth is that Roswell is possibly a victim of its own chameleonic abilities. Many viewers simply don't know what to make of it. The series to which it is most akin, Buffy, also had these problems early on when its critical standing was far higher than its audience appreciation. Roswell High's very clear agenda, from episode one really, was to stand aloof from the vast lore of the town that gave the series its name and to send up the whole idea of little green men and dodgy autopsy footage (the episode The Convention which poked merciless fun at SF and UFO conventions and all of the stereotypes that they throw up, is particularly noteworthy here). So, if Roswell doesn't want to be a series that takes the staple elements of your average SF concept (and it seemingly doesn't) then what, exactly, does it have that makes it so watchable? So special? The answer to that is simple. It's got a terrific cast. Again, Buffy is the most obvious template here; an ensemble piece centered around, but not exclusive to, a pair of central characters with comic and aesthetically interesting foils that can be paired off to great effect. (Anybody else see an obvious link between Maria's role in Roswell High and Willow's in Buffy? Or compare the pairing of Isabel and Alex with Cordelia and Xander?) Ultimately, like Buffy, Roswell features a superb bunch of young actors: Shiri Appleby (Liz Parker), Jason Behr (Max Evans), Brendan Fehr (Michael Guerin), Katherine Heigl (Isabel Evans), Majandra Delfino (Maria DeLuca), Colin Hanks (Alex Whitman) and Nick Wechsler (Kyle Valenti), all of whom are attractive and charismatic and can do comedy and dramy in equal measure.

Beside them are some equally impressive representatives of the older generation; actors like William Sadler, Julie Benz and Mary Ellen Trainor who add the same anchoring qualities to proceedings here that Anthony Stewart Head and Kristine Sutherland bring to Buffy. But where Roswell goes even further than Sunnydale's finest is that it can afford to drop its adult characters at will and spend entire episodes concentrating purely on its teenage stars and the sometimes near-the-knuckle nature of their trials and tribulations. (Buffy, of example, was well into its second year before it got anywhere near doing a storyline on child-abuse with Ted. Conversely, Roswell was doing so, openly and with an sense of outrage, by episode fifteen -- the staggeringly adult Independence Day).

The back story of Roswell High is relatively straightforward. Liz Parker is a highly intelligent sixteen year old high school girl from UFO mecca Roswell, New Mexico, working in her spare time as a waitress at her parents diner, the Crashdown, with her feisty friend Maria DeLuca. One evening, whilst on shift, she is shot during a argument by two meathead customers. As Liz lies, dying, on the diner floor her life is saved by a mysterious "laying on of hands" by the darkly brooding local hunk, Max Evans. Liz keeps Max's gift a secret but, when confronting him with it later, he is forced to reveal that he, his glamourous sister Isabel, and their wild-outsider friend Michael Guerin are not from 'around here'. They are from... 'up there'.

After an effective pilot that sets up the characters nicely and displays a keen sense of dry humour, subsequent episodes detail the alien trio's search for clues as to their ancestry, whilst simultaneously attempting to hide their secret from sinister local sheriff Valenti, whose son is Liz's ex-boyfriend and who has his own agenda for wanting to discover aliens in Roswell, and the attentions of the alluring but mysterious school counsellor Kate Topolsky. Writers like Thania St John (a Buffy veteran) and Cheryl Cain tap effortlessly into the teenage psyche and episodes like Monsters (focusing on the uneasy alliance between Maria and Isabel), 285 South ( a mini-road movie) and River Dog (where Topolsky's elaborate trap for the aliens comes close to success) demonstrate an accurate understanding of what, exactly, makes these characters so interesting.

The outrageous sexual undercurrents of an episode like Heat Wave shouldn't be underestimated either, whilst St John's epic The Balance casts the group into Michael's psyche in an effort ot save him, literally, from himself. In Roswell High there are frequent revelations and dramatic twists, but there are also moments of quiet reflection and touching resonance (Sexual Healing) that takes the viewer a long way from where they probably imagined they were going to in a seriers about alien teenagers. A character like Alex, for instance, appears at first glance to be nothing more than a literal Zeppo. A comic wall for the others to bounce insults and sarcasm off. But Roswell's view of outsiders is essentially proactive. Again, like Buffy, here all of the characters have something to stand outside of and be embittered by. And for that reason, if nothing else, Roswell scores again over many of its contemporaries.

The world of Roswell High School is a world in which growing up and becoming normal may be a horrible reality for some, but it is also an impossible dram for others. Roswell began well in the US, a Wednesday night feature on the WB network fitting perfectly into the mid-evening slot that Buffy had made its own on Tuesday. But the ratings have been sluggish as conservative viewers opt for less challenging (and, as a consequence, less demanding television).

It's difficult not to criticise heavily those who choose to watch Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, ahead of Roswell (although to be fair, earlier in the season, Roswell's competition included Star Trek: Voyager and NBC's acclaimed West Wing). The WB have got nervous and, in an effort to attract new viewers have taken the desperate step of moving Roswell to Monday nights. Initial response seems positive but it remains to be seen if, in the long term, Roswell has any sort of future. If there's any justice in the world (which, in television terms, there usually isn't) it will.









EFFORTS HAVE BEEN HEARD!

Each and every night, many of us teenagers have been going to bed and praying for our favorite tv show, Roswell. As we sign petitions and send in our bottles of Tobasco sauce, we wonder is anyone actually paying any attention? Today, we recieved the answer to that question. YES, we are being heard. Want the results? Well here you go:

Dear Roswell Fans:

We just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all of the attention you are giving to the future of ROSWELL. Your support is overwhelming and appreciated.

Jason Katim

Thats not all! Yet another reply (Kevin Brown is the executive producer of Roswell:

As you know the show is being moved to Mon. night as of April 10, following the WB's top-rated show 7TH HEAVEN. Although this at first might seem like a mismatch, the fact is that all the so-called "compatible" family-type shows they've put there have tanked, including most recently SAFE HARBOR (and that one was created by the same person who created HEAVEN!). Indeed, the last show to be successful in that time slot was BUFFY, so we are hoping to repeat that success. Plus it gets us away from the one-two punch of VOYAGER/WEST WING and gives us only ALLY MCBEAL to contend with.

As you probably also know, the move is coinciding with a new direction for the show - one that takes it more into sci-fi and less liz-and-Max-staring-solefully-at-each-other (not that we still won't have some of that). I of course have seen these scripts and think they are terrific.

The hope now is that we can make ROSWELL the WB'S X-FILES, which in my opinion is what I always hoped it would become once we ended up on the WB, and which I think they could use.

What would be great is if you and your fellow fans could bombard the WB with letters, emails, etc. to that effect, i.e. that while you all like X-FILES or VOYAGER there was no show out there that younger fans could call their own - until ROSWELL - and how you can't wait for the new shows, etc.

Interestingly, one critic early on coined our show "Romeo and Juliet" meets "X-Files" and while I thought that was very clever, the truth is we were doing too much of the former and not enough of the latter. (The network thought so too, by the way; this new direction is something they've been pushing for a while.) I know that a week or so ago there was a bit of panic amongst the fans when the WB announced they were picking up BUFFY and ANGEL; everyone thought that meant none of the other shows were picked up. In truth that was related solely to the fact that Fox Studios (the producer of both shows, as well as ours) was in a position to pull BUFFY off the WB (its contract was up for renewal, a la "E.R."), so the WB wisely and quickly gave them early pick-ups on both shows.

However, there is no guarantee that we will be back, even though they all love ROSWELL. Indeed, a lot will depend on how we do after the move, which will be promoted and will finish out the season with all new episodes (six in all I believe). So the more help we can get from you, the more the WB (and Fox as well) knows you're out there and responding to the new direction, the better. As the person who found this project (I won a huge bloodbath of a bidding war over the ROSWELL HIGH books, using my own money!), brought all the others into it (including Jonathan Frakes, Jason Katims and David Nutter) and saw what was my very first series turn into a cause celebre and the only show of the 1999-2000 season with a full, 22-episode order, you can only imagine how much this show means to me. But the reason I do what I do is for people like you an your fellow fans, so your support means a lot to me.

Again, thank you for responding and to you and everyone else for your support. Best,
Kevin Brown









WB Credits Roswell Campaign
From SciFi.com

In announcing the renewal of its teen alien series Roswell for a second season, The WB gave credit in part to the unprecedented effort by fans to support the freshman show. Fans sent in thousands of tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce, accompanied by letters, urging the network to renew the series. (Tabasco is the condiment of choice of the series' alien characters.)

"Stability in scheduling is always something that you strive for, and we have accomplished that this season by keeping every one of our anchor dramas in their season-ending timeslots," said Susanne Daniels, the network's president for entertainment, in a press release. "Roswell and Felicity came into their own creatively and ratings-wise the last eight episodes of the year, and they both earned their way onto the schedule," she said, adding, "the Tabasco sauce, e-mail campaigns and demonstrations also got our attention."









HOW ROSWELL WAS SAVED
Agenda for Next Season:
Less Teen Angst, More Science Fiction - July 2000
By J. Max Robins

Last fall, executives at WB touted Roswell as their most promising new series. The drama about a trio of high school students, who are actually aliens living in Roswell, NM, infamous for a rumored UFO crash landing, seemed like a teen X-Files. But, despite tons of promotion, positive reviews and a choice time slot after Dawson’s Creek, the show delivered lackluster ratings. By midseason, Roswell seemed destined for cancellation. In protest, avid viewers barraged the network with more than 3,000 bottles of Tabasco sauce, the aliens’ beverage of choice, in a campaign to keep Roswell alive.

Roswell was renewed — but it wasn’t the hot sauce that saved the day. WB executives believed they could lift the series beyond cult status if they changed the show’s direction. The execs also admitted that they had a surfeit of angst-ridden hard bodies on their schedule. "The show had these terrific characters, but they were spending too much time navel-gazing against school lockers," says WB’s executive vice president of programming Jordan Levin. "For a lot of the adult audience they see kids and lockers and they say, 'This show isn’t for us.' Roswell was originally developed for Fox and I think the direction [the show’s creator] Jason Katims got was to do more of a relationship show. But we really wanted science fiction — someting that really explored the mystery of Roswell."

Katims admits that Roswell was difficult to position from the start. " I think we may have gotten lost in a sea of [WB] shows that looked like all they were about was young people and their relationships," Katims says. "We began last season with these three aliens who were just beginning to discover where they came from, which made it quite natural to move more toward science fiction. At the end of the season we found out that Max (Jason Behr) is [an alien] leader, his sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl) is a princess and that their friend Michael (Brendan Fehr) is a soldier. We’re creating a mythology that allows us to tell stories of family and power." The increased emphasis on suspense and extraterrestrial mystery will also give the show’s adult characters a more prominent role, Katims adds.

Of course, WB’s Levin hopes that these measures will win Roswell new viewers. "Our research has already shown that we have begun to pull in that male sci-fi audience and more adults overall," Levin says. "We can broaden Roswell’s appeal without losing its core viewers."









WB's Daniels on 'Roswell,' Williamson
Wed, Jul 26, 2000 10:57 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2It.com) - The fans do have a voice; at least they did in the case of saving "Roswell." WB entertainment president Susanne Daniels and network CEO Jamie Kellner admitted this week that the fan campaign of sending in bottles of tobasco sauce to show support for the show was very effective. But not all messages were friendly.

"It's not all very nice," said Kellner of some of the fan mail he received. "Some of those messages are 'You idiots, you don't know anything about what we like."

Daniels said she had to change her email address three times because of the amount of email she received. However, Kellner noted, the extra step of sending the sauce bottles stood out.

"I've gotten a lot of emails and letters," he said. "I've never gotten anybody to send me stuff that costs money, and it was remarkable."

"The Internet is a viral medium," Kellner said, of how the campaign spread. While "Roswell's" future is still dependent on what happens next season, the two execs were much more upbeat about "Dawson's Creek."

"I think the show really hit its stride (at the end of last season)," Kellner said. "With '90210' out of the time period this fall, 'Dawson's Creek' will be the show to watch."

However, fans shouldn't expect the return of show creator Kevin Williamson anytime soon. Daniels said Williamson has nothing to do with the show, but has expressed interest in talking to the net about future projects.









from Eonline tv tidbits

Roswell is also getting a harder sci-fi edge. That means scaled back intergalactic smoochin' between Max and Liz and more focus on extraterrestrial action to attract a wider audience. Will the makeover work? Who knows? But the retooled series better not anger its Tabasco-wielding fans, or the show's execs may end up soaking in hot sauce.









Roswell from Toronto Star TV Critic
Sci-fi Roswell set to become more hard-edged
By Rob Salem
Toronto Star Tv Critic

When we last left Roswell, our alien teens had received a mysterious message from home, bringing them another step closer to discovering their destinies here on Earth.
And Brendan Fehr's brooding bad boy, Michael, was still reeling from having been forced to kill an evil FBI agent.
But that was an entire summer ago, on an entirely different channel. Roswell returns for its second season tonight, moving to CITYtv Mondays at 8 (except tonight's premiere at 10), also seen nationally on the Space cable channel Friday nights at 9, repeating Saturdays at 5.
And with the change in venue comes a whole new attitude, as the show takes on a harder-edged, much more science-fictional approach.









Starburst Special #43 (UK) (pp 94-96) - Sept 2000
Men Are From Mars…My boyfriend is an alien!

Teenagers have it hard nowadays, especially atRoswell High…

Roswell was an ideal target for producers eager to develop a hit TV series.Something happened in the notorious New Mexico town in the summer of 1947, and ever since exactly what it was has been the source of intense debate. From serious conspiracy theory documentaries to big budget dramatizations and even, believe it or not, a musical – The X-Files’ worldwide popularity drew attention to the so called Roswell Incident, using the event as part ofits ongoing mythology arc, and soon everyone was hopping on the bandwagon. Even Star Trek had its own take on the UFO crash. Wasn’t it about time we got ‘Roswell the Tv series’?

Well yes, and no. The flipside of all this media attention is that everyone knew what happened from every conceivable angle. And even if they didn’t, stories of the Roswell incident are an easily exhaustible commodity, especially when you have to fill 22 hours a year. Ultimately, what made thetopic so alluring was that Melinda Metz had taken the abandoned wreckage and crafted her own conclusions into a series of popular children’s books called Roswell High. Set in the more accessible era of the current day, Metz created her Roswell alien – or, rather, aliens – in the guise of attractive teenagers. Given the popularity of WB shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson’s Creek, it wasn’t a surprise that the TV series producers David Nutter and Jason Katims developed from these books was quickly snapped up by the station.

For the TV series both the romantic and Science Fiction elements were played down. The books were very much in the style of an action adventure series where the teen aliens and their human friends, slowly pairing off as the range progressed, had to evade the machinations of the local Sheriff. While that basic concept remains, the TV series makes a stronger issue of the aliens’ reluctance to date their human friends, and keeps us very much in the dark about their alien origins.

The first of these two changes is very much in the series’ favour. After the runaway success of Dawson’s Creek, it can’t be a bad idea to give the audience more of what they like; Max, Michael and Isabel’s non-terrestrial origins giving plenty of cause for deliberation when romance is on the cards. So: they cast Dawson’s Creek star Jason Behr (who played heartthrob Chris Wolfe) in the lead role and in the female lead role Shiri Appleby, someone who, in a bad light, could pass for Katie Holmes (who plays Dawson’s best friend), and took it from there.

Being obtusely mysterious about what we’re dealing with, on the other handis a little more questionable. It’s symptomatic of the X-Files generation to sell a series on insubstantial promises of major revelations. Nevertheless, to be fair, it is this very fact that drives the plot. Sheriff Valenti, whose Dad got a very bad name for himself by chasing aliens wants to expose the aliens at Roswell High. Now, in such circumstances, you’d probably sit tight and not give him anything to go on. The aliens, however, want information as badly as Valenti, and by searching for the key to their origins, they inadvertantly let things slip.

In a nutshell then, the series deals with ‘relationship stuff’ and ‘alien stuff’. By the middle of the first series Max has paired off with Liz. Michael (male alien #2, played by Brendan Fehr) has made his move on Liz’s friend Maria (Majandra Delfino), and Isabel (female alien, Katherine Heigl) has started making eyes at Alex (played by Colin Hanks, son of the more famous Tom). Unfortunately, the more people they let in on their secret,the greater the chance of discovery. Which, in a round about way, is why they can’t get too attached, the alien issue being in many ways a metaphorfor all sorts of teenage hang-ups. “I used to say teenagers were the alien samong us,” comments David Nutter. “And I think all teenagers kind of feel that way in many respects sometimes. Our challenge is to kind of embrace that… and have a lot of fun with it.” And indeed they do: while Max and Liz’s relationship is a model in sexual tension, Michael and Maria share amutual mistrust. In 285 South, one of the best episodes thus far, it reaches comic proportions when they find themselves trapped in a motel room together and end up in a pile on the floor just as their friends barrel through the door. Despite vowing “Not if he was the last alien on Earth, ”Maria soon finds herself locked in a cupboard with her pants down histrousers.

Even so, sometimes it is all ‘work, work, work’ and a lot of the kids sparetime between lessons is taken up researching their past. Max got a job working at the town’s UFO museum, so that he can rifle through their files. This and a key stolen from the Sheriff’s file on EBEs, precipitates a trip into the desert, eventually leading the group to a Native American reservation where they meet a wise elder called River Dog, who has met the alien Valenti’s father was tracking. The discovery of this fourth alien is central to the alien’s quest to discover who they are and where they’ refrom. The second half of the season will present us with the possibility that their elusive search is not just one of their kind, but also family. The burning question is, however, is he just another alien trying to fit in,like our fantastically attractive friends, or does he have some hidden agenda? Jason Katims promises: “a hint of the possibility that the fourth alien might just not be all good”. A grey area worth exploring.

All in all, the series shows extraordinary promise. It may seem a little slow: we are 11 episodes in and we have no clue as to what caused 3 pint-sized aliens to become stranded in the desert 10 years before, while Max and Liz’s on-off relationship is a little frustrating at times. But Jason Behr believes, “Everything is building to something. We can do things slowly, play to the smaller quieter moments.” And certainly, as Roswell gained momentum, it garnered much critical acclaim. It was lauded by many as the best show of the 1999 season. The New York Post described it as ‘wise, witty and watchable beyond its years’, while elsewhere it was a ‘soulful drama mixing X-Files paranoia with WB young adult concerns.’ At this time, however, it is unclear whether there is a future for Roswell. Despite performing quite credibly in the ratings, it didn’t do as well asmany other WB shows – perhaps owing to its unfortunate clash with Star Trek: Voyager when it was shown on Wednesday nights. Additionally, it was hoped that the show would attract a large teenage audience, and the demographics have shown the average age of viewers to be significantly older. It has been rumoured that the WB only wish to renew two out of the four dramas that debuted last autumn, and since Science Fiction requires a larger budget, Roswell may sadly soon be back in the past.

Richard Atkinson









From TV guide Online

Where we left off: After the kids united to rescue Max (Jason Behr) from evil FBI alien hunters, Max, Michael (Brendan Fehr) and Isabel (Katherine Heigl) received new romantic marching orders from a celestial apparition. To save the alien race, Michael and Isabel must ditch Maria (Majandra Delfino) and Alex (Colin Hanks) for each other, and Max must throw over the devoted Liz (Shiri Appleby) for shifty fellow alien Tess (Emilie de Ravin).

The big news: Executive producer Jason Katims promises to start his show’s sophomore year with a bang. "What happens to one of the characters in the first episode — not necessarily one of the kids — will lead to a major discovery, and someone may get killed off," he teases. Well, it is about mystery.

They’ve got the power: With the government and unnamed evil aliens closing in on them, Max, Isabel and Michael will start refining their special gifts. And it’s about time, says Heigl, whose Isabel used her dream-walking abilities in the season finale to communicate with Max when he was being drugged and tortured. "Isabel can’t pretend anymore that she’s a normal high school girl," she says. "I think she’s going to feel like she has more control."

Match unmade in heaven: While Katims plans to maintain the momentum and suspense of last season, he’s also making room for some romantic regrouping. "We probably should start the season with all the characters in therapy," he says. Behr agrees that his character, Max, should definitely hit the couch. "He suffers from an overwhelming sense of abandonment by his parents and Liz," he says. "Max’s struggle is to decide whether to live a normal life as a human with Liz or to accept this enormous responsibility."

Matt says: Can this irresistibly gripping show build upon its rabidly loyal following in large enough numbers to convince WB to extend the 13-episode run to a full second year? It certainly deserves the chance.










'Roswell' may have revealed too much 10/02/2000

By Manuel Mendoza / The Dallas Morning News
In their first year, the teenagers of Roswell survived heartbreak, an FBI hunt and shaky ratings. The same can't be said for their looks. Without naming names, two of the characters return for their sophomore season with the kind of retro-trendy Hollywood hairstyles that are sillier than they are cool. Compared to the funny makeovers, the new runway-ready wardrobes are a minor distraction.

A bigger one is the convoluted mythology now at the show's core. When it first premiered last fall with one of the year's best pilots, Roswell focused on the relationships between a trio of teen aliens and the Earth kids who learned their secret. The race to find out exactly where they came from and why they're here – even as the feds closed in – was the central plot device. But it wasn't what the show was about. At its best, Roswell used their peril to illustrate what teens go through during their formative stages. The alienation metaphor was rarely strained, and the budding romance between Max (Jason Behr), one of the aliens, and Liz (Shiri Appleby), the girl whose life he saves, was sweet and moving. But the emphasis shifted as the producers sought to draw in the sci-fi audience, tying up the narrative threads by season's end. The aliens discover they are exiled leaders of their home planet, where civil war has broken out.

The first two new episodes pick up in that same mode. Having spent the summer worrying about the repercussions of killing the FBI agent who was after them, Max, his sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and best friend Michael (Brendan Fehr) have a new nemesis, a nosy congresswoman connected to the dead G-man.

There's also the business of their enemies back home, who may be coming to Earth for them. According to a fourth teen alien, Tess (Emilie de Ravin), who showed up at the end of last season with a mysterious adult protector, she and Max, as well as Isabel and Michael, are destined to mate. None except Tess is so hot on the idea. Each has ongoing relationships with humans, though last season's finale tore those apart. To viewers who haven't seen Roswell, all this may sound ridiculous. Some people don't get Buffy the Vampire Slayer, either. Those who do are waiting to see whether the producers can repair the damage caused by giving away too much too soon and by getting away from what made Roswell such a great show to begin with. Manuel Mendoza

Roswell
Grade: B-
8 p.m. Mondays, The WB (Channel 33). Starring Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr, Katherine Heigl, Majandra Delfino, Brendan Fehr, Colin Hanks, Nick Wechsler, Emilie de Ravin and William Sadler. Created by Jason Katims. 60 min.ROSWELL











Roswell: Top Ten Season Two Predictions

By Scott O'Callaghan
Special to SPACE.com
posted: 01:46 pm ET
02 October 2000

Yes, once again the intrepid reporters of SPACE.COM have been in the secret government files. Here's our list of the things we're absolutely, positively sure we'll see in season two of Roswell.
10. We hear David Duchovny isn't too busy these days. Maybe he can guest star as an FBI agent?
9. Cat-fight between Liz and Tess, Dynasty-style!
8. Special Guest Star: John DeLancie as "Q" -- hey, it seems to work for Andromeda!
7. Maria spends 4,000 years in suspended animation, just so she can change her hair and emerge with a stringy long blonde do. And live underground and fight aliens with her midriff exposed. Yeah.
6. Alex's band "The Whits" rides again - doing nothing but ABBA covers.
5. On that note, what if the Backstreet Boys come back? They're all aliens. Evil aliens. But in this very special episode, they can play humans.
4. In the all-singing, all-dancing "Cabaret" homage, Kyle gets in touch with his sensitive side. Sponsored by Maybelline.
3. Julie Benz's "Agent Topolsky" character escapes the Initiative and becomes a vampire in Los Angeles.
2. Alex gets some. Okay, we don't believe that one either.
1. In the season finale, we learn the alien teens' true species. They're Gungans. "Meesa always love you, Liz!"

Stick around with SPACE.com for all your Roswell needs, from the goofy to the sublime.










EW: Space Case-Roswell

''Roswell'' is becoming more sci-fi to win a bigger audience. Fans saved the WB show last year -- but this season, improved ratings are a must for survival

by Craig Seymour

''Roswell,'' the WB's cult hit about teenage aliens, is back for a second season after being saved by a novel fan campaign last May (they flooded network offices with the aliens' preferred condiment: Tabasco sauce.) But even with a choice time slot, Mondays at 9 p.m., the show's prognosis isn't out of this world. The Oct. 2 premiere drew 4.1 million viewers, but lost 36 percent of the audience from the WB's 8 p.m. lead in, ''7th Heaven,'' while last week's second episode was watched by 3.9 million people and lost 39 percent. If things don't improve for the series -- which averaged 3.5 million viewers last season -- industry observers say it's a goner. ''The WB will be watching it closely over the next few months to determine its future,'' says John Spiropoulos, associate director of audience research for Initiative Media. ''To survive, it needs a much bigger audience than it's getting.''

To lure new viewers, ''Roswell'''s producers plan to radically shake up the formula that earned it a vocal -- if limited -- cadre of fans last season. This includes shifting the focus away from the star crossed romance between alien boy Max (Jason Behr) and earth girl Liz (Shiri Appleby) that provided the show's emotional core. ''We learned that simply having a human in love with an alien was not a potent enough story to build the entire show around,'' says executive producer Jonathan Frakes, who may be better known for playing Commander Riker on ''Star Trek: The Next Generation.'' ''So the focus this season is more on the aliens.''









Sunday November 5, 2000 11:41 PM ET
WB uncovers more ``Roswell'' episodes
By Josef Adalian
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The WB believes in aliens.
The network has ordered nine additional episodes of its sophomore sci-fi drama ``Roswell,'' giving the show a full season run of 22 episodes.

``Roswell'' garnered solid reviews last season and decent ratings but still barely managed to get renewed for a second year. The WB ultimately ordered 13 episodes, spurred in part by a strong fan-based campaign to save the show and a decision to emphasize more of the show's sci-fi elements. Jason Behr, Katherine Heigl and Brendan Fehr star.

So far this fall, ``Roswell'' has given the WB its best 9 p.m. Monday Nielsen numbers since ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' moved out of the slot in January 1998. The show's core strength lies with young femmes: It averages a 5.4 rating/18 share infemale teens and a 3.6/10 in females 12-34.

Among adults 18-49, ``Roswell'' has been averaging a 2.0/5 -- an 82% increase over the network's slot average last season. It has posted similar gains in other key demos.

Not surprisingly, ``Roswell'' creator-executive producer Jason Katims said he is ``extremely excited'' about the full-season order.

``This is just a great feeling, a great boost of confidence for all of us at the show,'' Katims told Daily Variety. ``We've just gotten a lot of great support from the WB and (producer) 20th Century Fox.''
Reuters/Variety









'Roswell': Year Two - Should We Still Care About Teenage Aliens?
By Brian Ford Sullivan
The Futon Critic 11/21/2000

I remember hearing this great story once. It was about a young man who saw his true love get shot in a scuffle between two men at the local diner. Horrified, the young man rushed over to help her and surprisingly he could. But with that gesture nothing would ever be the same for that young man or that girl he saved. He could no longer keep the secrets of his life from this girl now that she had seen he wasn't like every other guy. Slowly he opened his heart to her all the while opening himself up to more and more danger. Those around them were drawn into the mix as well making that one single moment all that more significant. Quite simply the world changed because a boy loved a girl.

I'm not sure exactly when I stopped believing in that story but I know it was definitely after October 2, 2000. You see, I'm one of those people that believes in the power of storytelling. I think that the stories we hear help us better understand our own lives and the events that have happened to us. I certainly believe that the world can change because a boy loved a girl and last year I got 22 reasons to stick by that belief.

It's very rare when a story can sweep you away and for all intents and purposes a show named "Roswell" did that to me. It certainly wasn't a perfect story, but it had just the right amount of drama, humor and wit to keep me hooked. It's a story told by a girl who fell for someone from "up there." On paper it sounded extremely hokey, but then again it seems so were the ideas behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Now & Again" when they first started. But for some strange reason this show about teenage aliens satisfied me, in a way only putting down a great book after finishing it or staying up all night chatting with friends can.

I could give a nice long diatribe about what I liked about the show but what I seem to always come back to are the moments that made it memorable - Max walking along the sidewalk flaring the streetlights for Liz, Michael showing up rain-soaked at Maria's doorstep, Isabel seeing into Alex's dreams about her, and Sheriff Valenti begging Max to save his son's life. I can't put into words how those scenes worked, I guess only if you've seen them then you can truly understand.

But there's one thing even the most casual viewer of the show can understand - what is currently running under the title "Roswell" is not the show I described above.

Now I know that's probably the harshest thing I've said about a show, but truth be told, I can't think of another way to put it. "Roswell" is now the story of four royal members of an alien civilization reborn in human bodies sent here to Earth after losing their throne to a rebellion. Doesn't sound like a story about true love does it?

There is however something decidedly unfair about that statement, after all "Roswell" was all along that story as well. The problem is that the "alien" story I just described above previously just existed as something out on the periphery. Certainly it was undeniable this aspect was always in the background, but like all great science fiction, that aspect existed only as excuse to look at life through a different prism. We all know stories of true love. But do you we know the story of true love the way "Roswell" told it? No we didn't, and I think everybody who tuned in wanted to hear about how that story was told through that prism. They didn't tune in to really know about the prism itself. Certainly hearing about the aliens origins and history provided some neat catalysts for stories, nevertheless the core of the show was the relationships between these characters and their development as individuals figuring out their place in the world.

But now the tables have turned. Now we have simply a science fiction story about a science fiction story. Aspects of the characters we knew before are now simply shuffled in the background for the sake of finding out more about the science part of this story. It's as if watching the characters and relationships we knew before exist only as shells (sorry, can't bring myself to use a "skins" pun) of their previous existences. This isn't the story of a boy who's love for a girl changed the world around them any more.

It's that dry, statement I said before - four royal members of an alien civilization are reborn in human bodies and sent here to Earth after losing their throne to a rebellion. No longer an insight into an aspect of human drama, "Roswell" now exists as a passive study of that prism we looked through before. And if feels that way too - cold, lifeless and not a fraction of the same feeling we got before watching it.

Now we have "The X-Files" meets high school and the show has opened itself up to the same pitfalls that show falls into week after week. Now it's all about introducing strange new elements without any hint of explanation or even worse, explaining new things in a confusing way. ($20 to the first person who can tell me what the hell the Granalyth is.) Each character's credibility is chipped away week after week as they are lobotomized by elements that make no sense. Even when presented with answers, the characters react in ways inconsistent with what we've been shown before. It's like watching a house of cards tumble or your favorite football team collapse after a great season.

I could go into a "Nitpicker's Guide to What's Wrong With Roswell" (TM pending) but it's almost too ridiculous to even attempt. The Skins' self destruct button that looks like it belongs on the back of Dr. Evil's Fembots; an overgrown moppet child doing his best B-movie-villian riff; a giant snow cone in the aliens' home base; evil twins that talk like Joey from "Friends"; and the ultimate crapshoot - a pulse shot from a rod stuck through a billboard alien's "yoohoo" sending the entire town into an alternate dimension. It's almost as if there's a wager going on on how bad they can make this show.

But enough of all that, let's get to the core of all this - why all these changes?

I could go into some giant conspiracy rant about how the WB wants to destroy this show, how they don't get it, how this is evidence of a network sending unwanted notes to a show that is already working. The truth is though that no matter how true any of that may be, the same people are still in charge over at "Roswell" (with the noted addition of Ronald Moore, who actually penned the only palatable episode so far this season) that were there last season. Every interview I read or comment I see from the cast or crew says that they wanted these changes, that they wanted to lean more towards the sci-fi aspects, that they didn't find the voice they wanted last season.

What?!

Is this the same show that people sent bottles of Tobasco sauce to the WB for? Is this the same show that inspired thousands of people to send this site heartfelt e-mails about how they wanted this show to come back? Or more to the point - is this that story we all fell for when Max Evans healed Liz Parker and changed the world around them?

The resounding answer is no.

What is left behind is that every Monday I and the rest of the fans of "Roswell" tune in and see that story fade further and further away - like trying to hear someone screaming through ice as they fall to the bottom of the sea. We're a few weeks away from not being able to hear that story we all fell for anymore. Soon all that will be left behind will be the memories of that story when it was true, of the moments that we remember - of images like that of Max placing his hands on Liz for the first time - and look upon fondly.

Sadly it seems that story is over and another is being told.









CAN TABASCO SAVE A TV SERIES? IN THE CASE OF A TEEN DRAMA, YES.
By Rick Bentley, the Fresno Bee - 30/11/2000:

Susanne Daniels, WB Network entertainment president had a close encounter of the e-mail variety so intense she had to change her online address three times.

Fans of the network's series Roswell - a Dawson's Creek meets X Files style show - were hot about the fact the series was about to crash and burn after only one year. The WB had no reason to have faith in the show. It attracted an anaemic average of 3.6 million and ranked 134th of all shows last year.

Numbers were low, but loyalty was high.

Fans flooded the WB offices with letters and e-mails of protest. At least 6,000 of those correspondents included bottles of hot sauce, a quirky trademark drink of the alien cast.

"I've never gotten anybody to send stuff that costs money," Jamie Kellner, WB chief executive officer, says. His office received everything from tiny sample bottles of hot sauce to one bottle more than a foot tall.

The result of this fan support was the return of the show this year. A wise move. This year there are a million more viewers each week and the show has leaped to 89th place. That's a galactic hit in the WB world.

A couple of factors have helped turn this story of strangers in the strange land of Roswell, N.M., into a success. A huge leap was when the show shifted orbits from the 9pm Wednesday time slot where it had gone head-to-green alien head with UPN's sci-fi genre offering Star Trek: Voyager.

The other big change was a swing from less coming-of-age stories to more blowing-up-the-world tales. Roswell was transformed from a teen alien series to a show about aliens who happen to be teens.

Katherine Heigl, who plays the emotionally confused Isabel Evans, was never worried the producers would completely abandon the human element of the show.

"That is what makes the show so interesting. We are dealing with emotions on a very human level. But we are not completely human. They are not going to let go of that," Heigl says. In the same breath she adds that the special powers to enter minds her character has are equally as important. They add another dimension to the character.

Although she's only 21, Heigl has been in the acting business long enough to know how fans and actors eagerly embrace complex characters. The Washington, D.C., native started working in front of the camera as a model when she was 9. Three years later she made her film debut in That Night.

It was the 1994 feature My Father, the Hero with Gerard Depardieu that brought Heigl to national attention. Since then she has appeared in the movies The Bride of Chucky, King of the Hill, Under Siege 2 and Prince Valiant.

Heigl plans to keep working on films during breaks from the series. She has no problem leaving her alien persona on the television series set.

"It was interesting that the first day back to work on this season everything was so familiar. I just slipped back into her skin again," Heigl says. "That is what I love to act, why I love my job. I am fascinated by the process of being able to play all of these different characters.

"Every week when I get the new script to this show, it is like a Christmas present to me."

Those scripts often parallel typical sci-fi stories with scenes of these young people just trying to deal with life. If fan mail to Heigl is any measure, it would be a disaster to forget that at the heart of the show is a group of young people who feel different. They feel like they don't belong. They are struggling to find their identities.

And then there are the aliens.

Heigl has been told by fans that they can relate to the emotional problems the cast faces. It seems you don't have to have a birth certificate from Mars or Venus to be young and confused.

"That is the point of some of this, to make people realise they are not alone and that our differences make us united in some way. It makes us realise we are all good and bad at different things. We are different races. We are different people. And we need to learn to embrace that. That is the underlying theme of Roswell," Heigl says.

At a minimum, fans will get to see that theme played out through this year. WB executives have ordered enough episodes to fill out the rest of this season for a total of 22. Each extra episode ordered can be attributed to the hot mail-in campaign that amazed Heigl.

"It made us - the cast and crew - realise that our efforts were appreciated. Their Tabasco campaign put it into the WB's head that this show had a fan base," Heigl says.









Spaced Out: "Roswell Beams to UPN with 'Buffy'
TV
The Roush Review by Matt Roush

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 Monday sat 9 p.m./ET.) Instead, 'Buffy' will be followed on UPN at 9 p.m./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 humor, 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 convulted, comic-relief human Maria (Majandra Delfino) was opening each episode with a recap on a chalkboard. As if we still cared, espically 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 reavealed to be the handiwork of alien siren Tess (Emilie de Ravin), who seduced fellow alien Max (Jason Behr) into impregnating her with, yes, an alien baby.

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'se just learning how super he is, I figure my alienation from 'Roswell' will only intensify.









From E!Online:
"Roswell" Gets Legal Nudging by Mark Armstrong Jul 17, 2001, 10:30 AM PT

Just how much do some Roswell cast members relish their new life at UPN? So much, apparently, that show producer 20th Century Fox needed to threaten legal action against at least one actor who didn't show up to promote the nearly canceled sci-fi series.

After getting canned by the WB last year and then picked in the 11th hour by hand-me-down happy UPN, most of Roswell's cast members smiled graciously for reporters Monday at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California. In attendance was the show's female contingent--Shiri Appleby, Katherine Heigl and Majandra Delfino.

But notably absent were costars Brendan Fehr and Jason Behr--and when reporters asked where they were, an awkward silence fell over the room.

That's because it apparently takes more than free drinks at the Ritz-Carlton to get them to show up. In a letter sent anonymously to E! Online, lawyers for 20th Century Fox threatened legal action against at least one of the show's stars if he didn't make the media rounds in Pasadena.

"Make no mistake, such a cavalier disregard of your documented commitments to the series will not be tolerated," the letter reads. "We are hopeful, however, that [20th Century Fox] has either been misinformed as to your intentions or, if you actually did not intend to appear at the TCAPT, that you will reconsider your ill-advised decision and agree to honor your contractual obligations."

Although the name addressed on the letter was blacked out, sources at the studio confirm it was sent to Fehr, the 23-year-old messy-haired Canadian who plays Michael Guerin on the quirky extraterrestrial series. Another source, meanwhile, claims the letter was sent out to the entire cast.

Either way, the letter seems to make painfully clear that not everyone is thrilled that Roswell was resurrected for a third season. Of course, it's been a running joke that most stars dread the TCA Press Tour and all its mandatory flesh-pressing. But for a series that scraped through last season on the WB (averaging 4.1 million viewers), you'd assume its stars would do anything short of dousing themselves with Tabasco sauce to get the free publicity.

"It's very important for the network to have its stars there for a show as important as Roswell," a studio source said. "When we were told Brendan wasn't going to be able to attend, there was some concern." So out came the lawyers.

Fehr apparently had a reasonable excuse for not showing up Monday: The actor is currently in his native Canada, where he's filming public service announcements for the Ontario government warning kids about the threat of sexual abuse. The other absentee costar, Jason Behr, was also working on another project and later excused by the studio from attending the press day.

Fehr's manager, Jim Sheasgreen, says he doesn't know who sent the letter out to the media, but he adds carefully, "I think it's already been expressed that not everyone was particularly excited about going back for a third season."

As for the rest of the Roswell crew, most of the show's stars remained mum about the subject while schmoozing at a UPN party Monday night. When asked about the letter, Shiri Appleby responded, "I don't really want to talk about the letter. I'm here, I'm being supportive, and I don't want to talk about any of the negativity."

A source close to the show said the studio's biggest concern was with Fehr, but the matter has since been dropped. "He's a good kid," the insider noted, "but Brendan has always been just a big pill."

Fehr's manager, meanwhile, insists the actor will be back in Los Angeles and ready to work when Roswell's production begins July 23.










Roswell VS. SmallVille

When Surfing the net and other viable sources for Roswell in my continued attempt to keep current. I saw a few articles that were Heralding the new WB yet to be seen series, "SmallVille." Not that anything in the series interests me and if it does, well we all have VCRs or Digital TV to do the trick for us anyway. What got me pretty upset was the Roswell Bashing that many a writers thought appropriate for the almost three series.

Many have said that SmallVille will be an instant hit, be mindful that if it isn't it will be chucked just like Roswell was. I read somewhere that Smallville will be just another out of place alien drama/comedy. which I applaud. You would think that the WB would have learned from its experience with roswell that you just can't give up faith on something that is slow in numbers, but has a very loyal fan base. (I.E. Tabasco chungin' teens across America can vouch for that.)

If anything, I really just wanted to say that for the past three years Roswell has been an outlet for the teens that can't identify with "Seventh Heaven" or were too young to remember "Beverly Hills:90210." We are loyal mainly because we understand how it feels not to be accepted or even to know where you are coming from, whether it be mentally or physically.

But I say to myself, no matter, I can confidently say that with a strong lead-in like "Buffy". Roswell will do just fine. The only real thing I feel sorry for on the WB is "Angel" which has a Family lead in after "Seventh Heaven." If mom and dad after watching a potentially threatening family situation solved in an hour are unfortunate enough to stumble onto Angel's turf, well lets just say that by this time next year, Roswell and Buffy could have another addition.

Don't get me wrong I hope that SmallVille proves entertaining and delightfully refreshing. But even if those were the cases, if not enough ratings come in it will be chucked into the has been file, maybe not even being picked up. But I guess time and ratings will tell, in the meantime, I know where my loyalties lie.

Roswell Forever....










Roswell, Season 3

by: James Kern
"The stories are getting a little bit out of high school," said Jason Katims, executive producer of the show, during UPN's fall preview for the Television Critics Association in Pasadena, Calif. "Isabel (Katherine Heigl) gets into a serious relationship and falls into a precipitous marriage. Max (Jason Behr) goes on a quest to find his child, and Liz (Shiri Appleby) goes along with him, and that quest will take him out of Roswell and onto the road."

Other story arcs will include Michael (Brendan Fehr) getting a job and Maria (Majandra Delfino) beginning to pursue her musical career.

with these changes in store and new promotional ads going up for roswell on upn ( just saw one on sunday at about three O' clock, interview with series executive producer Jonathan Frakes)

Roswell is sure to pick up those lost sheep that went astray for this year and garner a whole new audience with its lead in show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Best of Luck for your third season roswell!










A Season of Love Alien Style
Posted on Wednesday, October 3, 2001
From Roswell Ate My Soul
Featured in 'Soap Opera Weekly'

The third season of Roswell - and it's first on UPN - launches October 9 with alien/human hybrid max trying to make contact with his extraterrestrial son. Since the traitor Tess was sent back to their homeworld pregnant with Max's child at the end of last season. Max is desperate to contact and then find his son, says staff writer Laura Burns. "It kicks off the whole season for Max...and for Liz, because their relationship is really very different from the one that they have had up until now. They're together in a completely differnt, much more mature and sexually charged way than they have been before. The very first scene of the first episode is a shocking new way to see Max and Liz."

"You're just kind of dropping in the middle of their new life, " writer Melinda Metz says. "They walk different, they talk different. It's very interesting." Burns notes, adding that the pair gets into major trouble. "In the quest for Max's ship, they are living outside the law," and soon become fugitives. "Sometimes they're referred to around there as Bonnie and Clyde," Metz says.

Max's sister, Isabel, meanwhile, has landed her own love interest, new character Jesse Ramierez (Adam Rodgriguez), a slightly older man employed by her father's law firm. "She just wants something of her own," Metz says. "This is the first time Isabel's really gonna have that kind of great love of her own. She's willing to throw caution to the wind to be with this man."

Jesse is introduced in the season premiere. Metz says, "When Max's dad gets pulled into the Max and Liz situation, Jesse is with him, as a lawyer...and secretly Isabel's boyfriend."

"We'll find out what's been going on with them for a while now," Burns adds, noting there's a wedding in their future. Isabel's old flame Alex will return as a ghost in the third episode to counsel her.

What about always-brooding Michael? "He's been living on Earth his whole life, waiting to go back to his home planet and now their only way home is gone," Burns says. "He's stuck on Earth and he's going to start putting down roots."

Metz's adds, "It's a wake-up call for him. 'Do I really want my life to be like this?' He never really thought he was going to be around. He didn't prepare himself for the future. Now he's gonna start doing that and growing up a little bit, and it will have a surprising effect on his relationship with Maria. She's usually the caretaker in the relationship, and now here's Michael being all grown-up."

Roswell the tv series sprang from the Roswell High book series. Editor Laura Burns and writer Melinda Metz launched the young-adult novels through Pocket Books in 1998, but were not affiliated with the show until this season.

Metz says they intially met with the show's executive produced Jason Katims in L.A. on a job-seeking jaunt. "We hit him up for tips, 'What's the secret handshake? What should we do if we want to get a job?' And I guess he took it to heart. 'When UPN picked the series up (from the WB), he called us up and gave us jobs, and we love him for it."

While the writers have been contributing to the season from its start, their first official episode is slated to air New Year's Day 2002. Metz says it will feature "lots of wackiness, lots of New Year's Eye high jinks."









'Roswell' returns to its original format
Monday, October 8, 2001
By Dave Mason, TV Star editor

PASADENA -- The change of networks means an easier-to-follow "Roswell." Majandra Delfino, who stars as all-too-human Maria DeLuca on "Roswell," won't have to step up to the blackboard to explain the plots before each episode this season.

"It did get complicated," Delfino told TV Star. "The WB stressed the need for sci-fi, but the plots upset the majority of fans."

With its move to UPN, "Roswell" is focusing on relationships, changes for the characters and stories that are over at the end of the hour, Executive Producer Jason Katims said.

"Roswell" begins its third season at 9 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 13. The back-to-basics approach should prove popular with fans, who watch the show less for pure science fiction and more for its characters.

The season premiere, in fact, is an easy-to-follow story that says a lot about alien Max Evans (Jason Behr) and his human girlfriend Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby).

"Roswell," based on the "Roswell High" books, makes the feeling of teen-age alienation literal by making some of its teen-age characters descendants of the aliens who supposedly crashed in Roswell in 1947. The young aliens were incubated and "hatched," but appear in every way to be teen-agers. It's their powers that can give them away.

Last season ended with alien Tess taking the only way home to their native planet after betraying the group and becoming the mother of Max's (Jason Behr) son.

"Tess is somewhere out there in the cosmos, and she may return at some later date, but for now, she's gone," Katims said at a UPN news conference at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel.

This season will feature coming-of-age stories for the human and alien characters, who will be challenged in ways viewers haven't seen, Katims said.

There are plot spoilers in the next four paragraphs.

Katims confirmed Max will try to find some way to leave Earth and get to his son. Liz will join him on that quest.

This season, Adam Rodriguez joins the cast as Jesse Ramirez, a love interest for alien Isabel Evans (Katherine Heigl), Katims said. I can't say too much, but I urge fans to follow this story. For one thing, the romance will lead Isabel to stay in Roswell and go to a community college instead of heading off to a university.

And alien Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr) will get a job and try to build a life for himself on Earth.

Tuesday's episode (again, here's another plot spoiler) begins with Max and Liz in a store robbery. But the story goes far beyond that.
"Roswell" appeals to viewers because the characters, including former Sheriff Valenti (William Sadler), are outsiders and underdogs, Katims said.

Appleby said fans tell her they're waiting for the day when Max and Liz are really a couple.

"Hopefully, that will happen," Appleby said. "I would love to see her not cry in a whole episode. Personally, I'm ready for her to smile and run around and be a fun kid, so hopefully this year will lend to that."

Appleby said she liked the storyline last season in which Liz, without much support from anyone, investigated the death of Alex (Colin Hanks, Tom Hanks' son). "She was able to fight for something that she believed in, and so I think it sort of gave her a sense of independence.

"I think you'll see her actually become more of a young woman and more of an independent person versus just chasing after a boy," Appleby said. "She's actually going to form more of her own opinions."

That's a good change for Liz. For too long, she's been reacting to events she couldn't control, and I think it's time for her to provide more of the leadership.

When The WB canceled "Roswell," the producers and stars didn't know whether UPN would pick up the show.

"As bizarre as it is, I had, like hundred-dollar bets going on with everybody that we'd for sure come back," Delfino said.

"She didn't actually specify on what network, so ..." added Heigl, sitting near her.

Heigl had darkened her hair and cut it for another role before the news came of UPN picking up the show. She admitted it was easier to keep her new hairstyle for UPN than it would have been on The WB, which faced a good-natured controversy with the media over star Keri Russell cutting her hair on "Felicity."









'Roswell' grows up, gets new relationships on UPN
Posted on Friday, October 12, 2001
From USA Today
By Bill Keveney

A return from the grave may be a great story line for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it's pretty much the everyday state of affairs for its fellow UPN transplant, Roswell.

In just two years, the story of alien teens who have assumed human form was let go as a pilot by Fox, barely survived its first year after fans mass-mailed Tabasco bottles (an alien delicacy) to WB, and was then picked up by UPN for a third season after WB canceled it.

"There's something about this show that wants to live," executive producer Jason Katims says. "It has had a relatively small audience, but an incredibly passionate audience. There is clearly the potential for growth."

Katims says Roswell (tonight, 9 ET/PT) may get that opportunity at UPN, feeling the network will promote the new arrival more than WB would have pushed a third-year show. Getting the slot after Buffy doesn't hurt, either.

On UPN, Katims hopes to move Roswell toward the relationship stories that appealed to him at the show's beginning, but were sometimes overshadowed by story lines about the alien mythology. More stand-alone stories will make individual episodes more satisfying, he says. He hopes to give a higher profile to the humor that is sometimes eclipsed by the brooding nature of the show.

This season, the three alien teens — Max (Jason Behr), Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and Michael (Brendan Fehr) — are still in high school, but stories will have a more grown-up feel. Michael learns responsibility as a security guard, working the graveyard shift at a pharmaceutical company, while Isabel gets into a serious relationship with a new character, lawyer Jesse (Adam Rodriguez).

Max hits the road to search for his missing son, starting in Utah with his terrestrial girlfriend, Liz (Shiri Appleby), one of the few humans who know the alien secret.

"Max and Liz are together. They've declared their love again. It's what our audience has been waiting for," Katims says, referring to their Romeo-Juliet relationship.

Max and Liz also end up getting arrested, which draws their parents into the story. They will be much more involved than they were during the first two seasons, Katims says.

Max's travels will lead to other adventures, such as a trip to Los Angeles, where he auditions for a role on the latest Star Trek show, UPN's Enterprise (talk about shameless cross-promotion). Jonathan Frakes, a Roswell executive producer and star of Star Trek: The Next Generation, directs and guest-stars in that episode. Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos, Memento) also appears in two episodes as a Hollywood producer who has information about Max's alien past.

"Roswell is at its best when it's telling stories that are a blend of relationship stuff and science fiction," he says. "I'm looking at (the third-year pickup by UPN) as a wonderful opportunity for us."









Roswell's Crashdown
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2001
From Newsguy.com
By Ilana Rapp

There’s been a crashdown -- right here in this column! The entire focus of the article I was going to write about the UPN television show “Roswell" has completely changed. Why? Because “Roswell" fans are so passionate about the show that I didn’t want to leave any information out. So welcome, my human and alien friends alike, to the very first two-part editorial I have ever written.

“Roswell", which has distinctively combined science fiction with the heart-wrenching disconnection and angst of 21st century American teenhood, is well on its way to achieving cult television status. This post-modern blending of genres from writer / executive producer Jason Katims (“Relativity," “My So-Called Life") moved from the WB to UPN this season.

For those of you who are still pondering if you should begin watching the show, now in its third season, I say go for it! Odds are you’ll be hooked faster than a speeding spaceship. Also, check out the newsgroup alt.tv.roswell for some current tips on what’s going on. Meanwhile, here’s some background information:

July 3, 1947. The crash of a spaceship – an event officially but never effectively denied by the United States government – leaves three young aliens to grow up in the sleepy, backwater town of Roswell, New Mexico. Joined together by their common, otherworldly heritage, Max Evans (Jason Behr), his sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr) keep their true identities a secret from their families and friends. But the shooting of a classmate, Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby), forces Max to use his astonishing powers to save her life, and draws Liz and her best friend Maria DeLuca (Majandra Delfino) into the extraterrestrial trio’s secret world. On the peripher of this extraordinary secret, the aliens must also trust their real identities with the local sheriff, Valenti (Willian Sadler) and his son (and Liz’s former boyfriend), Kyle (Nick Wechsler).

Complicating their overwhelming desire to uncover the truth about themselves – who or what they are and where their true home might be – is the need to keep one step ahead of both terrestrial and extraterrestrial adversaries. “Roswell" explores the emotional drama of the ultimate outsiders – surviving descendants of alien beings – attempting to find their place among humans as they struggle with adolescence.

Besides alt.tv.roswell, there are numerous “Roswell" websites, groups / clubs and message boards that have evolved since the beginning of the show. Fanfiction (aka fanfic, aka FF) for “Roswell" has become so intense that there are sites now set up specifically to handle these stories written by fans. And it’s a good thing too, because how else are viewers going to satisfy their craving for “Roswell" during the off season?!

I posted a bunch of questions to “Roswell" fans that I was going to integrate into the original article I had planned, but the response was so overwhelming, that integration could perhaps take years, even lightyears! So, stepping away from my usual format (see previous articles ), for the remainder of this article I’m going to give a biography of the characters and actors, and in the second-part of the article coming out the third week of November, I want to share the fans’ answers to my questions. So, if you’re NEW to “Roswell," the character information should be quite helpful. And for those who already know this information, it will be quite interesting to read the differences and similarities in the answers to the questions coming in the second part.

Shiri Appleby plays Liz Parker, one of the human teenagers who knows the secret of her three alien friends in the New Mexico town made famous by the supposed crash of an alien spacecraft in 1947. Most recently, Appleby completed the independent feature film “Swimfan85." She is committed to completing her education.

Jason Behr plays Max Evans, one of the three aliens who have hidden their identities behind human facades in the New Mexico town. Behr is a native of Minnesota and will soon be seen in Miramax’s “The Shipping News," in which he co-stars alongside with Kevin Spacey, Cat Blanchett and Julianne Moore.

Katherine Heigl plays the alien Isabel Evans, Max’s sister. Heigl has eight feature films to her credit and also stars in the upcoming teen comedy “100 Girls."

Majandra Delfino plays Maria DeLuca, a human who was let into the aliens’ secret world. Delfino was born in Caracas to Venezuelan and Cuban-American parents and moved to Miami with her family at age three. Delfino is also an accomplished ballet dancer.

Brendan Fehr plays Michael Guerin, an alien teenager. During this past hiatus, Fehr completed work on the independent film “A Wilderness Station," which is based on the short story by Alice Munro and will be released by Lion’s Gate. Oh, in case you didn’t know, Fehr is an avid sports fan.

Nick Wechsler plays Kyle Valenti, a human who knows the three aliens’ secret. The fifth of eight sons, Wechsler grew up in Alburquerque (not far from the setting of “Roswell!"). He began his acting career in high school, turning in what he modestly describes as “awe-inspiring performances" in every succeeding school play.

William Sadler plays Sheriff Valenti, who knows the teenaged aliens’ secret. Though he currently lives in Los Angeles for the filming of “Roswell," Sadler and his wife spend as much time as possible in their restored 1790-era farmhouse in upstate New York.

So please stay tuned! In two weeks the second part of this article will be thrust onto the online world. But to give you a sneak peak, here are the questions with fan Amy Burroughs’ answers!

1. What draws you to Roswell? (ie, storyline, special fx, etc)

I think the thing that drew me to Roswell from the very beginning is the love story between Max & Liz. It was the perfect story of two people who loved each other and wouldn't let anything stand in their way. I guess it was the soulmate concept of two people being meant for each other and even when faced with tremendous odds, they managed to stay together. I know the show has dramatically changed since season one, but the show had me hooked from the first episode and I just can't stop watching.

2. Who is your favorite character and why?

Liz is definitely my favorite character. Her strength and wisdom always shine through. Liz would sacrifice anything for the people she loves, including her own happiness.

3. If you could change anything about the series, what would it be?

Where should I begin? Well I would definitely get rid of the "search for Max's son" storyline. I also really liked Tess and I hate that they completely ruined her character.

Finally I wish they would address some of the issues that came up in season two such as the end of the world and Liz's powers. Most of all I just wish they could bring back the romance we saw in season one with Max & Liz's relationship.

4. If you could have a role on the show, either one that exists or a new character, which role would you choose?

I would like to have the role of Serena who was supposed to be Liz's friend from the end of the world episode. I think it would be a very interesting element to the show to introduce her.









'Roswell' Still Kicking On UPN
Posted on Wednesday, November 21, 2001
From Zap2It

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - It's not often that a show celebrates its fans, but "Roswell" probably owes the fact that UPN picked it up after being canceled by The WB to pure fan loyalty and dedication to the show.

"I do believe that the fans have more to do with the show being on the air than the networks will even admit to," agrees the sci fi series' executive producer, Jason Katims.

So, that's why UPN, Katims and the show's leading cast members threw a party recently to help give something back. The network gave 23 fans of the series a chance to visit the show's set and attend an all-star party featuring a performance by the band Remy Zero, via a nationwide radio and Internet contest.

Not only did all of the show's main stars attend, including Jason Behr, Brendan Fehr, Shiri Appleby, Katherine Heigl and Majandra Delfino, but they graciously spent most of the evening signing autographs and taking pictures with the teary-eyed teen fans.

"Roswell" has a "tremendous, tremendous group of fans and that has meant an incredible amount to me," adds Katims. "It started in the first season, when we came on the air [and] we were struggling a little bit."

In fact, the show's main characteristic appears to be its ability to endure struggling.

"This has been the story of this show from the very beginning. It has been on the bubble from the day it was born," agrees Katims. "It was developed for FOX, wound up moving to The WB, then at the end of the first year there was that whole Tabasco campaign to keep the show alive and at the end of the second year we died. And, just like an alien, it was brought back to life after death. And here we are and we're still fighting."

"This is a show that wants to live."

Since moving to UPN, "Roswell" has continued to struggle. While it now has a great lead-in from fellow refugee "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and more promotion from UPN than they had at The WB, its ratings continue to be low. So far this season, the show has averaged a 1.4 rating/3 share among adults 18-49 and 3.2 million total viewers, while for the amount of weeks, "Buffy" has pulled a 2.7/7 and 5.6 million viewers.

"The numbers I think, have been a little disappointing to me -- I was hoping to do a little better," admits Katims. "'Buffy' is a tremendous lead-in and I was hoping to hold a little bit more, but I can't think of a tougher timeslot. So, I wish we were doing a little bit better, but time will tell."

The competition he mentions during the 9 p.m. hour is indeed heavy, with "Roswell" competing with NBC's hit comedies "Frasier" and "Scrubs," FOX's "24," ABC's established drama "NYPD Blue" and The WB's teen hit "Smallville."

Hoping to draw more viewers, Katims and the show's writing staff, have come up with some big new story lines -- involving Maria (Delfino) realizing that Michael (Fehr) may not be a good boyfriend for her.

"We did a really moving episode coming up with Maria examining two things: Maria and Michael's relationship when an old boyfriend of hers from band camp comes to town; and also Maria realizing she's lost that music side of herself and how much she's given up," says Katims.

Also in trouble are the relationships between Liz (Appleby) and Max (Behr).

"Liz starts to realize she's literally changing and she doesn't know why. Something is happening to her, something alien and she thinks it's from the fact that Max healed her and it's making her change. So she starts to also reconsider everything that's gone on," the executive producer teases.

Adding to Liz and Max's problems, the show's writers are toying with the idea of bringing back Tess (Emilie de Ravin).

"We don't know yet. We definitely have that as one of the possibilities of what we may do, we're definitely considering that."

Not to leave out Isabel (Heigl) and Jesse (Adam Rodriguez), who just tied the knot last week (Nov. 13), Katims says they'll also be facing some big issues this January -- but in a humorous way.

"We examine the marriage between Isabel and Jessie, the alien and the human. We go between two realities; one is the reality of the show as Isabel tries to hide being an alien from Jesse, and then we go to the '60s sitcom version. The 'Bewitched' version of it -- where Katie Hiegl and everyone else in the cast play as if they're in a '60s sitcom playing themselves. In that reality, Jesse knows that she's an alien."

But what Katims is most excited about this year, is the way the characters have become more accessible.

"What I like about what we're doing this year, and what I'm very proud of, is that all of the episodes are grounded emotionally and that they have some way for us in the audience to connect to them," he says.

"These are stories about people trying to make a life for themselves. To me, that is where the show is at its strongest."









Creche Landing
Posted on Tuesday, December 18, 2001
From Tv Guide

Now in its third season, Roswell — the cult favorite about alien kids coming of age in Roswell, N.M. — has experienced tough going of late. At the end of its sophomore season, its original home network, the WB, dumped it. And although UPN picked it up, the series has been far from a ratings success this year. In fact, although it has increased ratings for UPN in its Tuesday night timeslot, it routinely loses the Nielsen wars to ABC's NYPD Blue, CBS's The Guardian, Fox's 24, NBC's Frasier and the WB's Smallville. Understandable, perhaps, but still — not a good sign. And the news continues to get worse: UPN recently announced that it has reduced its season order of episodes from 22 to 19.

What's unfortunate about all of that bad news is this: Roswell is, in fact, a well-done drama that adroitly mixes paranormal flourishes with comedic and touching moments. Tonight's Christmas-themed episode is a good case in point. While "Christmas Nazi" Isabel (Katherine Heigl) is intent on making her first Christmas with husband Jesse (Adam Rodriguez) a success, brother Max (Jason Behr) meets an autistic boy who he thinks may be a link to his own lost son.

What's unfortunate about all of that bad news is this: Roswell is, in fact, a well-done drama that adroitly mixes paranormal flourishes with comedic and touching moments. Tonight's Christmas-themed episode is a good case in point. While "Christmas Nazi" Isabel (Katherine Heigl) is intent on making her first Christmas with husband Jesse (Adam Rodriguez) a success, brother Max (Jason Behr) meets an autistic boy who he thinks may be a link to his own lost son.

The episode opens with Max commiserating with friend Michael (Brendan Fehr), who can't understand why his girlfriend Maria (Majandra Delfino) has broken up with him. The two stop by a burger joint known as the Crashdown, where they meet up with Isabel, Jesse, Maria and Max's girlfriend Liz (Shiri Appleby). While Isabel holds forth about her plans for creating a "perfect" Christmas, Max can't help but notice that a little boy is staring at him. Soon enough, the boy — Samuel — approaches him and says one word: "Daddy." Although his mother quickly corrals him, explaining that he's autistic, Max is stunned, and comes away believing that his own son is attempting to use the child to communicate with him.

Meanwhile, Isabel's efforts to make the holidays memorable include overseeing the town's annual Santa Village, where Maria and Liz volunteer as helper elves to Michael's Santa. The result is some amusing repartee between Michael and Maria, especially in one scene where he tells her to get him something to drink. Fed up with his bossiness, she invites him into her "little elf house" to give him a piece of her mind — only to have the moment interrupted by a child's prying eyes. It's a laugh-out-loud moment, to be sure. Jesse, however, isn't laughing: Isabel's efforts to create the perfect Christmas mean that his cherished stocking, which he made in kindergarten, has been banished to the back of the tree; and his hopes of chilling to football must take a backseat to her whims. In essence, their first Christmas isn't theirs — it's hers, with Jesse along for the ride.

These disparate plotlines ultimately intertwine and do so in delightful fashion. Only a hard-hearted Grinch would fail to be charmed. Myself, I say UPN would do well to not only hold onto Roswell, but find it a new home on its schedule — say, Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET, where it would make the perfect companion to Enterprise.









'Roswell' teen aliens ready to move on
Posted on Sunday, January 6, 2002
From Scripps Howard News Service
By Dave Mason

HOLLYWOOD - Shiri Appleby, who stars as Liz Parker on the alien series "Roswell," is ready for her character's own independence day. "I'm glad the writers have made her stronger," Appleby said. "You see her growing up." In fact, it would be good for Liz to learn she can be happy without Max Evans (Jason Behr), the alien teen-ager she has loved since he saved her life in the "Roswell" pilot, Appleby said.

"I really want her to move on in her life, rather than be in a relationship with him," Appleby said. "She's a little bit possessed. She's not discovering who she is without him."

But Appleby said she's glad "Roswell" has returned to focusing on relationships instead of purely science fiction. She didn't say what the writers have planned for Liz and Max in future episodes but noted she knows fans like that relationship.

Appleby talked about the show with a reporter as she and other stars mingled with fans during a "Roswell" party at the "Soul Train" set at Paramount Pictures. "Roswell" is produced at another sound stage on the same lot. A trip to Hollywood, the party and a tour of the "Roswell" sets made up the grand prize for winners in a national radio contest.

Most of the young fans there were dedicated viewers, bringing photos for Appleby and others to sign. Some of the folks said they hadn't seen "Roswell" but entered the contest for the trip to Hollywood.

Getting everyone to see "Roswell" remains a problem for the show, but the series is getting adequate ratings for the network it's on. "Roswell," which recently was No. 108 in the ratings, airs at 9 p.m. most Tuesdays on UPN.

During that week, it was the network's sixth-highest rated show and wasn't that far behind reruns of "Enterprise" or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

("Roswell" is preempted this week (Jan. 8); the network is airing the half-hour sitcoms "The Hughleys" and "One On One" instead.)

UPN picked up the series, based on Melinda Metz's "Roswell High" book series, after The WB canceled the show last year.

Moving on with their lives is a theme for Appeby's Liz and the rest of the "Roswell" characters this season.

"Now that they are on Earth to stay, they have so many choices to make," Metz said. Metz, who joined the series as a staff writer, co-wrote last Tuesday's episode, which showed how the characters celebrated New Year's Eve.

For the most part, the "Roswell" characters "are still in high school; they're on Earth permanently," Metz said, adding, "I think 'Roswell' is a parallel for kids who feel alienated, who feel they're complete outsiders."

Ronald D. Moore, the former "Star Trek" producer and writer who is now the co-executive producer of "Roswell," explained further. "Ultimately, it's a show about growing up," said Moore, who with Brannon Braga co-wrote the scripts of "Star Trek: Generations" and "Star Trek: First Contact."

Majandra Delfino, who stars as the human Maria DeLuca on the series, said it's time for her character to move beyond her boyfriend, the alien Michael (Michael Fehr). "He's not a very good boyfriend," she said.

Arguably, neither is Max at times. He led Liz into trouble by getting her to help him to pretend to rob a convenience store so he could get a look at a spaceship. Later, Max found out the ship couldn't be flown, but don't expect him to give up on trying to leave Earth. The son he had with not-to-be-trusted alien Tess is elsewhere in the galaxy.

There's room for smiles amid all the gloom on "Roswell." This season, Max's alien sister Isabel Evans (Katherine Heigl) got married, showing the characters can have their own lives.

And you can expect more humor.

(There's a plot spoiler in the next paragraph.)
An upcoming episode, "I Married An Alien," is a spoof of "Bewitched" and includes something you've never heard on "Roswell" - a laugh track.

When Isabel starts dreaming of a simpler life, she begins to see everything in terms of a 1960s sitcom, Moore said.

Appleby's life, meanwhile, is a world apart from Liz's.

For one thing, "I've never had a serious boyfriend," Appleby said. Appleby is continuing her studies at the University of Southern California, and she recently starred in the upcoming independent movie, "Swimfan85." In it, "I'm the girlfriend of a boy who has a fatal attraction," she said, comparing the plot to the Michael Douglas-Glenn Close movie.

(Coincidentally, "Swimfan85" is produced by Douglas' Further Films. Jesse Bradford and Erika Christensen also star.)

"It's a serious psychological thriller," Appleby said. "It was fun and really sexy and very interesting."

"Roswell," meanwhile, is making time for music. William Sadler, who plays former Sheriff Jim Valenti on "Roswell," said he's enjoying Jim's new career as a country band leader. In fact, Sadler wrote the songs the band played at Isabel's wedding.

Sadler joked he was ready for a "Roswell" episode to end with an announcement, "Tonight's episode included music by William Sadler."

"I'm having fun with the band," Sadler said, "and I would like to see him (Valenti) have a romance and solve a mystery.

"When I was sheriff, I was the biggest problem these kids had. Then I became their friend, and I was still the sheriff."

Valenti's involvement with the alien teenagers led him to lose his job as sheriff, and his new country band is the first sign of him moving on with his life. Yes, that's the theme for everyone this season on Roswell.









We Mount a Plan of Attack for Saving the Most Endangered (Worthy) Series
Posted on Wednesday, January 9, 2002
From E-Online

The first New Year's resolution I ever made was nearly two decades ago, when I vowed to stop spending so much time "vegging" in front of the TV after school. I did so at the urging of my parents, who were convinced the countless hours I spent nose-to-screen would eventually make me blind.How good am I at keeping resolutions? Just check out the photo above.

Unfortunately, most network execs have far better willpower when it comes to their beginning-of-the-year resolutions, which most often entail axing low-rated shows, regardless of how well loved they are by critics and bespectacled couch potatoes.

In some cases, as with Inside Schwartz and Emeril, we'll be dancing the funky chicken cordon bleu as the networks make room for (hopefully) better shows. But there are a few series on the brink of cancellation that should not be there--and the big wigs need to know we care before it's too late.

Below you'll find the three shows most undeservedly on the endangered series list, plus the 411 on what you can do to help save them.

Roswell (UPN)
This WB castoff has certainly had its ups and downs, but the show is still worth saving. It just needs a new time slot away from Smallville's ratings of steel.

Code Red: UPN recently trimmed Roswell's episode order from 22 to 19, and a source close the show tells me that UPN is searching for a replacement series for the fall, to follow Buffy.

Operation Tabasco: I don't have to tell you seasoned Roswell fans what to do--you know the drill. And hopefully, you can get fired up one more time.

Click here to sign a petition started by some die-hard Roswellians:
www.petitiononline.com/RSwell/petition.html

Or send your support letters to:
Dean Valentine, Adam Ware or Patrick Morgan
UPN
11800 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025









A 'Roswell' movie?
Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2002
From SyFy Portal

The series is facing possible cancellation from UPN, but suddenly there seems to be talk about a possible movie for "Roswell."

According to a source at Ain't It Cool News, there was talk from a technical advisor of the show at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors convention that executive producer Jonathan Frakes -- best known for playing Cmdr. William Riker in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" -- is pushing for a possible movie based on the series ... possibly using different actors.

"Frakes has an idea to make a feature length film after the season, should it be canned," the source said. "They want to make it a big movie -- an adventure like Star Trek -- with the original stars and some largers stars in it. It's all a bit speculative at the moment, but none the less, found it interesting."

While SyFy Portal normally doesn't report unconfirmed second-hand source reports, the Australian movie site Dark Horizons reported that actor Colin Hanks, while promoting his new movie "Orange County," told radio host Howard Stern that tidbit of information.

Please note that Twentieth Century Fox has made no announcement about any possible "Roswell" movie, so please treat this at any other rumor would be treated.

UPN has yet to give a backorder renewal to the series, which has suffered dismal ratings.









End of Tabasco Road? 'Roswell' may face extinction
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2002
From New York Daily News

Like the spaceship that got them here, the aliens on UPN's drama "Roswell" may soon suffer a crash-landing. UPN programmers revealed this week that it will shelve the show for seven weeks beginning in March in order to launch two sitcoms.

The news may soon get worse. UPN executives are said to be talking about cutting back the network's episode order for the show, never a good sign.

So far, UPN is on the hook for 20 episodes, of which 15 have been produced.

UPN acquired the show last spring, after the WB, which aired it for two seasons, decided to pass on a third. UPN also picked up "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which was made available after the WB refused to pay the asking price of producer 20th Century Fox Television.

"Roswell" is built around a group of aliens living in the bodies of attractive young people in the title town in New Mexico.

While "Buffy" can be considered a success for UPN, "Roswell" has not been.

After 11 telecasts this season, "Roswell" has averaged 2.94 million viewers. Last season, by comparison, the show averaged 4.05 million viewers.

"I have a feeling the future for this show is not bright," said analyst Sharianne Brill of ad-buyer Carat.

Being on the edge of cancellation is nothing new for "Roswell" and its followers. Near the end of its first season, sensing the show wouldn't be renewed, fans swamped executives at the WB with thousands of bottles of Tabasco sauce, the aliens' favorite food.

They did so again last spring, when the WB was ready to walk.

"Roswell is such a cult show," Brill said. "From the time it began it was almost canceled, and the only thing that seemed to get it renewed was the Tabasco campaign."

This time, however, there doesn't appear as much support for the show. UPN has gotten fewer than 100 bottles of Tabasco sauce, along with e-mails and letters.

However, "Roswell" is the highest-ranking show at the fan Web site Savethatshow.com, where viewers vote to save their favorite programs. Of the 8,774 voters on the site, 6,801 asked that "Roswell" be saved.

At the unofficial "Roswell" fan site, Crashdown.com, a grass-roots campaign is underway to save the show. According to the site, fans of the show have considered sending Snapple caps to UPN and CBS, which runs UPN, suggesting the network "not put a cap" on the show.

"Speak up about 'Roswell' to friends, family, co-workers, classmates and anyone else you can think of," wrote one visitor to Crashdown.com.

"There's a lot of forces at work against 'Roswell,'" Brill said. "It's being massacred by [the WB's] 'Smallville.' There's another teen alien in town."









WE COME IN PEACE, Cinescape - 4/2/2002

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."









KATIMS ON NETWORK SWITCH AND MORE - 9/2/2002

"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."









Twilight Vs. Roswell: Are aliens more romantic than vampires?

Posted Dec 2nd 2008 10:02AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, TV on DVD, OpEd, Video, Vs., Reality-Free

Even before I caught Twilight on the big screen, I was comparing it to Roswell, the great teen sci-fi/romance series that aired on The WB (and later The CW UPN) from 1999-2002. The Twilight ads and trailers seemed to tell the same story Roswell told more than nine years ago: A sensitive girl is saved by a supernatural hunk who makes it his mission to protect her at all costs. The two fall in love, but the relationship is complicated by his other-worldly circumstances.

It's not exactly the most original story in the world. This sort of thing goes back to Bram Stoker's Dracula, (and probably further back than that). Still, after watching Twilight, I was a bit shocked by its similarities to Roswell, especially since Roswell wasn't half as popular as Twilight. I haven't read the Twilight or Roswell book series, so I can't tell you if the similarities persist in print (but my friend Stephanie can). I can only compare the big screen and TV versions.

From major plot points to character motivations, these two franchises have a lot in common, but one clearly stands above the other. Let's compare, and you'll see what I mean:

The Set-Ups:
Roswell - In the pilot, we're introduced to Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby), a bright Roswell teen who writes everything down in her diary. In the first scene, she's saved from certain death by Max Evans (Jason Behr), her quiet biology lab partner who just happens to be an alien. Max's secret and life are threatened when he publicly uses his powers to heal Liz from a gunshot wound.

Twilight - In the opening scene, we're introduced to Bella (Kristen Stewart) a lonely teen who just moved to the dreary town of Forks, Washington. Bella is soon saved by her quiet (wouldn't you know it) biology lab partner Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a vampire masquerading as a normal teen. Using his supernatural strength to save Bella from being hit by a car puts Edward's secret and his life in jeopardy.

The Romances:
Roswell - Max and Liz form an alien-powered bond when he heals her. They exchange emotions and memories instantly and fall deeply in love. Unfortunately, Max's alien roots and a revolving door of big bads get in the way of their happily ever after.

Twilight - Um, Edward likes the way Bella smells. That's about it. Her aroma is so intoxicating that he feels the need to gawk at her from a distance day and night. (Is this love or just animal magnetism?) Bella seems to dig that Edward isn't a nice, polite, normal teen who can go out in the daylight like all the other boys. Her sweet stank attracts a sociopathic vamp who tries to kill her and Edward, which briefly gets in the way of their romance.

The Diaries/Voiceovers:
Roswell - Liz Parker's voice is the first thing you hear in the Roswell pilot and in most of the following eps. Her diary entries narrate the bulk of the series and give each ep a warm, intimate feeling, partly thanks to Appleby's sincere voice.

Twilight - The movie opens with a voiceover from Bella, and the voiceovers continue throughout the film. They don't offer much in the way of warmth or intimacy. Instead, they feel mopey and stock, but that might have something to do with Stewart's unimpassioned line readings.

The Lead Characters/Actors:
Roswell - Appleby is endlessly appealing as the sharp, warm and capable Liz. She might be a sensitive teen, but she's rarely mopey, even when circumstances keep her apart from her first love. Jason Behr's subtle turn is perfect for Max, a character who's pulled from the sidelines to become a benevolent leader and protector.

Twilight - Bella is written as a bright girl who's experiencing the thrill of first love. Stewart plays her as an angsty, pretentious, and unlikeable emo kid. Pattinson fares better as the valiant Edward, but it's clear that he comes from the John Lovitz school of ACTING!

Other similarities:
Twilight and Roswell both feature supporting characters with supernatural gifts who feel threatened by the main characters' relationships. In Twilight, these characters come off as one-note, but Roswell's supporting characters were, of course, allowed to develop over three seasons. Also, both franchises portray Native Americans as somewhat mystical people. In Roswell, they have a spiritual link to the aliens. In Twilight, they're territorial onlookers who might be werewolves.

The Verdict:
So -- at the risk of having my likeness burned in effigy by a mob of angry teens -- I must admit that Roswell is the better franchise. Maybe it's an age thing (I haven't been a teen for ten years), but after re-watching the Roswell pilot, I found it to be warmer and smarter, better plotted and acted, and more compelling than the movie version of Twilight. It's also way more romantic. I think Twilighters should give it a shot (especially since you can stream it for free online). It's got all of Twilight's basic elements, but it's a lot less pretentious. Plus, there's more of it (three seasons worth)! Sure, Twilight might seem edgier and more glamorous, but all the hair product and Paramore tracks can't hide the fact that it's one of the most unromantic "romantic" movies out there.

Stream the Roswell pilot below and judge for yourself.









This is from TV.com
Posted in Sept 2009
Top 10 Shows that were Canceled too Soon

5. Roswell
(WB, 3 seasons, 61 episodes, ended in 2002)
This WB classic mixed aliens and humans long before District 9 was around -- and
the aliens were a lot cuter, too. Katherine Heigl, Shiri Appleby, and Colin Hanks
all got their big breaks on Roswell, but the honeymoon lasted only three seasons.







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