King of Queens
{{Episode: Secret Garden
Saturday, 26 8:00 PM CBS
|| ::Carl Lumbly::
Brother Future
Friday, 25 6:30 AM STZFe
Friday, 25 2:40 AM STZFe Everybody's All-American
Friday, 25 1:00 PM HBOSG
|| ::Victor Garber::
Godspell
Wednesday, 23 8:45 AM STZFe
|| ::Lena Olin::
Mr. Jones
Sunday, 27 12:35 PM SHOe
Sunday, 27 12:35 PM SHOHDe
Sunday, 27 12:35 PM SHO
::Saturday, February 01, 2003::
WEEKEND JOURNAL: Hollywood Journal: Tune In: The Day Of Rest Gets Busy
IT'S HARD TO MAKE a case that there's nothing good on TV these days. Quality shows range from "The Sopranos" on HBO to "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" on NBC, "Alias" on ABC and good movies on CBS such as "Martin and Lewis." Even public television's "Masterpiece Theatre" recently offered the riveting saga of the Forsyte clan.
Is this the golden age of television? Try the golden hour. All those shows are on one night a week, Sunday, and all at the same time, 9 p.m.
In a reversal from just a few years ago, Sunday has become the TV industry's hottest new battleground. This season, Sunday is the second-most highly viewed night of television (it would be first if not for "Monday Night Football"). While networks still pocket more money from ads they sell Wednesday and Thursday, as movie studios and car companies jockey to be included in your weekend plans, on Sundays, 63% of all the homes in America with televisions are watching. That's an enormous shift from 2001, when the night ranked nearly dead-last in total viewers.
TV's traditional day of rest -- for decades, Sunday was "Movie Night," and a snore -- got so hot so fast because it's turned into a programming free-for-all, network executives say. Fox first changed the game when it began airing "The Simpsons," soon to be followed by "The X-Files," on Sunday nights. Upping the ante, HBO made Sunday its sole night for premiering original series such as "Sex and the City." Now, with counter-spies vying against mobsters and British detectives competing with wisecracking kids on any given Sunday, there's virtually no demographic that isn't being targeted -- or tuning in.
Sunday is "probably the most fundamentally changed night of the week," says Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment. And, he adds, it's "perhaps the best." Of course, he has a reason to feel that way: NBC's "Criminal Intent" generally wins its time slot.
Now, with the all-important "sweeps" period getting under way, the fights over the remote are going to get ugly. ABC and NBC are unveiling two new shows this weekend, "Dragnet," from the producers of "Law & Order," and "Kingpin," a crime-family drama, which will go head-to-head at 10 p.m. Fox is celebrating the 300th episode of "The Simpsons" next month; it's up against the popular "American Dreams." "Alias" has guest stars Ethan Hawke and Christian Slater, and a lead-in from "Wonderful World of Disney." (This month: Matthew Broderick in "The Music Man.") Your kids like "Malcolm in the Middle"? Set your VCR if you're a fan of "Masterpiece Theatre."
CBS, where Sunday night remains a movie night, largely stays out of the fray, and this Sunday, they've got Glenn Close in yet another Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. But ratings are down from a year ago and, while the network says it doesn't comment on "future programming strategies," industry execs say don't be surprised if CBS begins running series that night.
The networks all claim to be thrilled that people are once again turning on their TVs on Sundays. But for those of us who think they've scheduled the only shows worth watching on Sundays, it's frustrating. (OK, so "The Bachelorette" is on Wednesday.) Why not spread out the good stuff?
The networks say they don't have much choice. "There really are no time periods that are not competitive Sunday through Thursday," says Susan Lyne, president of ABC Entertainment. How about Friday, when some networks have anemic 6.0 to 9.0 shares in the key young-adult demo? Viewership is so low on that night, and on Saturdays, that moving a series there is seen as burying it.
The hard truth is that if all these shows remain on Sundays, they won't survive. NBC, for example, has sidelined "Boomtown" for sweeps month, perhaps the season's most critically acclaimed show, but one that's been a ratings disappointment. ABC has suffered a small decline in the ratings of "Alias," one of that network's best shows. But rather than move the spy drama, ABC is tweaking it. Responding to research that shows potential viewers avoid it because it looks complicated, Ms. Lyne says series creator J.J. Abrams "has laid out stories for the rest of the season that are highly accessible."
They'd better be. In March, Sydney Bristow of "Alias" faces something tougher than crime cartel SD6: the second-season premiere of HBO's "Six Feet Under."
Open House and Online Chat to Precede Annual ASC Awards
HOLLYWOOD, January 30—The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) will host an open house and live Internet chat with many of the world’s most talented filmmakers prior to the 17th Annual Outstanding Achievement Awards. The ASC Clubhouse will be open for visitors from 11 am-4 pm (PST) on Saturday, Feb. 15. The Internet chat, which will be held here on our web site from 12-3 p.m. (PST), will originate from that same location.
Participants in the open house and chat are expected to include Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Bill Butler, ASC (Jaws, Grease, Rocky II-IV, Stripes, Frailty); ASC Presidents Award recipient Ralph Woolsey, ASC (Maverick, Cheyenne, Sunset Strip, Batman, Mr. Roberts, It Takes a Thief); ASC Board of Governors Award recipient Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof, Moonstruck, A Soldier’s Story); International Achievement Award recipient Witold Sobocinski, PSC; and film critic/columnist Roger Ebert, who is receiving an award of special recognition for his integrity and passion for the art form.
This year’s nominees for ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards are also expected to participate. Feature film nominees include Michael Ballhaus, ASC (Gangs of New York), Pawel Edelman (The Pianist), Ed Lachman, ASC (Far From Heaven) and Rodrigo Prieto, ASC (Frida).
Television nominees include Michael Barrett (“Snuff”/C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation and “Cross Jurisdictions”/C.S.I.: Miami), Michael Bonvillain (“Page 47”/Alias), Frank Byers (“Fight Night”/C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation), Thomas Del Ruth, ASC (“Holy Night”/The West Wing), Billy Dickson, ASC (“Reality Bites”/Ally McBeal), Robert Primes, ASC (“Wing and a Prayer”/MDs), Bill Roe, ASC (“Release”/The X-Files), Jonathan Freeman (“John”/Taken), Jeffrey Jur, ASC (Last Call), Serge Ladouceur, CSC (The Case of the White Chapel Vampire), Anthony Nakonechnyj (Point of Origin), William Wages, ASC (Miss Lettie and Me), Victor Goss, ASC (Carrie), Clark Mathis (Birds of Prey pilot), Brian J. Reynolds (American Dreams pilot), Peter Wunstorf (Haunted pilot).
“This is an unique opportunity for current and future filmmakers, fans and journalists to meet and speak with an extraordinarily talented group of filmmakers,” says ASC President Richard Crudo. “If you don’t live in Los Angeles, you can still participate by tuning into the chat.”
The ASC Clubhouse is located at 1782 North Orange Drive in Hollywood. For more information about the open house or chat, contact (323) 969-4333. For more information about the ASC Awards, click here.
Article from The American Society of Cinematographers.
Alias fans weren't the only folks shocked by last Sunday's post-Super Bowl episode, which climaxed with the murder of Sydney's (Jennifer Garner) sweet roommate Francie (Merrin Dungey) at the hands of her never-before-seen evil double. Not even Dungey's closest friends knew the actress would soon transform into a femme fatale. Since October, she's been suffering under a vow of silence about the plot twist, and now she's dying to tell us all about it!
"J.J. [Abrams, the show's creator] said he'd send my character to Disney World, never to return, if I said anything," she tells TV Guide Online. "I've been holding this secret and living [like] Sydney Bristow... No one knew what was happening for so long. I'm breathing a sigh of relief and can't stop talking about it now!"
Dungey knew something had to change for her character, who'd been pushed to the sidelines to make way for the arrival of Syd's mother (Lena Olin). "I was getting frustrated because I'd come in once a week and say, 'Hey guys, do you want to try my soup, or bouillabaisse or brownies?'" she laughs. "I walked in my trailer, and I was like, 'If I see one more apron... Am I Florida on Good Times?'"
For months, Abrams and Dungey discussed different scenarios for the character, hoping to find a way to make the switch ring true. (Yeah, and we all know doppelgangers are quite a natural part of the real world.) Next thing the 31-year-old knew, she was training with world champion kickboxer Benny "the Jet" Urquidez, who's taught the likes of John Cusack, Jean-Claude Van Damme and David Lee Roth. "Jennifer is a badass... She is it," sasses the seasoned sitcom guest-star. "And if I'm going to have to get in there and tangle with her or any one of her fellow foes on the show, I've got to be ready."
Of course, before Dungey gets to threaten the free world with her deadly moves, she's got to keep up the best-friend act a little longer. "Even though some of the situations seem to be similar — me and Sydney in the house talking — you know Bad Francie is up to no good," she says with glee. "It's sooo good now. It is just delicious every time I get to jump into 'the Francinator.'"
Article from TV Guide Online, written by Sabrina Rojas Weiss.
The Spy Life - Jennifer photo gallery
See the sexy star of "Alias" and "Daredevil" -- We trace Jennifer Garner's career, from budding starlet to today's most complex action heroine on the big and small screens.
BECOMING ELEKTRA Garner had a blink-and-you'll miss it role as a nurse opposite Ben Affleck in ''Pearl Harbor.'' Now, as ''Daredevil'''s assassin Elektra, she's become his love interest.
WHAT A 'CATCH' In ''Catch Me if You Can,'' Garner plays Cheryl Ann, a model-turned-hooker whose brief encounter with Leonardo DiCaprio's teenage conman leaves her with less than she bargained for.
AGENT PROVOCATEUR Shown in a 2002 EW photo shoot, Jennifer Garner has mastered the art of looking sexy, thoughtful, and dangerous at the same time.
SPY KID Garner started her secret-agent training as a child in Charleston, W. Va., when her favorite book was ''Harriet the Spy''
BURNING RUBBER In just the second ''Alias'' episode, Garner proved she could get in and out of tight situations by donning this minidress.
UNDERGRADUATE WORK Garner met future husband Scott Foley and future ''Alias'' creator J.J. Abrams on the set of ''Felicity'' when she guest-starred as Noel's (Foley) girlfriend from high school.
INSIGNIFICANT OTHERS Besides the short-lived dramas ''Time of Your Life'' and ''Significant Others,'' Garner had little TV experience before ''Alias"
RED HOT The ''Alias'' pilot in 2001 paid tribute to the movie ''Run Lola Run,'' right down to Garner's flame-colored wig.
TINY DANCER Garner gave up her childhood dream of ballet (''I danced six hours every day -- and I wasn't even very good,'' she has said), but in ''Alias,'' she does her own high-kicking stunts.
'COUNTRY' GIRL Sydney Bristow may be able to balance grad school and spying, but Garner dropped out of the Yale Drama School in 1995 when she landed an understudy role in the Broadway play ''A Month in the Country''
DECONSTRUCTING JENNY Garner's character in Woody Allen's 1997 ''Deconstructing Harry'' was left on the cutting room floor; maybe now that she's famous, he'll make it up to her in a future project.
GOLDEN GIRL When she won a Golden Globe for ''Alias'' in 2002, Garner joked that voters must also have appreciated her work in ''Dude, Where's My Car?''
TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL Garner told EW that after she saw ''Charlie's Angels'' she thought, '''I can do that, I want to do that, I want to be Cameron Diaz right now!' And I just got in the mindset of 'I have to play a role like that.' And then boom!''
Very minor spoilers...no details or anything, just vague hints.
Spy Jinx? Behind "Alias'" shocking Super Bowl Sunday revamp -- Needing a ratings kick, ABC's underdog starts virtually from scratch, fueled on sexy new twists.
And on the seventh day, he laid to rest everything we knew. ''Alias'' creator and executive producer J.J. Abrams may have unleashed a greater surprise during ABC's Super Bowl Sunday festivities than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers routing the Oakland Raiders, or even a lucid Snoop Dogg cohosting ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'': In a single high-profile episode, he seemingly put a bullet in the heart of the cult spy serial and then resuscitated it on the spot, generating enough watercooler convo to boost Poland Spring's first-quarter revenue. The hour-long adrenalized rush -- which featured a gun battle in a disintegrating airplane, a murder of a sweet supporting character by her evil doppelgänger, two first kisses, and Jennifer Garner slinking around in lingerie sets black and red -- abruptly resolved the show's central story line, kick-started a few new plots, and earned its best ratings ever with 17.4 million viewers.
So what's the rub? This highly promoted episode -- aptly titled ''Phase One'' -- generated the lowest post-Super Bowl numbers since at least 1987 (an 11:01 p.m. start on the East Coast didn't help). More significantly, not since ''Roseanne'''s blue-collar clan won the lottery has an executive producer so brazenly revamped a show on the fly. With Abrams touting a new and improved ''Alias,'' it's time to ask: Will the Super Bowl episode help usher in a new beginning for this critically beloved but Nielsen-challenged series? Or did ''Alias'' just jump the shark with the die-hard fans who put the ''cult'' in ''cult hit''? Our intel-gathering mission begins here.
Why isn't ''Alias'' a hit already? While Fox's ''24'' (ranked No. 46), a similarly respected, equally complicated sophomore spy drama, is up 22 percent in viewers this year from last season's average, ''Alias'' (No. 65) has sagged 6 percent. The Sunday-at-9 p.m. time slot is tough. But ABC's promotional efforts haven't always captured the show's spirit (selling it as a soapy love triangle?) or its hipness (describing Sydney as ''Double-oh-yeah...with a kick''?). Speaking of promotion, ''24'' got a whole lot of it when last season's episodes were released on DVD in the fall -- a move that Fox believes was partly responsible for ''24'''s ratings burst. ''Alias''' first season won't be out on DVD until September, two years after its premiere.
Why the sudden dramatic shift? Abrams says ABC didn't pressure him to make a ratings-boosting gambit. Rather, he was beginning to feel boxed in by the ''good guys posing as bad guys pretending to be good guys'' paradigm. ''If we did another story in which Sydney was almost found out, I was going to kill myself,'' says Abrams. So in December, he penned an episode that was ''like a new pilot,'' in which our heroine, CIA double agent Sydney (Garner), takes down the Alliance, an international crime syndicate, and finally kindles a romance with her CIA handler Vaughn (Michael Vartan). ''She seems to finally have solved her problems,'' sums up Abrams. ''But she's fallen into a trap and this whole [Alliance] thing was a manipulation.... I got very excited about that idea.''
What the heck happens now? Above all else, Abrams urges you not to panic. ''I think you can tell by the way the show ended that we're not going to suddenly be in simple-story-land,'' he says. Translation: The Rambaldi mythology still lingers. Also, Sydney hasn't seen the last of slippery ex-SD-6 chief Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who'll morph into a greater enemy. ''He is far more active and more insidious,'' says Abrams. Slightly less insidious (we hope) will be an outbreak of romance in CIA HQ: ''We've earned Sydney and Vaughn becoming a couple.''
Will the post-Super Bowl exposure boost the show's ratings? The 11:01 p.m. start time seems to be yet another blunder in the handling of the show, but ABC Entertainment chairman Lloyd Braun insists his hands were tied because of the network's NFL commitments and overindulgent sports division. ''I was spitting blood,'' admits Braun. ''If I controlled it, I would have thrown 'Alias' on during the third quarter.'' Braun believes the series can grow into a ''monster hit.'' Alas for ABC, series rarely see long-lasting ratings jumps following Super Bowl showcases, observes Stacey Lynn Koerner, analyst at Initiative Media. (''Malcolm in the Middle,'' which aired after the 2002 Super Bowl, is down 21 percent from last year's average.) ''I think if we haven't seen it yet,'' she says, ''we won't see it in the future.''
Forget that ratings stuff. What's up with Francie? Last May, Abrams told actress Merrin Dungey to begin training. The reason: She now plays an evil Francie double. Offering only a hint of what's to come, Dungey says, ''I kill soon.'' Okay, at least tell us if she can run Good Francie's restaurant? ''I don't think she's had time with all the killing to get her Betty Crocker on.''
Article from Entertainment Weekly. Article by Dan Snierson, additional reporting by Lynette Rice.
I figured I'd post all of this since it's all about Daredevil, but I've bolded the Jennifer parts.
Daredevil: The Mark Steven Johnson Interview
Part One:
Daredevil writer/director Mark Steven Johnson made a public appearance recently at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. Comics2Film correspondent Jason Lethert was fortunate enough to sit down and have an exclusive interview with the young filmmaker.
Lethert asked Johnson about the process of creating a look for the big-screen version of the man without fear.
"It was months and months and months of work. It started out, let's make it exactly like the comic book, that was my goal. Then when you see people really dressed like that you quickly change your mind and try other things," Johnson said.
Marvel Editor and Chief Joe Quesada was among those encouraging Johnson to rework the suits for the big screen. "I think Joe draws maybe the best Daredevil ever. I just think it's amazing," Johnson said.
"We tried every different variation we could, always with keeping the red, keeping the 'DD', keeping the horns, keeping it Daredevil, but at the same time making it real world."
The suit had both look cool and be utilitarian, "That's what I kept stressing is that this has to be something he would wear that would really support him and keep him from getting injured jumping around from roof to roof. That's kind of the theme of the whole movie is, what would it really do to you physically and mentally to go out night after night and fight crime. What would that really be like?
"So the leather just came out of the idea of motorcycle leathers and protecting your body. Even that only works to a certain extent. You see him undressing he's covered in scars and he's popping pain pills. It's pretty cool stuff. It's interesting anyway. That's how the costume came to be, to just do a realistic version of it."
Johnson was quick to point out that spandex, which many still assume is the fabric of choice for the modern superhero, was never an option.
"It's funny too, because when you see Spandex on a human being it looks terrible. But that's always the first questions, 'So, is he gonna wear red spandex,'" Johnson joked. "What? Why spandex? It's so gay! You know what I mean? If some people think the leather's gay, I think the spandex is just so strange.
The director went on to comment on the suits seen in other movies.
"Whatever Spider-Man wore, I thought looked great and that was appropriate. I guess that was some form of spandex," Johnson said. "I thought the original Batman costume was pretty great, because he had the musculature but at the same time you have this thing that's kind of like armor in a way. What I didn't like was how stiff he moved in that movie. One of the cool things about Batman is that he's gotten to know all these martial arts. He's a master of martial arts from around the world. He was just like this, you know."
His take on the Dark Knight's restrictive suit influenced the direction of Daredevil's costume design. "I wanted to make sure with Daredevil we could build in the musculature to give him the comic book feel, but at the same time he could move, really move," Johnson told C2F. "He's blind and he's got to move faster than the people shooting guns at him, things like that. He's got to move like an acrobat and a gymnast and a martial artist. All these things. I wanted to make sure he had an incredible amount of flexibility.
"So we made sure that we always had stretch in the leg areas and the shoulder areas so that he could really move and do the things he needed to do, whether it was Ben doing it or it was the stuntmen doing it, that was really important to me, that he could move better than we'd seen a superhero movie. That was important."
When fans first saw Elektra's costume, many wondered why the outfit departed so much from the comics.
"Again, the plan was to go just like the comic books, but once you see bright red sashes and head-bands and stuff and skirts and everything else, it didn't feel right. It felt like we were doing a disservice to the character by actually trying to be too true to the costume," Johnson said.
The director offered further explanation of the logic behind her movie gear.
"She's not Elektra: Assassin in this movie. It's an origin story for her. So, for me, going back to realism which is always the benchmark for this movie, I thought, well, if she's just learning to go out at night and do this, what she does in the movie, she's not skilled at it yet. She has no experience at it yet. And to go out in a bright red costume and it's like, 'look at me. I'm over here,' versus someone who slips in and out of shadows, which is what a ninja would do," Johnson said.
Of course, there's always room for a costume change.
"I just found that that was the most realistic and the best version of her now. Not to say that when she becomes an assassin, hopefully in her own film, which I'm hoping will happen one day then I think you do go the traditional because she's so skilled she can afford to be more colorful. Up front I just wanted to keep her realistic."
Bullseye also underwent a drastic revamp from the comic books.
"The Bullseye costume: as a fan I love all the comic costumes, but in real life he looks like a tool," Johnson remarked. "It just looks ridiculous, the Bullseye would never work.
"To me it was let's make him a little bit more punk. Lets make Bullseye like Alex in Clockwork Orange. Let's make him really that scary, Sid Vicious, punk vibe. So we did.
"The Bullseye in our movie, the bullseye on his forehead is scarification, he actually carved into his own forehead out of sheer boredom, as kind of a cocky come on to his enemy. Kind of like, 'you want me? Let me help you out. Right her, pal.'"
Johnson told us that, as with Daredevil, he initially planned on a faithful reproduction of the villain's comic book costume. Quesada quickly talked him out of that.
"He started doing some ideas and one of his ideas was that maybe Bullseye dipped his finger in blood and did a bullseye on the forehead, which I though was really interesting. I took it a step further and actually did the gouging in and the scarification and the bullseye on his head. We talked about the long coat, how he'd need a long coat to hide all of his weapons, to give him a cape feel without actually having a cape.
"What [costume designer] Jim Acheson came up with, which I actually though was genius, was the idea that the style of the coat is one of like an animal," the director continued. "Bullseye is very reptilian, like a snake or a lizard and moves very graceful. It's cool because you can't quite tell if it's an alligator skin or crocodile skin or snake skin or shark skin. You just know it's a dead animal that this guy's wearing. And it's cool, It's just bad-ass.
"He uses it like a cape when he's fighting. He'll do these flourishes when [Elektra's] trying to stab him and can just use that to confuse her. So even his coat is a weapon."
Part Two:
In part one of our interview, Johnson talked about translating superhero costumes to the big screen. In this installment he discusses bringing the action to life.
The director told Lethert that, although the movie features fantastic characters, his thematic touchstone was realism.
"That's kind of the theme of the whole movie is, what would it really do to you physically and mentally to go out night after night and fight crime. What would that really be like," Johnson asked.
"Not that there's a right or wrong to this. There're comic movies that can go way over the top and it works and they're a lot of fun," Johnson explained. "I wanted this to be primarily a martial arts based, practical street-fighting-type based film. There is wire work and there is digital character work, all that is in the movie. At its core it's still about a really tough guy kicking ass. That was what what it always came down to."
Of course, where there's action, there's violence.
"Daredevil...gets his ass kicked a lot in the movie. I think that's cool," Johnson told Lethert. "You know what I mean? Because anybody that gets hit fifty times in a Hong Kong movie and they're fine, there's always this like BOP-BOP-BOP-BOP-BOP and then there's that one BOP and a guy goes flying and it's like, what was so special about that one and why didn't you do that sooner, dude? What have you been doing this for?
"So in Daredevil I really wanted to show repercussions to the violence. When Daredevil gets beaten up you see what it's doing to his body," the director said. "He's pulling a tooth out of his mouth like in Ninja Scroll kind of inspired that scene, or the pain pills and the knee surgery and the back scars. It's like, wow, this guy's only thirty years old and literally his body's falling apart.
"I think that's really interesting. So I really wanted to show that he's not impervious to pain. That when there's a fight he also gets hurt."
Does the man without fear have an even lower tolerance for pain than you or I would? Johnson responds:
"The truth is when somebody punches you in the face it hurts. You don't just shake it off that quickly. Especially if you're a guy with sensitive touch, it would hurt more than it would for anybody, which I think is a really interesting thought too," the director said. "That's how brave he is. If he could feel newsprint on a newspaper, his touch is that fine, imagine what happens when he cracks a bone or gets punched and loses a tooth. I bet it's excruciating. That to me is really heroic."
Lethert asked Johnson how one comes up with a compelling take on super-hero action in the post-Matrix, post-Spider-Man world of film.
"Like everyone else I'm a huge fan of The Matrix. In the movies coming out this next year there's The Matrix and then there's everything else. I can't wait to see it. I think it's truly genius," Johnson enthused.
"I think because the movie's so recent, I think people are reticent to say that it's one of the best films ever made. They think that's just geeks talking. It's not. As a geek as well as a regular movie fan I think it is one of the best films truly ever made and it'll go down as probably the best science fiction film ever made, or whatever you want to call it, action film, fantasy film.
"So for us, there's always that weight of what do you do after Matrix? What do you do after Spider-Man? When the bar has been raised so high, how are you going to make yourself unique. We had to say what can we give people that's different?
"For me that was to really try to make a movie that has a lot of heart to it and a lot of emotion to it, which you usually don't get with a superhero movie," Johnson said. "I thought Sam did a great job of that with Spider-Man. You really liked Peter Parker. You really cared about him and I wanted to show that."
While Spider-Man may make the production of a superhero movie now seem daunting, Johnson also admits that it raised the profile of his movie.
"This movie was always supposed to be an under-the-radar kind of movie. We had six million dollars for visual effects. Spider-man had over fifty million. They're a whole different league from us," Johnson said. "Everybody was just anticipating, 'if we do well, maybe we can make as much money as Blade.' That was always the feeling. If this movie makes seventy million, eighty million, that would be great.
"Then the expectations began to grow and now we're not under the radar anymore. We're starting to build this as like this event type of film, which is exciting, but it's also a little scary because this movie is not Spider-Man. It is a darker movie. It is a grittier movie."
Johnson talked about that important difference.
"I wanted to show like, instead of 'golly gee, how great to be a superhero,' I wanted to show the dark side of being a superhero. That was really appealing to me to show something different," the filmmaker continued. " It's easy being Daredevil, it's hard being Matt Murdock. It's tough to live the life he leads. It's a very lonely life.
"It's a cool movie, but if people go in expecting Spider-Man they'll be disappointed because that was never the intention of this film.
Of course, strong, human characterizations are the hallmark of Marvel superhero. What other tricks will Daredevil employ to wow audiences?
" Visually we also wanted to show the way he sees his radar vision. That was something you'd never seen before. The idea of seeing sound waves as they go over objects and illuminate them. That, to me is fresh and cool," Johnson told C2F. " That's been kind of the bane of my existence in the past year, developing that and going, 'that's not it. That's not right,' and going back to the drawing board over and over and over. That was our chance to show something you've never seen."
With all the gritty realism and depiction of the cost of fighting crime, Johnson was challenged to bring in a movie at the pre-designated rating.
"I just went through the MPAA rounds and Daredevil got an R. So I had to deliver a PG-13 contractually. So I made some cuts and some trims and I went back again and I got an R again. Then I had to go back and make some cuts again, so I'm not at a PG-13," Johnson explained.
"I don't know if they quite know how to take it. It's a guy who dresses up and he's a hero. It's a no-brainer. That's a kid's movie. But it's not, necessarily," Johnson said. "Kid's can go, definitely, but it's also a movie for adults. It's also a more realistic, hard-core action movie, and a very emotional movie.
"There's always that balance."
Look for more from our conversation with Mark Steven Johnson right here soon, as the director talks about casting, cartoons and the wonderful world of comic book movies!
Part Three:
In part two of our interview, Johnson talked about bring staging realistic action and an emotional story for the the man without fear's big screen debut. In this installment he discusses
Lethert asked Johnson about the controversy surrounding the casting of Michael Clark Duncan as a character that had always previously been depicted as white. Johnson said he empathizes with fans who questioned the decision.
"It's a pretty big deal. As a fan, for me to, I would have been shocked if somebody had cast a black Kingpin. I just want him to look like my comic book characters. I understand that," the director told C2F. "Michael was not, to be fair, my first choice. I looked at a lot of other people first. I couldn't find anybody who had the spirit of the Kingpin. You needed a guy with incredible size, but not just a fat guy. You needed a guy who's solid muscle.
"A lot of fans forget that and say, 'what about Marlon Brando?' Brando can't get out of a chair, let alone fight."
Having Ben Affleck as a leading man raised the bar even higher.
"Affleck in his boots, he's six-foot three. He's a huge guy. You know that is a big actor," Johnson said. "You don't find a lot of the so-called big men, they're really five-eleven, six feet tall. Affleck's bigger than Schwarzenegger. So when you're looking for a guy who's going to tower over Affleck, boy, you're limited."
In the final analysis, Duncan was clearly the best choice for the part.
"I just thought: if you just look at him. He's got the shaved head. He's got the incredible physique. He's got the imposing presence. He's got the great voice Kingpin should have. He's got the muscle. He's literally got everything Kingpin should have except he's the wrong color," Johnson said. "Then you just say, 'the hell with it. What are you thinking?' You're so much more true to the spirit of the comic if you cast this guy, then you would some other guy just because he's white but doesn't have any of those other attributes.
"So to me it was a no-brainer. I really do think after seeing the movie people will go, 'yeah. He's the Kingpin.' They won't be able to imagine anybody else in that role."
Similarly, some fans questioned the casting of Garner as Elektra, another character with a firmly established ethnicity in the comics. Johnson, however, couldn't be happier with the actress.
"I think she's genius. I think absolutely think she's perfect. Again, you start off saying, 'I should get somebody Greek. Somebody very dark and olive-skinned,' and whatnot, what-have-you," the director told us. "I just kept looking for the person that physically could inhabit the role but also had the emotion. Jennifer just was it for me."
The Alias star mastered more than the emotional component.
"Physically unbelievable. Does all her own stuff in the movie. I mean really does. A lot of people will say that, that they do their own stunts. They really don't. Trust me. Jennifer really does and she'll do anything," Johnson said. "She'll be up on a wire and I'll say, 'Jen, let's jump off this building onto the next building,' and it's twelve stories down and she's like, 'Great!' There's no net or anything. We just get so excited it just goes. She's fantastic."
Garner had the blessing of another important figure.
"I remember when I saw Frank Miller in New York. I finally got to meet him and had him come to the set. I was nervous because it's literally like his daughter. He created her. Not knowing how he'd feel, knowing she doesn't look exactly like the comics or she's not the right color. He didn't care about any of that," Johnson said. "He just saw her and he was really moved by her. He was really and truly touched. He said, 'Wow! That's her. She's unbelievable,' and I said 'Really? You think so?'"
Elektra's creator demonstrated why Garner fit the role so well.
"He took his Elektra Lives Again book, which he had brought as a gift and he put his hand over everything except the eyes and he said, 'Elektra's always got those wounded eyes, even when she's trying to be tough. That's what breaks your heart. Jennifer's got it. She's perfect.'
"He loved her. He really was taken by her and that made me feel so good. To have Frank's blessing that way. It meant a lot to me."
Johnson also discussed the Collin Farrell as the expert assassin, Bullseye.
"For me that was all about attitude. For me it was to come up with a character that was, I think the best bad guys are always the ones that you like. You feel bad enjoying them so much because they're so evil, but there's something about them that's so charismatic," Johnson said. "That's why I cast Collin, because Collin Farrell is incredibly charismatic. You can't take your eyes off of him. You never know what he's going to do next. That's what Bullseye should be like.
"He's just like the comic: everything he touches is a deadly weapon. He'll use anything to kill somebody with. He's so untouchable," the director continued. "Until he meets Daredevil he's never had anyone who could challenge him. He is super bad-ass. In fact, when you see him fight Elektra, just like in Frank Miller's panels, you get the feeling he's just playing with her, like a cat with a mouse. It's heartbreaking because you realize she doesn't have a chance against this guy. He's just too damn good."
With a superhero, a villain, two major supporting characters and a handful of secondary supporting characters fans might be concerned that Daredevil will turn into another Batman and Robin.
"I see it, and it was one of my big challenges here too. It is a lot of characters when you have Bullseye, Elektra and Kingpin, and then you've also got Foggy and a little bit of Karen Page and all the people you want to see, his father and that whole thing," Johnson admits. "I think with the Batman movies, for me, what went wrong was that they were all so over the top.
"It wasn't that there were too many characters. It was that each character is playing it to the roof. So after a while you just kind of get numb. It just feels like you're being screamed at. If you've got Jim Carrey, he's genius. But if you've got the Riddler and at the same time you've got Two Face and they're both so big, after a while they wear their welcome out, for me as a fan.
"In our movie, it's definitely more realistic than those. Kingpin he's a big presence in the movie, but he's not all over the movie. And he's a business man. He happens to be a ruthless business man," Johnson explains. "At the end we see how maniacal he can be but he's not maniacal the entire movie and he's not in the entire movie.
"Same thing with Bullseye. He doesn't come in until forty minutes into the movie. Elektra: same thing. She's a girl who becomes a love interest. At the end of it, that's when she dons the outfit and becomes more the assassin. But they're not coming in and playing it to the ceiling and there the entire time," the director said.
Johnson also feels there will be more to distinguish his movie. "I always found that what I didn't like about the Batman movies was that he was always the least interesting one in the whole movie. He got the least amount of screen time too. God, I want to know about Batman. He's the guy I care about. I don't know who this guy is. He's getting lost amongst all the colorful villains."
I'm adding a section to the right column that will tell you when Alias cast members are guests on talk shows or when one of their movies is airing. Keep an eye out, it should be up by Saturday.
Alias stunner Jennifer Garner expects her star to soar thanks to her villainous appearance in the long-awaited blockbuster, Daredevil.
She struts around doing bad stuff in the minx-like role of Elektra - giving the all-in-one suited superhero (Ben Affleck) a right old runaround.
On top of being a bit of a one, Garner's Elektra's something of a ninja assassin too in her spare time.
Calm it, love, and go put the tea on.
Men, however, going to watch Daredevil down the local multiplex, will just be delighted that she looks ace.
If only she'd stop going off every 30 seconds.
But what can you do, lads? Some of these women are just nuts.
Garner joins in the fantasy scrapfest fresh from appearing in Steven Spielberg's excellent Catch Me If You Can. And she said she loved going the distance with Daredevil co-star Affleck.
That's distance, as in fight-wise. No letters, please, J-Lo.
"(The character) is both good and evil," Garner told Teen Hollywood magazine. "She's very fierce and much more aggressive than anyone I've ever played before.
"Elektra goes looking for a fight. She's a strong, confident and sexy woman who is not afraid to use her sex to throw people off guard."
Not really in the mood for a punch-up. Like the sex bit, though, Jen.
Alias (Sunday, ABC): (Spoilers) Onetime Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke drops into primetime as a compromised CIA agent. Suspicious spy-girl Sydney (Jennifer Garner) is, well, suspicious.
Really, it's Faux Francie who has us all concerned.
Whether she's a wicked clone, an evil twin, or Anna Espinosa with some serious plastic surgery, the shocking final scene of last Sunday's "Alias" has us in a tizzy. Something about it smacks a little too much of "Days of Our Lives" -- like we'll find out Sloane has been working with Victor Kiriakis all this time.
However, I'm not ready to declare it a bad idea, because I have faith in the show. Still, I have no problem pointing out the worst story lines we weary viewers have had to deal with this season.
Finally, even with the semi-naked promo spots that ran during the game, only 17.4 million viewers stuck around for ABC's heavily hyped spy series Alias, which didn't start airing until 11 p.m. ET--about two hours later than usual. Jennifer Garner's sexy spin in red garters wasn't in vain, though. The double agent's adventures have only attracted an average of 9 million viewers this season, so last night's numbers were an all-time best for the series, plus the show doubled its share of horny 18-49 year olds.
Mark Ruffalo will star opposite "Alias" star Jennifer Garner in "13 Going on 30," a romantic fable that Gary Winick ("Tadpole") will direct for Revolution Studios.
While Garner makes her bigscreen starring debut as Elektra in "Daredevil," "13 Going on 30" will be her first seven-figure payday. She plays a gawky preteen whose desperation to be popular makes her an easy mark for cruel classmates. Five days before her 13th birthday, the girl is tricked and locked in a closet, where she makes a crazy wish to be popular. She emerges in the full-grown form of Garner, a popular and successful ad agency exec five days shy of her 30th birthday, having skipped 17 awkward years. She also realizes she's in love with the nerdy kid next-door. Full-grown, he's played by Ruffalo.
The script was written by "What Women Want" scribes Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, and rewrites were done by Rita Hsiao and Niels Mueller. Susan Arnold, Donna Arkoff Roth and Gina Matthews are the producers. Revolution will begin filming in April in Los Angeles when Garner starts hiatus from "Alias."
Ruffalo, who's repped by WMA and Robert Stein Management, currently is starring alongside Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst and Elijah Wood in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and next will be seen opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in "A View From the Top." He just completed the Jane Campion-directed "In the Cut" opposite Meg Ryan, which Screen Gems will distribute in the fall.
Double agent Sydney Bristow is about to embark on her toughest mission yet: Turning "Alias" into the smash hit ABC execs believe the show should be.
Actually, that burden has largely fallen onto the shoulders of "Alias" exec producer J.J. Abrams, the man who created Sydney (portrayed by Jennifer Garner) and all the other characters who populate the shadowy spyworld of the Alphabet's Sunday skein.
While the show has been a cult sensation since its September 2001 bow, its ratings have yet to match the enormous critical acclaim and pop culture buzz that surrounds it.
Indeed, this season, "Alias" has actually lost some Nielsen ground opposite some of the toughest competish around -- everything from HBO's phenom "The Sopranos" to NBC's mighty "Law & Order" franchise.
No wonder, then, that ABC -- which desperately wants the series to become the drama smash it so sorely needs -- has been touting the Jan. 26 post-Super Bowl edition of "Alias" as "A New Beginning."
"In many ways, this episode is really a second pilot for the show," Abrams says. "What I think we've done is found a way to maintain the integrity of the storytelling but change the paradigm of the show so we can take it to the next level."
Specifically, Abrams is serving up a radical fix to what some critics, ABC execs and even some "Alias" scribes believe to be the show's one flaw: its Byzantine central premise.
Try to keep track: Up until now, Garner's Bristow has been a hot CIA spy chick who's working undercover at SD-6, a supposedly secret branch of the government that's really a front for an evil alliance of assorted international meanies.
Most of the employees of SD-6 think they're working for the CIA, but they're not. And the most evil member of SD-6 -- Arnold Rifkin's Sloane -- has to pretend he's working for the feds, thus limiting his ability to be as nasty as he wants to be.
"The show was about good guys working with the bad guys, many of whom thought they were good guys," Abrams (sorta) explains. "But the baddest of the bad guys had to pretend he was good. That premise made it not only impenetrable to many viewers but also frustrating to write.
"We had to figure out a way to change it."
With the Jan. 26 episode, Abrams does just that.
By the time the hour is over, Sydney will have exposed and defeated SD-6 and the evil Alliance, allowing the character to be a straight-ahead undercover spy gal. She'll also finally be free to pursue a long-smoldering, but not-yet consummated relationship with her CIA handler.
But here's the beauty part: Mega-meanie Sloane, no longer forced to keep up the appearance of good, will be badder than ever.
While "Alias" is getting less complex, Abrams vows it's not getting stupider.
"I love the show too much and respect it too much to dumb it down or simplify it to the point of being lowest common denominator television," he says. "If the network had said to me, you need to make the show simpler, I would have said to them, 'Get someone else and do 'VIP.' "
But Abrams says he needed to blow up "Alias" -- not to save it, but to make it better.
"We could remain as a cult hit and stay in that place," Abrams says. "Or we could make a creative decision to maintain the quality of the show yet alleviate the difficulty in storytelling…. (The change) is going to allow us to tell so many stories we couldn't before."
Not surprisingly, ABC execs are behind Abrams' reshaping of "Alias."
"What's clear is that 'Alias' already has this extraordinarily loyal core audience," says ABC Entertainment prexy Susan Lyne. "But there's a huge proportion of the TV audience that's never seen it or has been convinced by their friends or stories (in the media) that the show's too complicated. I think this episode will hook people in a way that they'll feel they must come back."
And if they don't? Abrams says he's fine with his current audience -- and, perhaps more importantly for fans of the show, so is Lyne.
"It's frustrating that it doesn't have twice the audience it has, and I still believe it will have (a bigger) audience after the Super Bowl," she says.
"But we need shows on our network that people are passionate about," Lyne adds. "I don't have any doubt at all that 'Alias,' even at its current levels, will be back."
Unfortunately for ABC, the game and its ancillary events were so marathon-y, they pushed Alias right out of primetime. Looking to improve the fortunes of its acclaimed spy series, ABC awarded the show the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot, which, this year, meant an 11:01 p.m. start time on the East Coast. While Jennifer Garner's wily ways were sampled by 17.4 million viewers (up from the usual 9.3 million), the performance was the worst ever by a show following a Super Bowl.
By the age of 21, Frank W Abagnale had worked as a doctor, a lawyer and as a co-pilot for a major airline, spending' millions and travelling around the world. He was also one of the most sought after masters of deception in America, as well as a brilliant forger.
By the time of his capture, in 1969, he had written $2.5 million worth of bad cheques and was virtually a celebrity - so it is little wonder, then, that the life of this James Bond of the skies' has formed the inspiration for the latest Steven Spielberg movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.
Catch Me If You Can is the director's lightest film in years, a joyous romp through 1960s America that succeeds because of the sheer audacity of its premise, as well as the quality of its performances.
DiCaprio has seldom been better, while the likes of Hanks and Christopher Walken, in less showier roles, lend excellent support.
Yet it is the breezy style of proceedings, as well as the tongue-in-cheek manner of the deceptions, which help to make the film such an unqualified success, making it easy to see why so many people were seduced by this slick conman.
Abagnale operated at a time when finger-printing and Big Brother-style security cameras were virtually non-existent, slipping from East Coast to West Coast America with relative ease. His fingerprints were the trail of dud cheques that he left in his wake, yet his good looks and golden tongue meant that he could talk his way in to (or out of) most situations.
But the relish with which he carried out his cons was borne out of a troubled youth - as, at the age of 16, he was forced to choose between his parents and ran away, determined to reunite his family.
It is here that the line between truth and fiction becomes somewhat blurry, as, on-screen, the loneliness and sense of desperation that follows brings him closer to the FBI agent chasing him, played by Hanks.
Abagnale makes a point of calling his pursuer each Christmas Eve - having previously given him the slip when it would have been easier to get caught - and the two develop a begrudging respect; so much so, that by the time Abagnale had served five years of a 12-year sentence, the agent (named Carl Hanratty on-screen/Joe Shaye in real-life) persuaded the FBI to take him on in their cheque forgery department (under their custody).
The chemistry between DiCaprio and Hanks is an important factor in the film's success, as is the interplay between the former and his struggling father (played in exemplary fashion by Walken).
Yet it is credit to Spielberg that he refrains from employing too much sentimentalism until late in the movie, preferring instead to keep things lively from the start (as in the glorious titles sequence, which harks back to films such as The Pink Panther).
Several sequences stand out, such as a delightfully wayward seduction involving Alias star, Jennifer Garner, or DiCaprio's stint as a doctor, but all are guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
In real-life, Abagnale has since issued a statement stressing that many events in the film are exaggerated and over-dramatised'. Yet there is little doubt that the events depicted, however far from the truth, are remarkable and the film is to be applauded on many levels.
It may ultimately outstay its welcome, but it is like a breath of fresh air amid the current crop of heavier Oscar contenders.
For the record, Abagnale has since become a leading authority on forgery, embezzlement and secure documents and is a multi-millionaire. Who says crime doesn't pay?
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Come fall, video gamers will have the chance to make Sydney Bristow do whatever they want.
Video-game maker Acclaim has reached an agreement with Disney Interactive to release a game based on ABC's spy thriller "Alias." The game will be released across all platforms.
Details of the "Alias" game are few at this point. Acclaim says players will be able to control Sydney (played by Jennifer Garner on the series) and attempt to complete a number of missions involving espionage, combat and stealth tactics.
Acclaim says the show, with its multiple locations and high levels of action, "lends itself perfectly to interactive entertainment."
The "Alias" game is scheduled for release in the fall.
Meanwhile, ABC’s chick drama “Alias,” which got the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot, may have copped its biggest audience ever — 17.4 million viewers — but that’s the smallest audience for a post-Super Bowl show since at least the early ’90s. Last year, Fox’s broadcast of “Malcolm in the Middle” nabbed 21.5 million viewers; in 2001 the debut of “Survivor: Whatever” clocked a whopping 45.4 million.
Maybe that’s because “Alias” had the latest start ever for a post-Super Bowl show: 11 p.m. Two years ago, CBS began its post-bowl “Survivor” broadcast at 10:17 p.m., as God intended. It was over a little after 11-right around the time “Alias” was just revving up this past Sunday.
It’s not like the game ran long; play ended at 10:18 p.m. But ABC delayed “Alias” to run a Bon Jovi “concert” — did you notice there was no one in the stands while Mr. Jovi was singing, and if Bon Jovi sings but only cheerleaders are listening, did Bon Jovi actually sing? — and the traditional Post-Super Bowl Thick-Necked Guys Blatherathon.
Savviest Exploitation of Demographics: ABC its ownself. Knowing that the Super Bowl audience is largely male, promos for the postgame episode of "Alias" featured star Jennifer Garner in two different hues of lingerie and a bikini.
Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., today announced that it has signed an agreement with Disney Interactive for the rights to publish video games based on ABC Television's hit drama series, "Alias." Currently in its second season, "Alias" is one of television's most critically acclaimed series. The "Alias" video game is currently being developed by Acclaim's Cheltenham studio and is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2003 across all of the next-generation gaming platforms.
"Alias" will be a third-person action adventure video game that allows players to step into the role of the series' lead character, Sydney Bristow, an agent for the CIA. Bristow must use her cunning, extensive knowledge of martial arts and array of high-tech gadgetry to accomplish dangerous missions. "Alias" will encompass all of the key elements behind the series' success, including high-action combat, stealth missions and time-based objectives, espionage, intriguing plot twists, high-tech weaponry and stunning gameplay locations that span the globe.
"Alias is one of the strongest new TV entertainment properties and is filled with great characters, rich storylines and incredible action that lends itself perfectly to interactive entertainment," said Evan Stein, Vice President of Marketing for Acclaim. "We are thrilled to have "Alias" join our portfolio of world-renowned licenses. "
"With the strength of the storylines in Alias, we couldn't imagine a better venue of expression then through the world of video games," says Bruce Gersh, Vice President of Business Development at ABC. "We are excited about the prospect of a great game that will bring all the elements of the show to a new fan base in the gaming world."
"Alias" was created by J.J. Abrams, who executive-produces the series along with John Eisendrath, Ken Olin, Alex Kurtzman-Counter, and Roberto Orci. The series, which is filmed in Los Angeles and premiered on September 30, 2001, is from Touchstone Television.
Few Commercials Stood Out In Annual Super Bowl Blitz
Some other random observations:
-- "Alias" star Jennifer Garner is hot. Very hot. In lingerie. In a bikini. Hot.
And she was everywhere. In fact, between all the sultry "Alias" commercials, as well as the butt-jiggling spots for the insulting reality show "Are You Hot?", ABC could have charged $6.95 for a four-hour block and changed its name to the Adult Booty Channel.
Read more at The Salt Lake Tribune. Article by Mark McGuire.
ABC has a pretty cool show that not nearly enough people are watching called "Alias,' in which the lithesome Jennifer Garner dons really tight outfits and battles evil wherever it may appear on the globe. Part of the problem with "Alias' is that its story line is unnecessarily dense and its mythology (to borrow a term popularized by "The X-Files') is too convoluted for casual viewers -- which is to say, what all of us have become these days -- to follow.
If folks won't bother to track a complicated story line to watch Garner pour herself into skintight outfits, what hope is there for shows like "Miracles' and "Veritas: The Quest,' which both debut tonight and feature what appear to be tricky ongoing plots without the benefit of Garner's physique to bolster them?
Read more at U-Press Telegram. Article by David Kronke.
The WB superhero project closest to the starting line is "Superman," with Brett Ratner directing from a script by J.J. Abrams ("Alias") for producer Jon Peters. The film will reintroduce a franchise that sputtered after four Christopher Reeve (news) films, and WB is currently testing actors for its Man of Steel, with Josh Hartnett (news), Jude Law (news), Ashton Kutcher (news) and Brendan Fraser (news) among those rumored as aspirants to be fitted in cape and spandex.
Read more at Yahoo News. Article by Michael Fleming.
FOOTBALL FANS just watched, baby, as Super Bowl XXXVII ran up the highest viewership total in five years.
Even though the Bucs' thrashing of the Raiders wasn't as close as last year's Patriots-Rams nail-biter or the Rams-Titans match-up from 2000, it drew an average of 88.64 million viewers, the best ratings for the game since Green Bay played Denver in 1998. Those totals were no doubt boosted by the presence of the Raiders, one of a handful of NFL teams with a significant following throughout the country.
ABC didn't score quite so well with the episode of "Alias" that followed the game -- or, rather, it followed the tedious hour-long post-game show.
Look, I realize ABC can probably make more money by selling ads during the post-game show than during "Alias," but this was televised throat-clearing at its worst. Bon Jovi showed up to perform "It's My Life" for no other reason than that they sang before the NFL season began, while Jack Ford and a bunch of Marines with better things to do shivered in a snowy Times Square and watched Penn & Teller perform a hokey trick about encasing their Super Bowl prediction inside a pickle jar.
By the time this entertainment non-extravaganza was over, it was already 11 p.m., and many viewers on the East Coast had gone to bed.
"Alias" drew only 17.4 million viewers, which was nearly twice what the show usually attacts, but the smallest audience of any program ever to air following a Super Bowl. (In comparison, last year's post-Super Bowl "Malcolm in the Middle" on Fox grabbed 21.5 million viewers, which was considered a major disappointment.)
It's a shame, too, because "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams delivered exactly the kind of hour that could turn his show from a cult hit into a genuine smash. First he squeezed star Jennifer Garner into two different skimpy lingerie ensembles to grab the attention of the pigskin fans (at least, those who were still awake), then he cranked the show's usual level of action, stunts and dizzy plot twists up to 11. It was as ludicrous and melodramatic as usual -- but it was also more fun than ever.
Abrams may as well have titled the episode "Now Here's the Real Pilot" or "Mistakes Were Made," judging by the way he started from scratch and quickly abolished the show's least inviting elements.
The convoluted double agent set-up, in which Garner's Sydney Bristow simultaneously works for the CIA and an evil mercenary organization posing as the CIA? Gone. Now she's just a straight-up CIA agent chasing baddie Arvin Sloane ( Ron Rifkin ). Those unbearable subplots involving Sydney's civilian pals, which played like leftover subplots from Abrams' "Felicity" days? Gone. Now best friend Francie ( Merrin Dungey ), the show's least interesting character, is dead, replaced by an evil lookalike. That's service with a smile.
Abrams did his job. It's just too bad ABC didn't do theirs by getting his work on at a decent time.
Out of timidity or reticence, television shows about combat used to stick to wars that could be explored at a safe remove; even "M*A*S*H" was set in Korea, not Vietnam.
Today's producers no longer feel compelled to draw a modesty curtain around current events. The plot of this season's "24," a Fox series, pits a top C.I.A. agent played by Kiefer Sutherland against an Osama bin Laden-like madman bent on exploding a nuclear bomb in the United States. When she is not trying to uncover her own obscure and appalling family secrets, the sexy secret agent played by Jennifer Garner on the ABC show "Alias" also battles the occasional terrorists.
Pre-game
Starting at 2 pm, ABC provided four full hours of pre-game programming, replete with promotions for Alias and Dragnet and overall irritating special features. One of the few highlights was the hilarious Jimmy Kimmel's "Farewell to Cable," during which the new late-night host interrupted cable programs such as Wolf Blitzer Reports and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Read more at The Tufts Daily. Article by Brian Wolly.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Despite a lopsided game, which often turns off television viewers, Sunday night's Super Bowl recorded the second-most viewers in NFL title game history.
ABC's telecast of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 48-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders drew about 138 million viewers, second only to the 1996 Super Bowl between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, seen by 139 million on NBC.
The Super Bowl is often the most-watched TV program each year, accounting for nine of the 15 highest-rated shows ever.
The game Sunday registered a rating of 40.7 -- 1 percent higher than last year. That means an average of 40.7 percent of homes with televisions were tuned to the game at any given moment.
Cable and the Internet have lowered broadcast ratings in general, but because more people own TVs, lower ratings can still translate to higher viewership.
Last year, 132 million people watched the New England Patriots' 20-17 upset of the St. Louis Rams on a final-play field goal. But that game, on Fox, had just a 40.4 rating, tied with 2001 for the fourth-lowest rated Super Bowl since 1972, when the championship game's rating first exceeded 40.
Sunday's game ranks 27th of the 32 Super Bowls since then.
Ratings at the start of the broadcast were 38.8 and rose to 41.5 by the end of the second quarter. Halftime was popular, with a 40.1 rating from 8-8:30 p.m.
The audience -- which advertisers paid ABC an average of just over $2 million per 30-second commercial to reach -- dipped from 9-9:30 p.m. EST, when Tampa Bay enjoyed its biggest lead, 34-3. But a mini-rally by Oakland followed, and ratings peaked in the final 15 minutes, with 42.4 percent of the country tuning in.
"There was a significant interest in the game: the matchups, the coaching story with Jon Gruden," said Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports and now a consultant. "And the game kind of rescued itself late in the third quarter, when Oakland scored a couple of touchdowns. We were headed for a real blowout."
The highest rated Super Bowl, at 49.1, was in 1982, San Francisco's 26-21 victory over Cincinnati.
The ratings are a barometer for next year's broadcaster, CBS, when it comes to selling ad time.
ABC's "Alias" got its best rating ever by following Sunday's postgame show -- but not as much of a bump as post-Super Bowl programs the past two years.
The drama got a 10.6 rating starting at 11 p.m., two hours after its normal time slot and later than any post-Super Bowl show ever. That was twice the average rating for "Alias" this season.
"Malcolm in the Middle," which followed the 2002 Super Bowl, drew an 11.5 rating, and the season premiere of "Survivor" in 2001 drew a 23.6.
NEW YORK -- Nearly 90 million people watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers demolish the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC network, an impressive figure given that the game's outcome looked clear at halftime.
According to Nielsen Media Research, 88.6 million watched the game Sunday on television, almost two million more than last year's Super Bowl audience even though that game between the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams went down to the wire. The Patriots won 20-17 on a last-second field goal. Last year's game was on News Corp.'s Fox network.
Although ABC enjoyed a big audience, the slow pace of the game, which didn't end until around 10:15 p.m. Eastern time, and a very long postgame show meant the network didn't wrap up coverage until 11 p.m. That left few viewers to tune in to a heavily hyped episode of the spy drama "Alias." The program drew 17.4 million viewers, the lowest number ever for a post-Super Bowl program. Last year's episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" on Fox averaged 21 million viewers and also was hurt by a long postgame show.
The largest Super Bowl TV audience on terms of viewers was the 1996 Pittsburgh Steelers versus Dallas Cowboys battle that drew 94 million viewers for General Electric Co.'s NBC.
Article from The Wall Street Journal, found at Yahoo News.
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Viewers stuck with Sunday's (Jan. 26) Super Bowl despite the lopsided outcome, delivering the game's biggest audience in several years to ABC.
According to preliminary national figures released Monday (Jan. 27), Super Bowl XXXVII averaged a 40.7 rating/61 share among households and 88.64 million viewers. The household rating is higher than either of the previous two Super Bowls (both games drew 40.4 ratings), and the audience is the biggest since 90 million watched the 1998 game between Denver and Green Bay.
ABC didn't get as big a bounce for its postgame program, "Alias," as other networks have in recent years, in part because the episode didn't begin until 11 p.m. ET. "Alias" drew 17.4 million viewers, about 8 million over its season average, and more than doubled its season average among adults 18-49 (8.3 vs. 4.0), the group advertisers love the most.
By comparison, an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" on FOX after last year's game averaged 21.4 million viewers, while the premiere of "Survivor: The Australian Outback" pulled in a whopping 45.4 million people in 2001.
Sunday's game, a 48-21 victory by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Oakland Raiders, will likely rank sixth among all Super Bowls in the average number of viewers. Super Bowl XXX in 1996, featuring the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, is No. 1 with just over 94 million viewers.
FOX drew averaged 86.8 million viewers with last year's Super Bowl.
ABC says that 137.6 people watched at least part of Sunday's game, which would put it second all-time, again trailing Super Bowl XXX.
Dion and Kimmel: A Study in Super Bowl-Hype Opposites
That Chrysler spot may have been the worst of the bunch on a day when the commercials weren't terribly super - with exceptions, including the Willie Nelson ad for H&R Block, the Budweiser spot with the football horses waiting for a replay call from a zebra, and everything involving Jennifer Garner, whose ABC series, "Alias," is pretty good even when she's not just wearing underwear.
Acclaim announced today that they signed a deal with Disney Interactive to for the publishing rights to ABC's critically, um, acclaimed TV show Alias. The stylish adventures of CIA operative Sydney Bristow, Alias has grown into a bona-fide cult hit in its Sunday night timeslot, and probably got a boost from running a special "new beginning" episode after last night's Superbowl (although, all things considered, maybe not -- still, you couldn't help giving ABC points for trying, and the sheer chutzpah of running shots of star Jennifer Garner in lingerie every other commercial break).
Anyway, according to Acclaim Alias, the game, will be "a third-person action adventure... that allows players to step into the role of the series' lead character, Sydney Bristow. Bristow must use her cunning, extensive knowledge of martial arts and array of high-tech gadgetry to accomplish dangerous missions. Alias will encompass all of the key elements behind the series' success, including high-action combat, stealth missions and time-based objectives, espionage, intriguing plot twists, high-tech weaponry and stunning gameplay locations that span the globe."
Evan Stein, Vice President of Marketing for Acclaim, said, "Alias is one of the strongest new TV entertainment properties and is filled with great characters, rich storylines and incredible action that lends itself perfectly to interactive entertainment. We are thrilled to have Alias join our portfolio of world-renowned licenses."
Acclaim plans to release Alias sometime in the Fall of 2003 "across all next-generation platforms." This seems a bit soon to us, but we will keep you posted.
Article from Gamers.com, written by Jeff Lundrigan.
Acclaim Signs Licensing Agreement for Alias ABC Television hit coming to video game land this fall.
January 27, 2003 - Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ.SC: AKLM), today announced that it has signed an agreement with Disney Interactive for the rights to publish video games based on ABC Television's hit drama series, "Alias." Currently in its second season, "Alias" is one of television's most critically acclaimed series. The "Alias" video game is currently being developed by Acclaim's Cheltenham studio and is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2003 across all of the next-generation gaming platforms.
"Alias" will be a third-person action adventure video game that allows players to step into the role of the series' lead character, Sydney Bristow, an agent for the CIA. Bristow must use her cunning, extensive knowledge of martial arts and array of high-tech gadgetry to accomplish dangerous missions. "Alias" will encompass all of the key elements behind the series' success, including high-action combat, stealth missions and time-based objectives, espionage, intriguing plot twists, high-tech weaponry and stunning gameplay locations that span the globe.
"Alias is one of the strongest new TV entertainment properties and is filled with great characters, rich storylines and incredible action that lends itself perfectly to interactive entertainment," said Evan Stein, Vice President of Marketing for Acclaim. "We are thrilled to have "Alias" join our portfolio of world-renowned licenses. "
"With the strength of the storylines in Alias, we couldn't imagine a better venue of expression then through the world of video games," says Bruce Gersh, Vice President of Business Development at ABC. "We are excited about the prospect of a great game that will bring all the elements of the show to a new fan base in the gaming world."
"Alias" was created by J.J. Abrams, who executive-produces the series along with John Eisendrath, Ken Olin, Alex Kurtzman-Counter, and Roberto Orci. The series, which is filmed in Los Angeles and premiered on September 30, 2001, is from Touchstone Television.
TV Gal Gets Thrown for a Loop by 'Alias' The Super Spectacular "Alias"
Um, are they even going to call the show "Alias" anymore?
After the Very Special Super Bowl episode I felt like Sydney at the end of the series premiere. Everything I once knew to be true is false. I kept waiting for Bobby Ewing to come out of the shower and declare everything to be a dream.
Let's review the shockers in the order that they freaked me out:
1. Sydney Told Dixon the Truth: After a year and a half of keeping him in the dark, Sydney spilled all in a matter of seconds.
2. Sydney and Vaughn Finally Kiss: After a year and a half of pining for each other, fans and the best star-crossed lovers ever to hit primetime got the kiss we all deserved.
3. SD-6 and the Entire Alliance Has Been Obliterated: Wasn't that what the show was all about?
4. Sloane Knew Sydney and Jack Were Double Agents: My guess is that the nefarious and frequently naked one has known this at least since last season's finale. Maybe even since the series premiere when Sydney came back into the fold.
5. Francie Is Dead. Evil Francie Lives: So you know I've had this sinking feeling that Francie's only role on the show could be to die. Let's be honest, her restaurant turning a profit doesn't make for breath-taking television. Well I was right, but I could have never dreamed this up. Now Evil Francie will work with Sloane and Sark (and I still think The Mom might fit into this somewhere) to do some serious damage. By the way, for my fearless prediction, I think Francie's blood test that she had in the last episode will eventually reveal to Sydney and Will that Francie isn't Francie. But at least Merrin Dungey is finally getting a story line.
Okay, to quote my other favorite female superhero show: "where do we go from here?" Yes, the episode was an exhilarating thrill ride. Perhaps one of the best hours of television ever. But I can't shake this nagging feeling that almost too much happened. We've seen it happen before when brilliant shows burn out fast (the quintessential example being "Twin Peaks"). I don't want to see this happen to "Alias." I don't think it will, but I wouldn't be the TV Gal if I didn't worry.
What will now come between Sydney and Vaughn? Now that SD-6 is destroyed and Sloane is totally aware of the Agents Bristow, what kind of undercover work will they do? Will Marshall and Dixon work for the CIA? Does Sydney even need to work for the CIA anymore? And how hard would I have to work to get a body like Jennifer Garner's?
What did you think of super episode of "Alias"? Talk about it on the TV Gal Message Board.
As for me, I'm off to watch that kiss again.
Spoilers:
Dixon tells his wife the truth on "Alias." Christian Slater plays a scientist Sloane kidnaps to help him figure out that pesky Rambaldi artifact and Sydney finally finishes graduate school.
Full Article on Zap2It, written by Amy Amatangelo.
Super Bowl Diary ESPN The Magazine senior writer David Fleming was on location in San Diego for Super Bowl XXXVII -- check out his final diary entries.
Monday, 12:14 p.m. EST:
So there I was, several hours before the Super Bowl, getting thoroughly searched by a guard outside Qualcomm Stadium. To my left were rows upon rows of empty margarita glasses (it was barely past noon, by the way) balanced like lemmings on a concrete police barrier. To my right was Gunter and my new bestest buddies from the German press. "I don't speak German but I know what you guys are saying," I whispered to Gunter, who was also getting searched. "Last night in the Gaslamp it would have cost you 50 bucks to get searched like this … am I right?" After the translation, this joke produced thunderous laughter. I'm huge in Germany. That's when we noticed that two feet behind us was the entire cast of Alias, led by Jennifer Garner.
Super Bowl Ads: Lots of Fumbles The big game was big letdown, as were most of the commercials. Our expert marketing panel reviews what scored and what fell incomplete
Most consistent:
Men had plenty of skin to ogle on Super Bowl Sunday, mostly in promos for TV shows or movie trailers. Frequent split-screen views of scantily clad Jennifer Garner in ABC house ads for its drama Alias blended in with gratuitous shots of bikini babes for the All-Star Sunday football and ice hockey specials. They offered "a lot of the usual stereotyping of women as sexy bimbos," says Columbia's Greenwald. "Just when you thought the Swedish Bikini Team had retired," laments Nordhielm.
Dow Jones Industrial Average component Disney is set to enter the earnings confessional on Thursday. The entertainment firm will be reporting first-quarter earnings, and Wall Street expects DIS to have collected 15 cents per share during the time period. Since early August, DIS shares have been oscillating gradually higher in a pattern of higher lows. The stock is currently perched at its latest "higher low" level around the 16.50 mark. The sentiment picture on DIS is somewhat mixed. Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) for DIS stands at 0.52, in the bottom 30 percent of all annual readings, suggesting an optimistic inclination from the options crowd. On the other hand, more than 43 million DIS shares are currently sold sort, for a short-interest ratio of nearly six times. Were DIS to begin moving higher, it would take these bearish speculators more than a week to cover their shorted positions. In separate news, DIS announced today that popular gaming name Acclaim Entertainment has purchased the rights to design video games based on DIS offspring ABC's Alias program, a series concerning a double-agent for the CIA.
Acclaim made official today what they mentioned in passing two weeks ago in their last financial statement: a console version of ABC-TV's Alias is in the works. Currently under development over at Acclaim's studio in Cheltenham, England, the game's set to hit all three current consoles sometime next fall.
"Alias is one of the strongest new TV entertainment properties and is filled with great characters, rich storylines and incredible action that lends itself perfectly to interactive entertainment," said Acclaim vice president Evan Stein. "We are thrilled to have Alias join our portfolio of world-renowned licenses. "
Alias, for those of you whose viewing habits consist of reality shows and infomercials, is an action drama starring CIA agent Sydney Bristow as she completes top-secret missions with a mix of technological gadgetry and high-flying TV-show kung fu. The video version will be a 3D third-person action adventure, featuring a combination of stealth-based and timed missions as Sydney makes her way around the world in a bender of espionage and firefights. We'll have more info on the game soon, so stay tuned.
An Alias Movie? Secret Plot Exposed! Monday, January 27, 2003
If you thought last night's post-Super Bowl episode of Alias was big, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Exec producer J.J. Abrams confirms to TV Guide Online that there have been some informal discussions about transporting Jennifer Garner's double-agent alter ego onto the big screen in an Alias feature film.
"It has come up, and... it's an interesting idea," he says. "My agents have talked to me about it, and I know that they have talked to Disney about it, but it's nothing that is seriously being pursued.
"Given the fact that we try every week to do a movie version of the show, it's not clear to me what we would try to do that we aren't already trying to do," adds the former Felicity auteur, who in addition to his Alias duties, is penning the script to the next Superman pic. "And I wouldn't want to make the show look small by doing a [movie]. You have to be careful of that."
Consequently, Alias will most likely arrive in a theater near you after it ends its run on the small screen. Of course, given the drama's ongoing ratings woes, that day might not be too far off. Abrams, however, remains optimistic that ABC will grant Sydney Bristow and Co. a third season.
"I'm betting it will [be renewed]," he says. "But I haven't heard anything official, and it's up to them to say no. But we're plotting our stories ahead as if we'll get picked up, just as during the first season, we were plotting ahead as if we'd get picked up for a second."
Well, there's one thing Alias fans can count on come fall: The show's first season will be released on DVD. "There are going to be a lot of great special features," he says of the mult-disc set, which is slated to arrive in stores on Sept. 2. "When I filmed the pilot, a good friend of mine shot like eight or nine hours of behind-the-scenes footage and did interviews with most of the cast. So, in addition to a number of other really cool features, we're going to edit together a behind-the-scenes piece on the making of the pilot." — Michael Ausiello
For the ABC network, the story line of Super Bowl XXXVII has nothing to do with Raiders or Buccaneers or a coach who switched sides. It’s about ratings, baby.
ABC’s coverage of Sunday’s game is expected to draw a TV crowd of 80 million, easily enough to change the competitive landscape among the rival networks. The Super Bowl probably will propel ABC from fourth place last season to second in the contest for prized viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 — at least for a few weeks.
Each year, the Super Bowl rotates among three networks that paid the National Football League more than $550 million apiece for broadcast rights — Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, Viacom Inc.’s CBS and News Corp.’s Fox. That the game landed in ABC’s hands this time is the TV equivalent of a completed Hail Mary pass.
Although ABC has showed new signs of life this year, it still is searching for a bigger audience for its dramas and comedies.
All four dramas the network launched in the fall have been canceled. So far, the only real standouts have been the unscripted shows “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” along with the John Ritter comedy “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” and “Monday Night Football,” which won’t return until the fall.
“They’ve done what they needed to do, they have a couple of good shows,” said media analyst Tom Wolzien, of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “But the network is going to need to do more.”
The Super Bowl gives ABC a chance to market itself on television’s biggest stage.
ABC will saturate viewers that day with promos for its new programs, including during eight pre-game shows. The value of that air time, had it been sold for commercials, would have been nearly $50 million.
Many of those commercials are for the second-season CIA spy drama “Alias,” which will air after the game, a coveted spot. Although the show has won critical praise, it has failed to score big ratings.
And the Super Bowl may not change that.
Last year, Fox Broadcasting Co. put “Malcolm In the Middle” in that spot. The show retained just 30 percent of the audience it drew when it followed the Super Bowl, according to a study by Initiative Media, a company that buys network advertising time.
During the last 10 years, the only shows to keep big numbers have been CBS’ “Survivor II” in 2001 and NBC’s “Friends” in 1996. In both cases, the shows already were hits.
“The halo effect of the Super Bowl is marginal,” said David Poltrack, CBS’ executive vice president for research and planning. “In the industry, we call it a ‘borrowed audience.’ The audience gathers on one channel for a night, and soon as the event is over they go right back to their old habits.”
The network also plans to use its promotional time to hype its new late-night offering, “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which will compete against veterans David Letterman and Jay Leno. ABC has been having trouble lining up guests.
The show’s producers say one reason is that big-name stars, particularly women, are wary of Kimmel, the man who starred in Comedy Central’s bawdy “The Man Show.” ABC announced Friday that it had reeled in George Clooney to appear on the show Sunday night.
Although the Super Bowl may be the best promotional vehicle around, the game itself is not a moneymaker. The estimated $140 million in advertising revenue is offset by the losses that ABC incurs from its $550-million-a-year contract with the NFL.
No one at ABC thinks the Super Bowl will be the financial and programming cure-all for the network. But they are more optimistic these days because the advertising market has been stronger than expected and they’ve had some successes with the network’s prime-time lineups.
“Last year at this time, it seemed like we were trying to stop an avalanche,” said ABC Entertainment Chairman Lloyd Braun. “Every show that we tried to put on the air came crashing down. This year, we’re dealing with holes in our schedule.”
If you haven't seen Alias but you hang around out of curiosity after the Super Bowl, be warned: This butt-kickin' spy series has a labyrinthine plot. But stick around anyway, as Jennifer Garner is sure to wear some eye-popping outfits.
Spoilers:
In Sunday's episode, Sydney Bristow (Garner), a double agent posing as a college student, must contend with a new boss named Geiger (Rutger Hauer, who's perfect for this series). Geiger is suspicious of Sydney and her double-agent dad (Victor Garber). Told ya it was confusing.
The 30- and 60-second spot television campaign, which was developed by the Detroit office of J. Walter Thompson, USA Inc., will first appear Sunday after the Super Bowl during the hit ABC television show, "Alias." Two other American brands, Chrysler and Cadillac, are planning to advertise during the Super Bowl.
Alias Spoilers from TVGuide.com (I've hidden almost the entire article because of spoilers...highlight it to read)
Will Sydney score with Vaughn on Sunday's special post-Super Bowl Alias? The secret is out!
PASS COMPLETED
Alias execs are pulling out all the stops for Sunday's post-Super Bowl episode.
I Spy Super Alias Spoilers! Friday, January 24, 2003
For all those who think an SD-6 mole is either a rare skin disease or the scientific term for Cindy Crawford's birthmark, we have a mission: possible for you: Stick around Sunday immediately following ABC's telecast of Super Bowl XXXVII for a special Alias and get caught up on the best spy game in town. And don't let the show's intricate plots and labyrinthine mythology intimidate you. As exec producer J.J. Abrams explains to TV Guide Online, this particular installment has been tailor-made for folks who wouldn't know a Rambaldi artifact from a rubber ducky. "It's an episode that I definitely wanted to make [accessible] to non-viewers," he says. "You never have to have seen the show to understand it, and yet, if you have seen the show, some of the stories will have more meaning." Even better, there's a fantastic chance you'll get to see two of the best-looking people on the planet — Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan — make the biggest score of the night! Now that we've hooked the novices, here's a treat for all you Alias diehards. The crucial extra points...
TV Guide Online: So, what's the basic gist of Sunday's episode?
J.J. Abrams: Sydney Bristow (Garner), as a CIA operative acting as a double agent within SD-6, confronts the new boss of SD-6 and, in doing so, ends up learning of a potential vulnerability within this evil agency. This vulnerability, she believes, can bring this evil organization to its knees. So, it's about her leading the charge with the CIA to destroy this enemy. In a way, this episode sort of breaks the dam and lets us do the stories that I, as a writer, have personally been dying to do, but have been unable to, given the structure of the premise and the paradigm of the show. This lets us go places that we've wanted to go for quite a while.
TVGO: Will there be any major romantic developments between Sydney and Vaughn (Vartan)?
Abrams: Yes. If I had another scene of Jennifer and Michael staring longingly at each other and not saying anything, I was going to lose my mind. It was a relationship that we were not letting ourselves get that deep into, [and by moving it forward], it allows [Sydney] to experience as much joy and pleasure as heartache and stress and anxiety and fret. And unless you get her to that place, the relationship ends up existing forever in a somewhat sophomoric, juvenile place where we're not allowing it to deepen. I'm not saying that I wanted them to get together at the beginning of the first season — or even at the end of the first season — but I feel like we're at a place where they clearly have come together far enough that to not allow them to get together feels false. Like we're trying to create a Moonlighting situation, as if the show needs that.
TVGO: Why was the episode featuring guest star Ethan Hawke — originally slated to air after the Super Bowl — delayed until Feb. 2?
Abrams: It's an incredibly strong episode, but the story didn't address some of the things that the episode following the Super Bowl needed to address. Basically, we wanted to feature all of our characters in a way that would allow a mass audience of new viewers who had never seen the show before to really get a taste of who is who and what the show is about in a larger sense.
TVGO: So, it won't affect continuity?
Abrams: No. We never would have done it if it would have been a bizarre reverse thing. We made the choice early enough so that creatively, it fit perfectly.
TVGO: Christian Slater recently signed on for a couple of episodes (the first of which airs Feb. 9). Who will he be playing?
Abrams: A scientist who is kidnapped and forced against his will to assist Sloane (Ron Rifkin) in the hunt for Rambaldi.
TVGO: So, we haven't seen the last of Sloane?
Abrams: You'll have to see what happens, but I can tell you that his story is the most compelling now, given [what happens] in the post-Super Bowl episodes.
TVGO: Are you still planning to bring Keri Russell on as a guest? (Abrams was Russell's boss on the WB's late, great Felicity.)
Abrams: We talked about it a couple of times and the fact is, though her name has come up for things, I haven't written anything for her. I haven't had the role that I thought was the right one for her. But I'd love to have her on because I really miss working with her. I think she's a genius. But there's no plan at the moment.
TVGO: What big-name movie star are you currently trying to recruit?
Abrams: The deals aren't closed, but I am certain that by the end of the year there will be a handful of [A-list celebs] on the show. — Michael Ausiello
On Monday, J.J. Abrams talks about the upcoming Alias DVD and whether Sydney and Co. will see a third season.
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
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