ALIAS season 4 ongoing thread (merged) (1 Viewer)

[James Gumbart]

But repeats can be good for casual viewers who miss an episode here and there.

People like us wouldn't miss a single one even if they played it on a different day every week at a random time in the middle of the night (at least my Replay TV wouldn't miss it ).

I'm not too fond of the idea. It's not like I can't disconnect from the show for a few weeks until the next new episode. In fact, with my schedule, I often watch 2-3 at a time anyway.

 

[Evan Lee]

Am I the only who is actually rooting for DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES to fail without having actually seen it or even understanding its premise? Who knows, it might be a great show, but I want it to be killed by sports and reality television already. I must also agree with those who believe there is no chance that ABC will actually let ALIAS run for 22 uninterrupted weeks. On the otherhand, does any one know for sure that ABC has the superbowl this year?

 

[Rick Guynn]

I believe FOX has the Superbowl this year.

RG

 

[Gabe D]

But does "Alias" have casual viewers who miss an episode here and there? Watching this show out of sequence makes little sense to me.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Don't be bitter. The people making Desperate Housewives have nothing to do with the people making scheduling decisions other than picking up a paycheck.

Besides, if it's killed by anything, it'll be killed by Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

 

[Gabe D]

Hopefully they wouldn't put a new "Alias" against the Superbowl. I can imagine the network's reaction to the record low ratings.

 

[Steven Wesley]

I've watched every season so far and applaud this move. Anything that helps get the show cancelled faster is fine in my book! (Sorry, but it's no longer enjoyable).

 

[Eddy-C]

I just started watching this season without seeing season 1 and 2 so most of the early episodes made no sense to me. I was hoping that ABC would re-air those eps so I could watch them in context but nada so far.

 

[James Gumbart]

You can skip over a lot of the sub plots that last 1-3 episodes and still get the jist of the season, I think.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

You're going to see seasons whittled down to 13 or 14 episodes pretty soon. With the ever increasing amount of commercials during these shows you'll probably see the equivalent of 7 hour long shows.

At least with pay TV shows like The Sopranos and 6 Feet Under, their running times are usually a solid 60 minutes plus.

 

[Garrett Adams]

It seems like it wasn't so long ago that a season was 39 episodes.

 

[Jeff R.]

The shorter seasons may also be due to increased production costs and time. I remember hearing that each episode of 24 takes twice as long to make as a traditional hour long episode. Unless they start filming year round (which won't happen), they won't have a choice but to shorten the seasons.

 

[Kevin Goodwin]

IIRC, Alias had a big episode right AFTER the Superbowl in Season 2, wasn't it? (The skanky lingerie-on-the-airplane episode. ) I would expect them to do something similar in order to continue uninterrupted.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Does ABC have the Oscars again next year? If that's the case Alias definitely will be interrupted.

I think there is no chance that Alias will be uninterrupted but the interruptions should be minimal (Super Bowl, Oscars, and maybe one or two other events). The real idea is to minimize the number of reruns.

Interruptions are likely to be minimal anyway- I'm assuming that they will want to still finish during May sweeps. Considering that there is only five months for 22 episodes they are going to have to:

a) Shorten the episode count from 22 episodes
b) Double up some episodes (maybe a two hour season premiere and finale?)
c) Suck it up and let the finale occur in June despite the smaller summer viewing audience

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Most network season shows have been around the 21-26 mark for about the last 35 years.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

ABC always has the Oscars. At least for the past 28 years that I've been watching.

I can see them doing this without interruption (so to speak).

A show after the Superbowl.

That leaves the Oscars and ABC's annual showing of The Ten Commandments. Alias could have a two hour season finale and the other ep could be run during the week sometime (or another two hour ep could also work). This way all 22 eps would finish by the end of May. Of course the season would have to begin Jan. 2nd.

BTW, who is airing the Super Bowl? I don't follow football.

 

[Don Black]

I think I'll just wait for the DVDs with such a release schedule. Better picture and audio quality plus better continuity. If I had to wait a full season, I might not last. But just 6 months or so...

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

It's Fox's turn for the Superbowl. I can't wait to find out what they are planning for a squeaky clean halftime show.

 

[Joseph S]

Not compared to the 720p HD DD 5.1 broadcasts we already have.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Yes but the dvds blow away the quality us Non-HDTV owners get from over compressed Directv locals or a Cable Provider.