Roswell (TV series)
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Roswell was a sci-fi series created by Jason Katims. The series ran between October 1999 and May 2002. Described by one reviewer as "a star-crossed teen-age love story with an otherworldly twist" (Roberts, Associated Press, September 29, 1999), the series focused on teenaged aliens passing as humans in Roswell, New Mexico. The aliens are survivors of a 1947 UFO crash popularly known as The Roswell Incident. One of the aliens, Max Evans, played by Jason Behr, falls in love with human Liz Parker, played by Shiri Appleby.
The series pilot was based on the "Roswell High" young adult book series, written by Melinda Metz and published by Pocket Books. In some countries, the tv series aired under the "Roswell High" title.
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Airing history
"Roswell High" was originally developed by 20th Century Fox Television and Regency Television for the Fox network, though it landed on the WB (re-named simply "Roswell") thanks to the latter network's offer to extend a full 22-episode upfront commitment. The series premiered on October 6, 1999 to generally favorable reviews. Although it quickly garnered an outspoken fanbase, the series almost immediately entered a steady ratings decline that would keep the show under constant threat of cancellation.
In the United States, Roswell lasted for two seasons on the WB. On May 15, 2001, the WB cancelled the series, a move widely anticipated due to the disappointing ratings. But Fox was able to persuade United Paramount Network to pick up Roswell for a third (and ultimately final) season in a deal packaging the underperforming series with Fox's coveted property Buffy The Vampire Slayer which UPN had just managed to steal away from WB in a heated bidding war. However, Roswell failed to hold on to enough of the audience from its new lead-in, Buffy. So once again it faced cancellation. Roswell's final episode aired on May 14, 2002.
In the UK, Roswell (High) was shown on Sky TV but only the first two seasons were shown by the BBC. The BBC website has an explanation (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/roswell/schedule.shtml) for their failure to show the third season.
Basic premise
"September 23rd. Journal entry one. I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. After that things got really weird..."
Series creator/producer Katims frequently described the show's alien themes as metaphor for teen alienation and coming-of-age.
As the show starts Liz (Shiri Appleby), Maria (Majandra Delfino) and Alex (Colin Hanks) are three best friends that go to school in Roswell. Liz is working at the Crashdown Cafè and is accidentally shot during an argument between two customers. Classmate Max Evans (Jason Behr) rushes to her side and heals the mortal wound just by placing his hand over it – bringing her back to life.
Liz later discovers a silver handprint on her stomach. She confronts Max, who is forced to admit that he, sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and their friend Michael (Brendan Fehr) are aliens. The aliens all appear human and attend the same school in Roswell, however their lives have diverged somewhat due to very different home lives (Max and Isabel were adopted by a doting middle-class family whereas Michael grew up sharing a trailer with an abusive foster father). It is clear that Max has strong feelings for Liz, who is immediately drawn to him although she is dating Kyle Valenti (Nick Wechsler).
Liz is initially sworn to secrecy but eventually Maria and Alex learn the truth and these six reluctantly become friends as they struggle to protect the alien trio from mysterious government agents, curious UFO-seekers, and especially the suspicions of Sheriff Valenti (William Sadler) and son Kyle.
Early on, it is revealed that the aliens had emerged from incubation pods long after their spaceship crashed. Subsequent seasons explore the aliens' origins, their powers and their past.
In response to the ratings problems, the network ordered the relationship-driven standalone episodes of the early first season to be replaced with more sci-fi themes and multi-episode plot arcs. Starting with the second season, veteran sci-fi writer Ronald D. Moore was brought in to join Katims as an executive producer and showrunner, and to further develop the sci-fi elements. During seasons two and three, members of the fanbase increasingly grow divided between those who had preferred the original style (criticized by opponents as too soapy or melodramatic) versus those who preferred the newer style (criticized by opponents as too dark or convoluted).
DVD releases
These are the DVD release dates for region 1.
These are the DVD release dates for region 2.
The region 1 release had some songs on the soundtrack changed from the original broadcast versions as a result of license fees.
Trivia
- The television series was based on the "Roswell High" series of books created by author Melinda Metz under editor Laura J. Burns. The pair eventually joined the show in the 3rd season as staff writers. The episode "A Tale of Two Parties" marked their television-writing debut.
- One notable quirk was the aliens' favorite condiment, Tabasco brand hot sauce (reputedly the show's prop bottles were actually filled with raspberry sauce), which they liberally sprinkled on nearly every meal. The Tabasco connection was later highlighted by fans who sent thousands of the tiny bottles to network executives along with pleas to save the show.
- Although Behr and Heigl played siblings on the show, the actors began dating offscreen during the show's run and reportedly were engaged for a while after the show ended.
- Delfino — who was pursuing a musical career offscreen — sang several times on the series, most notably the Phil Collins single "In The Air Tonight" and the gospel classic "Amazing Grace".
- The theme song was Dido's "Here With Me", from the album No Angel (1999).
- Jonathan Frakes, an actor well known for his role in Star Trek: The Next Generation, was an executive producer, and directed several episodes. He also appeared in the pilot episode as an MC, then as himself in two other episodes, "The UFO Convention" and "Secrets and Lies".
Main cast list
- Shiri Appleby as Elizabeth Parker (Liz)
- Jason Behr as Maxwell Evans (Max)
- Majandra Delfino as Maria De Luca, Liz's best friend and workmate
- Brendan Fehr as Michael Guerin
- Colin Hanks as Alex Whitman, Liz and Maria's best friend (1999-2001)
- Katherine Heigl as Isabel Amanda Evans, Max's sister
- William Sadler as Sheriff Valenti, Kyle's father
- Nick Wechsler as Kyle Valenti, Liz's former boyfriend
- Emilie de Ravin as Tess Harding, another alien with human appearance (2000-2001)
- Adam Rodriguez as Jesse Esteban Ramirez (2001-2002)
Other recurring cast members
- Julie Benz as Miss Topolsky, a mysterious substitute teacher
- Jim Ortlieb as Nasedo, a shape-shifting alien
- John Doe as Jeff Parker, Liz's father
- Jo Anderson as Nancy Parker, Liz's mother
- Garrett M. Brown as Philip Evans, the adoptive father of Max and Isabel
- Mary Ellen Trainor as Diane Evans, the adoptive mother of Max and Isabel
- Diane Farr as Amy De Luca, Maria's mother
- Devon Gummersall as Sean DeLuca, Maria's cousin
Pop culture influences
Besides the "Roswell High" books, "Roswell" has frequently been compared to its various pop culture influences, including:
- Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet
- "My So-Called Life", for which Katims had been a writer
- "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", for which Moore had been a writer and producer
- "X-Files, which director/producer David Nutter had worked on
- "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", which shared the same production company and broadcast network(s), and which had helped launch Behr's career with a guest role in the 1997 episode "Lie To Me"
See also
- Roswell UFO incident
- References to Star Trek in Roswell
- List of science fiction television programs
- List of TV shows that have switched networks
References
- Crashdown.com (http://www.crashdown.com/news/9912/22.shtml) — New WB Series 'Roswell' Ups The Ante On Teen Angst (Chris Roberts, Associated Press, September 29, 1999) retrieved June 19, 2005.
- SciFi.com (http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue254/interview.html) — Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz Graduate from Roswell High to TV (Patrick Lee, March 4, 2002) retrieved June 19, 2005.
- SciFi.com (http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue213/news.html) — WB Announces Schedule (author unknown, May 21, 2001) retrieved June 19, 2005.
- Zap2It.com (http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,274|75811|1|,00.html) — 'Roswell' Finale Aims for the Stars (Kate O'Hare, May 9, 2002) retrieved June 19, 2005.
- BeBeyond.com (http://www.bebeyond.com/LearnEnglish/BeAD/Readings/RoswellReview.htm) — 'Roswell' Gets an A for Human Relations' (Mike Antonucci, San Jose Mercury News, October 5, 1999) retrieved June 19, 2005.
External Links
- The Roswell TV Show (http://www.crazyabouttv.com/roswell.html) page at Crazy About TV features trivia, a plot summary, cast list, and episode titles for the series.
- The Crashdown (http://www.crashdown.com) – Regular news, episode transcripts, fan fiction, etc.
- The Crash Festival: Roswell Broadcast News [1] (http://litefoot1969.bravepages.com/roswell/news/broadcast.htm) & [2] (http://litefoot1969.bravepages.com/roswell/news/broadcast_2.htm) – Extensive archive of articles detailing Roswell's broadcast history and reviews
- Heaven Can Wait (http://www.panthermoon.com/roswell/characters) – Extensive cast list with pictures
- RoswellMovie.net (http://roswellmovie.net) – a community that campaigns for a Roswell movie
- Fox Home Entertainment (http://www.foxhome.com/roswell/home.html) – DVD information
- BBC cult pages for Roswell (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/roswell)
- Roswell.it (http://www.antoniogenna.net/roswell) – Roswell Italian Website
- alt.tv.roswell – USENET newsgroup dedicated to Roswellfr:Roswell (série télévisée)
Categories: 2000s TV shows in the United States | Science fiction television series | UPN network shows | WB network shows
