I haven't seen anybody mention the budget. A year or 2 ago Abrams said that they have the same budget as Ed. Regardless of what you think about the show, you have to admit they do a good job maybe the show look like it has a decent budget. Maybe ABC is smart enough to realize that few other people would be able to get so much bang for their buck.

I think that this weekend will determing whether or not Alias will have more seasons. If 13 Going on 30 delivers the goods with audiences like it has many critics and Garner looks like the next "it" girl, then I wouldn't be surprised to see ABC commit to Alias until season 6. That way they can boast that they have a series with a leading lady and ride that while Garner must honor her contract.
Who knows? Maybe other non-viewers will see the movie and it will boost Alias' ratings. Of course viewers wanting to see the care-free, smiley faced and giggly Garner will be in for a rude awakening. I really do wish Garner would would give Syd another expression than that of someone on the verge of tears all the time.

The other thing that brings me hope is that J.J. is developing 2 new shows for ABC, so if they decide to pull the plug on Alias anytime soon, he will hopefully have enough pull with somebody to get time to tie up all the loose ends and send the show out right. My general impression based on interviews and such is that this show is J.J.'s baby and that he really cares about the stories and the direction of the show, so he would probably push to be allowed to finish everything up. That all being said, I'm thinking 7 seasons would be just about right. not so long that it gets really bad, not so short that it feels over before its time.

i love Alias and want it to continue but i also want Angel to continue DAMMIT !

I've always wondered how such a good show with mediocre ratings has stayed on too. Networks and their trigger happy fingers usually would have yanked something like this off already in favor of a New Reality show.

That doesn't really sound like a positive to me....advertisers (theoritically) pay to get the eyeballs of viewers during a specific program. If a particular show is really popular among TiVo and Replay owners, I can surely guarantee you, they are not watching the commericials.

And as screwed up as the ratings system is, its possible they're not counted as actual viewers.

Clemente is right. The show being popular to folks with tivo means nothing considering Neilson ratings are families who are lacking that tivo set up.

For the record, I think that advertisements are the bane of any good show's existence, and I like to tape shows/wait for DVD to watch them for the expres purpose of of skipping the ads.
The only exception was when I taped an ep. of The Apprentice to get a trailer for Spider-Man 2, in which case a fast-forwarded through everything else!

I thought this show was 1 really long commercial with some action in it.

That is almost every show on television.

ABC needs to "advertise" this show. I've saw nothing but "The Practice" commercials all week.

I think it's pretty much been said, but I think there are a few reasons Alias sticks around

1) ABC is a mess right now, with little actual scripted programming. Particularly one-hour shows where the Practice and NYPD are on there last legs.
2) Young viewers = good for advertisers
3) It gets nominated and wins awards
4) Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Garner

It wouldn't surprise me if ABC is preparing for a "switch" by introducing the long-lost sister. That way if Jennifer Garner decides to get out of her contract, they can use the new girl as the star of the show.

ABC has been advertising the hell out of this show for the past 2-3 years. I don't think anyone can say that the lack of ratings are due to lack of publicity.

The whole point of signing her to the long-term deal was to avoid issues like this. I'm not a lawyer, and I haven't seen the contract... but I don't think that Garner can just "decide" to get out of it.

It's more likely that the addition of the 'sister' is to cover storylines that they had to abandon after Olin didn't sign on for the 3rd season.

Here's the problem....nobody watched ABC to begin with, so you can run all the commercials you want, but if no one is watching your Network to begin with, then its all for naught.

79th, actually.

http://www.allyourtv.com/ratingsseason.html

I dont care how it does, as long as it does. Its pretty much the only show I make a point of not missing.