How does Alias survive?
 

I was a faithful viewer for most of the season until The Sopranos started, but I found mildly entertaining at best with some brief moments of brilliance. Hey, wasn't much else on at the time.

What has me baffled is that if you look at the numbers, this show is last in its time slot, 75th in the ratings, and seems quite expensive to make with all of the gadgetry, sets, and guest stars. If this were any other series on another network, or even ABC *cough*Karen Sisco*cough*, it would have been axed at this point.
Why, with all it has against it, does ABC insist on keeping this show on the air? Also, if it didn't have Jennifer Garner as its star would it have been axed long ago?

"Cult" followed show and I would guess the DVD sales haven't been half bad for it either. Heck, that's why Family Guy is coming back from the grave (DVD sales).

ABC/Disney wants to keep Jennifer Garner happy. I think that's the bottom line.

If they can keep her employed, in their vehicles, she'll generate money. There was an article recently stating that she could be the next Julia Roberts and they are banking on that.

We'll find out over the next couple of weeks if that is even a distinct possibility.

I still don't understand why they have never bothered to move this from Sunday. I think they'd probably get better ratings on another night. Put it up against a reality show or something. The people who like this show are probably many of the same people who watch Sopranos, 6FU, or other HBO fare-- the people who hate the reality stuff.

I agree Jadzia.

That was in the Entertainment Weekly with Prince on the cover. The show does not really need to be moved much. IMO it should have been on in the 10pm slot where "The Practice" was instead. For me it is tough to watch when I also have "The Sopranos" and "Arrested Development" to consider. Now I want to also watch the new NBC mini "10.5"... I am so screwed.

I think people here have hit on a lot of reasons that the show is still on the air, despite pretty terrible ratings.

Ultimate, you have to consider that this is ABC -- the network itself has AWFUL ratings overall, and very little successful programming. So the criteria for what they decide to keep is different than, say, NBC or CBS.

Alias is a show that has:

* An actress that they suspect is going to be the next "IT" girl (and I agree).
* DVD and syndication deals
* Video games, books, and other marketing tie-in material
* A cult audience / internet buzz / whatever

Basically, they don't have many/any other shows with this kind of exposure, so I suspect they'll hang onto it for another year or two at least... just in the hopes that all of this results in better ratings. However, I doubt that the ratings will ever improve (unless they experiment with a night/timeslot change). The ratings bumped after the Super Bowl/reboot stunt, and then settled right back to exactly where they were before.

Also realize that ABC is going through a MAJOR shake up. Lloyd Braun was fired after he'd already picked up some odd choices for next season...

<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29410-2004Apr20.html">Full article.</a>
Basically ABC is pretty F'd in the A right now as far as agressive programming and scheduling goes. Maybe this shake up will change things - but please retain Alias long enough to let J.J. tie all the storyline up instead of giving it the "Karen Sisco"!

the radio says its the 18-34 audience that ABC despreatly wants.

thats next sun, not this sunday.

Good thing he has that back up gig selling computers for Frank Costanza.

One thing that it has going for it is that it is a very popular show with people who own a Tivo.

I watch this over the rest of the shows. I replay Malcolm/Arrested, and I watch Sopranos at one of the 10 or so other times they show it. If I'm impatient I can watch Sopranos at midnight on HBOW, or I can wait until later in the week and watch it in HD. Alias is the one show that I wanna see in HD and it's not replayed, so it gets top priority.

with disposable income.

Re: How does Alias survive?
 

It's very simple: Americans loooooooove to watch crap. Whether it's Apprentice, American Idol, or some other disposable tripe that appeals to the rat-gutter denominator, viewers in this country eat television programming like this up like it was all-you-can-eat at a supermarket sushi buffet.

ABC is hard up for anything that generates any sort of potential ratings. They are in bad shape right now so if something works in the slightest bit, they'll keep it.

So if Carla Gugino was a more recognizable star to the public would Karen Sisco still be around now?

Would you please stop bringing up that tragic event - you are depressing the shit out of some of us. :(

But to answer your question - not necessarily.

I'm sorry. :( While it might sound pathetic, Karen Sisco was almost like spending time with a great girlfriend once a week. ABC apparently didn't think the relationship would work and forced us to break up. :(

I actually thought that Alias had a shelf life of about four seasons. I think the same thing for 24 as well.

Given how inconsistent and mediocre Season 3 has been, I can't say I disagree.

I'd love to see the network and creators get together and say "You know, the ratings suck and this just isn't working out. Let's make Season 4 the last one -- make it kick ass and tie up all the storylines."

Of course, that's in my fictional utopia... this is the real world, where they'll either string it out for 9 seasons until it sucks beyond belief (X-Files) or they'll cancel it before its time without resolving the story in a satisfactory way (Farscape, Angel)

TV can be incredibly frustrating at times...

Didn't Jennifer Garner signed on to Alias for a very long term contract? I remember reading an article about it in this forum. If I remember correctly, the contract is to 2008. Maybe it'll cost ABC even more if they cancel the show now so they keep it on.

Garner did sign a long-term contract, but that doesn't impact how long ABC must keep the show on.

They did that to 'lock her in' so they don't have to renegotiate with her every year. But they could still cancel the show tomorrow with no financial reprocussions.

A lot of stuff has been said in this thread that makes sense, but I like to think this is one of those times that a network is sticking by a show they believe in. Maybe I'm being naive.