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.

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! :D

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.