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Miscellaneous News 2003
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The Hollywood Exclusive
October 23, 2003
by Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Djimon Hounsou admits he was a bit hesitant about
taking his recurring role on the ABC spy series "Alias," on which his
character debuts Sunday (10-26).
"I play the head of an organization that is threatening the security
of people in the world, and they're (the CIA) coming to take us
down," says the actor of "Gladiator" and "Amistad" fame. Adds
Hounsou, "Even though this is a fictional character, I had to take
into consideration that people won't look favorably on the character
if I do as good a job as I'd like."
Probably not.
© Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith 2003
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Boston Herald
October 6, 2003
If we ran a TV network...
by Mark A. Perigard
Stop spinning the clock forward: Both ABC's "Alias" and Fox's "24"
cheated viewers by jumping years ahead. "Alias'" kick-butt heroine
(Jennifer Garner) is now a two-year-older amnesiac, estranged from her
now-married love (Michael Vartan). And forget "24's" harrowing
cliffhanger. When the Fox show starts ticking Oct. 29, three years will
have past, giving the president (Dennis Haysbert) plenty of time to
recover from that biological attack. Ripping off calendar pages is an
act of writers' desperation.
© Herald Interactive Systems, Inc. 2003
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SciFi Wire
August 29, 2003
Garner Game for Alias
Jennifer Garner, star of ABC's Alias, told Variety that seeing her doppelganger in the just-released show-inspired video game is "surreal." "When I watch her walk, she twitches in a familiar way," Garner told the trade paper at a release party for the game and the show's first-season DVD set. "But she's bigger, better, curvier, tougher and meaner."
© SCI FI 2003
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Entertainment Weekly
September 5, 2003
What's the Story With...'Elektra'
by Joshua Rich, with additional reporting by Nancy Miller
"She looks pretty dead to me," says Marvel Studios exec VP Kevin Feige of
Jennifer Garner's killer alter ego who, in Daredevil, seemed headed for
some ass kicking in the sky. "But there's going to be a movie." Namely, the
spin-off Elektra, set to shoot next spring. (Garner's costars and director
have yet to be chosen.) While plot reports vary--potential characters include
secret agent Nick Fury and criminal cabal the Hand--Feige guardedly says the
comics-inspired script finds Elektra "forced to reconfront a past she'd hoped
to leave behind." Garner, who hones her skills on TV's Alias, is ready
for action. "It'll be amazing to spend a year training," says the star. "I'm
hungry for a good fight."
© Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. 2003
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Entertainment Weekly
September 5, 2003
Guilty Pleasures: 'Alias' Online Fanfiction
by Missy Schwartz
Sydney Bristow is hunting down an assassin hired by archenemy Arvin Sloane to
kill fellow CIA agent (and lover) Michael Vaughn. The hitwoman is ruthless, armed
with razor-sharp sais and devoid of allegiance. Her name? Elektra Notchios.
Down, geek: This isn't a sneak peek at an upcoming Alias script, but rather
a nugget of online fanfiction. In the far-out corners of the cyber-universe where
tube freaks pen adventures--sorry, fics--for their beloved heroes, there are no
rules. Jennifer Garner's small-screen Sydney can knock down her big-screen
Elektra, then team back up with her to rescue Vaughn. Meanwhile, verbally
challenged technogeek Marshall can write an advice column (forums.allalias.com).
And evil Irina Derevko can be a model grandmother to the Bristow-Vaughn
twins (fanfiction.aliasfour.com). These fics are littered with grammar
and spelling errors, but we dare you to close your browser on the earnest
author epigraphs. Pleads AgentBristow, who penned an eight-chapter yarn called
Recall, "I have been working REALLY hard at this, so please read it
and please like it!" Consider it done.
Guilty Pleasure Rating: 4 out of 10
© Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. 2003
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New York Times News Service
August 17, 2003
TAKING BACK TELEVISION, ONE DISC AT A TIME
by Emily Nussbaum
On the forthcoming "Alias" first season commentary tracks, which will
be released in September, the cast is affectionate, with Jennifer
Garner sweetly consoling Ron [Rifkin] as he complains about the
closeups on his wrinkles. ("What's that flap?" he moans at one
point.) And the whole cast bursts into horrified, nervous giggles
during a torture scene: "Look, they're jerking his head around like
it's a pumpkin!"
© New York Times 2003
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Entertainment Weekly
July 25, 2003
Hit and Rerun
by Ken Tucker
As you make your summer reading list--complete with those thicker, more challenging
books you've been putting off, plus a couple of hard-boiled-mystery or chick-litty
beach reads--don't forget to consider the dramas washing ashore on your TV.
There's an evolution under way in how hour-long shows' plots unfold (watching
the "story arc" reruns of, say, NYPD Blue, usually aired out of order,
now seems antiquated to the point of absurdity), and summer programming makes
this sun-glaringly clear. You can relax with old classics, discover new
passions (I think you're already catching on to this: Reruns of one of the shows
recommended below, Without a Trace, are outdrawing ER replays), and
get hooked on a guilty pleasure or two.
[...] Here's a sample of the broadcast networks' second-run, first-rate fare.
Alias
ABC, Sundays, 9 p.m.
Come on, America: Start zooming in on network TV's most pleasurably intricate,
witty hour. Here's my theory about why Jennifer Garner can get her spandexed
curves plastered all over every publication from EW to Femme Fatales (go
to a bigger newsstand, bub) and still not win its time slot: Alias
suffers from Buffy Syndrome--people think any series with a sexy gal
at its center is exploitative or adolescent. But bless creator J.J. Abrams'
hummingbird-fast beating heart; his pulp-espionage plots are bracingly
byzantine. And listen here, grown-ups: By adding Lena Olin to the cast as
Garner's mom, Abrams supplied the kind of maturity that gives sex symbols a
good name. He also streamlined the show to emphasize action, emotion, family
dynamics, and puzzles you can solve. It's like finishing a crossword while
sitting in an Adirondack chair, sipping a gin and tonic.
© Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. 2003
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Daily Variety
July 18, 2003
Emmy wrap-up
"I am so excited for my spy parents--how cool is that?" said an
overjoyed Jennifer Garner of the supporting acting nominations earned
by her "Alias" mom and dad, Lena Olin and Victor Garber. Garner, who
grabbed her own nom for a second consecutive year in the leading
actress category, reacted to the news as she waited to board a plane
to L.A. from Gotham. "I can't believe the category. I admire every
woman in it," she said.
Thesp, who has wrapped the feature "13 Going on 30," told Daily
Variety that she can't wait to return to the "Alias" set next week,
not only to "dive into the work," but to personally congratulate the
entire team for their contributions to the show's 11
nominations. "It's a great boost as we prepare for the third season."
© Variety 2003
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The Hollywood Reporter
July 14, 2003
Showbiz people briefs
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Alias" executive producers Alex
Kurtzman-Counter and Roberto Orci have inked a development deal with
the series producer, Touchstone Television.
As part of the one-year, seven-figure pact -- which has an option for
a second year -- the writing-producing duo will continue as executive
producers on J.J. Abrams' stylish spy drama for ABC alongside Abrams,
John Eisendrath and Ken Olin, while developing another drama project
for the studio.
© Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter 2003
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Zap2it
July 12, 2003
Sci-Fi Stars Said It. You Read It.
by Kate O'Hare
It's never a dull year in genre-TV land. So, as the lazy, hazy days of summer hit full stride, let's take a look back at some of the more memorable published pronouncements from the denizens of the worlds of sci-fi, fantasy and horror.
Jennifer Garner of ABC's "Alias," on whether intrepid superspy Sydney Bristow would ever go all the way with Agent Vaughn, played by Michael Vartan (Oct. 2002): "She's definitely in love with Vaughn, but that's such an impossible relationship. She values him too much as a friend, right now, not to let that into her mind too much."
For the record, they did go all the way, but it's a pity Vaughn appears to have married someone else after the show seemingly hopped two years into the future in the season finale, leaving a puzzled Sydney stranded in Hong Kong.
Garner's co-star, Carl Lumbly, on his superhero character from the 1994 series "M.A.N.T.I.S.," in which he played a wheelchair-bound scientist with a super-suit (Feb. 2003): "All I remember thinking was, 'I'm the lead on a series, but if I have to go to the restroom, I have to be helped because there is no zipper in this suit.'"
© Zap2it 2003
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Zap2it
June 13, 2003
This Was the Year That Was
by Kate O'Hare
...
"Alias" continued to be a source of joy and pride (if not boffo ratings) for ABC, as creator J.J. Abrams, not once, but twice, exploded his premise. In a post-Super Bowl episode, he threw out the notion of Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner), double agent, and replaced it with a straightforward CIA focus -- as straightforward as possible, considering the amount of ancient Rambaldi artifacts and genetic duplicates wandering around.
Then, in the season finale, he once again upended the "Alias" cart, sending Sydney hurtling two years (or so it seems) into the future and dropping her on a Hong Kong street.
Considering how important this show is to struggling ABC, kudos to both Abrams and the network brass for continuing to confound viewers' expectations.
© Zap2it 2003
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CNET News.com
June 12, 2003
Disney to 'push' ABC over the net
by Stefanie Olsen
Walt Disney's ABC.com is set to begin testing a new Internet
application that downloads television clips to people's desktops
daily, a move that takes a page from sister site ESPN.com.
The TV network Web site, a veritable commercial for ABC shows such
as "NYPD Blue," will let 10,000 people download the TV viewer
application starting Tuesday, said Harry Lin, vice president of
content for ABC.com.
The technology, which mirrors that built by ABC.com's parent unit
Walt Disney Internet Group for ESPN, will funnel preview clips and
behind-the-scenes footage of programs several times daily to the
computers of testers. If all goes well, ABC.com hopes to widely
launch the application, for free, to the public in July, Lin said.
....
ABC.com plans to download previews of shows or archives of "best of"
material, such as "Alias" star Jennifer Garner in a red slip, Lin
said. It will upload content several times a day, he said.
© CNET Networks, Inc. 2003
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SciFi Wire
June 10, 2003
Olin Hopes for Alias Return
Lena Olin, who played Irina Derevko on ABC's Alias, told SCI FI Wire
that she is trying to work out her schedule to return in the series'
upcoming third season. "I couldn't be [a regular], because I live in
New York," Olin said in an interview. "I'll see if we can work it out
so that I can work a chunk of time [in Los Angeles, where the show is
filmed]. There are two other [films] that I want to do that I want to
fit in with the Alias schedule, and so I don't know how it's going to
work out."
Olin added that the season-ending cliffhanger -- in which Sydney
Bristow (Jennifer Garner) wakes up two years after being presumed
dead -- shocked the cast as much as it did viewers. "That was a
surprise to everybody in the cast as well," Olin said. "Nobody knew
about that." Alias airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
© SCI FI 2003
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Star-Telegram
May 30, 2003
What characters!
by Robert Philpot
Every season, a sprinkling of familiar and unfamiliar faces breathes
life into shows new and old. Here are some of the ones I enjoyed most
this season.
Irina Derevko (Lena Olin), Alias: Usually, when an actor better known
for movies makes the transition to a recurring TV role, it's either a
stunt or a sign of a career on the skids. But as CIA agent Sydney
Bristow's nefarious mother -- who shot Sydney in the season premiere,
then claimed it was an act of love -- Olin became an integral part of
the series' intricate drama and displayed acting chops she hasn't
shown since 1988's The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
© Star-Telegram 2003
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SciFi Magazine
August 2003
Interview with Jesse Alexander
"We are all incredibly excited about the stories we can tell next
year," said writer/supervising producer Jesse Alexander about the
upcoming third season. Writing for a show that never seems to take a
pause is "challenging and thrilling and exhausting and frightening
and rewarding. Thank God we have these viewers who have taken it to
their hearts and been so supportive of it.
"And that makes all our hard work worthwhile, that we feel that we're
taking them on this epic journey that you don't very often see in
television. It's an ever-unfolding epic with these characters, and we
try to raise the bar in every episode and keep our audience guessing
and involved in the story. And yet we never want them to feel as if
we're just throwing them a curve out of nowhere. We don't want to
lose them. We want them to feel that the changes that are happening
and the choices that happening are grounded in the reality of the
show that we've created,' said Alexander.
For Alexander and the rest of the writing staff, it's a constant
effort. "It all comes down to J.J.'s terrific vision of the show.
He's the great center and visionary of Alias. So we always can fall
back on J.J. to know exactly emotionally where things need to be
going. And then it's up to the entire brain trust to come up with the
complex storylines and all that stuff. You feel kind of like you're
on a roller coaster. It's just kind of terrifying and it just keeps
accelerating. … We want to just make sure we get the exact right
story. We never want to just jump and commit to a story until we've
analyzed it from every angle and made sure that it tracks with where
we want to go as far as our grand epic goes."
© SCI FI 2003
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TNMC
May 2003
29th Saturn Awards
by Tim Ritenour
The creator of the acclaimed show Alias, and the better forgotten Felicity, found himself bombarded by questions regarding a different project. Namely, the screenplay for the Man of Steel - Superman himself. He states that he hasn't been bothered by any of the negative feedback that leaked onto the internet, and has actually been receiving some positive feedback for his latest adaptation.
In regards to a director for the film after Brett Ratner's departure, he stated that he expects an announcement in the coming weeks.
When asked why he wanted to take on such a daunting property, he stated that it was because of his disappointment in the big summer movies of late.
"I'm not saying I could have done a better job, just that I could have done a better job for myself. I've been left unfulfilled by a few of the big movies lately, so I decided it was time for me to stop complaining about them and actually do something about it."
In regards to Alias, he promises that they have some great things in store for the future.
"As for why things happened the way they did in the season finale, you'll see that they actually serve to enhance and build upon the story we've been telling. It also provides a natural jumping on point for people who have heard about Alias, but felt like in its continuity."
© TNMC Productions 2003
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