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getting the chills
Expectations were high but numbers are faltering
By Heidi Vogt
Jennifer Garner was nominated for an Emmy. Women were dyeing their hair to try to mimic her character's pink-coiffed look. Viewers and critics alike were giving over their Sunday nights to ABC's "Alias" as the fall TV season opened.
But "Alias," while hardly a bomb, is nonetheless falling short of what many expected.
"'Alias' is a top 30 show," says Roy Rothstein, a senior buyer at Zenith Media. "I was just hoping it would be in the top 20."
"Alias" had a strong season start, beating out NBC's top-rated "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" by a few thousand viewers at the end of September. But as the Emmy buzz has faded, so have "Alias'" numbers.
The show dropped from 6.4 million viewers in the 18-49 category at the end of September to 5.6 million the following week to 5.4 million in the most recent rankings.
In contrast, "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" has gained almost half a million 18-49 viewers in the past three weeks.
This is the second season for "Alias," a fantastical spy show in which twenty-something Sydney Bristow (Garner) works as an undercover agent for the CIA. Its plot revolves as much around the characters' personal lives as action sequences, and it's one reason critics praise the show.
"It weds both action and emotion," says TV Guide critic Matt Roush. "The show delivers on so many levels. There's a little bit of ABC, a little bit of WB in there."
Just why "Alias" is dogging is something of a puzzle, with no one answer.
Many thought "Alias" would get a ratings boost with the disappearance of Fox's "X-Files" from the 9 p.m. Sunday time slot.
"They're similar shows -- a strong female lead, a lot of undercover stuff," says Rothstein. But "X-Files" fans haven't migrated to "Alias" in the expected numbers.
"Alias" also may be too original for many viewers.
"There must be people in the world that do things that [Sydney] does, but I have my reservations," says Rothstein.
"The 'Law & Order' franchise does an effective job of portraying solid law enforcement. 'Alias' might be a little bit of a stretch for some people."
Roush agrees. "Tried and true is the strategy that everybody is using this year. If this show were called 'Law & Order: Alias,' it wouldn't be having any problems."
Another problem may be that "Alias" also isn't a self-contained show, where each episode stands on its own, with its own storyline. First-time viewers can get lost in the plot twists that carry over from episode to episode.
"'Alias' requires a little bit more thought than most shows," says Rothstein. "There are continuing features to the show." Says Roush: "You have to care about what the characters are coming back to each episode."
But "Alias'" biggest challenge is simply when it airs on Sunday night against some of the toughest competition in primetime, all with loyal audiences: "The Sopranos," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and even WB's "Angel."
Some of "Alias'" primary female audience may be drifting over to "Angel" on the WB, Rothstein speculates. Roush thinks the real audience drain is to HBO's "The Sopranos."
"The people who watch 'Alias' are the very people who tend to buy HBO, and if you buy HBO you better be watching 'The Sopranos' or you're a fool."
Says TV Guide's Roush: "You could go a week just watching the shows you recorded on Sunday night."
October 18, 2002© 2002 Media Life
-Heidi Vogt is a staff writer for Media Life.
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