They weren't kidding when they said TV event - a twenty friggin intro. No joke, twenty minutes of TV without a single commercial.

Incredible stuff, too. I have Angela Bassett has a recurring role because her scenes with Jennifer Garner were phenomenally strong.

Love this show.

I had never seen 'Alias' before but had heard it was good so I tuned in.

If anyone Tivo'ed it, check out the opening scene when Garner is running. I believe, at some points, it is a stunt man in drag. A stunt man complete with awesome abs.

Angela Basset is hot!

The running sequence at the beginning was cleverly done, I thought. I think it was Garner, though - she's buffed up even more because of Electra, the movie.

I'm officially hooked again.

I loved the first season, and saw most of the second, but skipped last season--it got too sensational, didn't like the stupid Sloan character and the whole Amy Irving stuff, and the silly love interests stuff. But I loved Lena Olin as the mother. Tuned in last night, and it was as good as the first season, loved the back and forth story sequence, but sometimes it's hard to look at Garner's face--those lips are just too pumped, especially in the opening of the second hour, so distracting. I think the girl keeps the collegen injections business in business. But the story was really good. Which night will be it's regular night?

It's regular timeslot will be Wednesday at 9pm.

I miss my boyfriend, Sark, who in real life was born in only 1981 and is not British.

Lena Olin is awesome. Come back from the dead! She's still alive. The last time we heard about her was when Jack lost contact with her on the internet. I think it was a setup to get the CIA off her back. The Irina betrayal of Jack 2 seasons ago must have also been a setup planned by the two of them. The hit on Sydney by her mother was probably in actuality by Irina's sister. Those are my theories.

Lena Olin will not be back. She made some outrageous contract demands after her initial stint on Alias and Abrams took alot of flak for not bringing her back. Killing her off in the first episode this year was definitely a message being sent.

But isn't she married to the director Ken Olin?

No. Ken Olin is married to the actress from thirtysomething Patricia Wettig who also appeared on Alias as the CIA psychologist. Lena is married to Swedish director Lasse Halstrom, who directed My Life as a Dog, Chocolat and The Cider House Rules among others.

ALIAS SPOILER!!!


Wrong, loser! JJ Abrams has lured Olin back for the 90 minute season finale. The tought-to-be-dead Irina will return which is great news for the show.

It's nice to know that with the ratings spike this season we Alias fans won't have to worry about the show coming back. Each previous year, renewal was always a question.

The show has been really great again after a kind of lackluster 3rd season. Last week's episode was one of the best this season so far.

Gee, I hope George_vikingfan doesn't get upset and leave the board because you called him a loser, or you get threatened with suspension and turn into a goody-two-shoes who compliments everyone on everything...

Yeah that'll happen!

Good news for Alias fans (though that seems I am the only one here on Outsports!). Alias has been renewed for a 5th season. I wonder if ABC will do what they did this year and bring it back in January and run it uninterrupted through May? The ratings are the highest they've ever been thanks to Lost's lead-in. And the show has really hit it's stride the past few weeks.

In three plus seasons, I have only caught one episode. Can anybody give a quick recap of the seasons. Or, if that would be too much, let me know a site I can check out that would update me.

I want to start watching it, but afraid nothing will make sense.

The storylines of the first three seasons are too complex to try and explain here, but the current season is more stand-alone oriented though it would helpful to know the background. But I did find this site that contains detailed episode guides.

Alias Episode Guide

Bummer you weren't in NY. I could lend you the DVDs! Maybe a friend of yours has them. Or you could join Netflix and rent the DVDs. Reading the episode guides will help you but watching the show (with Sydney running around in her campy outfits and wigs beating up the bad guys and escaping from more elaborate traps than the ones the Joker and Penguin set for Batman!) is all the fun!

Alias is best enjoyed with full knowledge and cooperation with past episodes. Watching the first three seasons on DVD is true TV fun. I love this show, not just because I love spies and dress-up, but because the actors and scripts are by and large pretty terrific. Lena Olin has always been a stunning film actress (The Unbearable Lightness of Being) but the advantage of being a certain age has given her such presence and authority. Isabella Rosselini was inspired casting as her sister, and I, too, have always appreciated Sark as a character and as someone to watch. The casting on this show has always been truly fantastic.

Bad news for a potential sixth season of Alias-ABC is moving it to Thursday for next season where it will go up against Survivor on CBS and Smallville on the WB. Moving it to Thursday at 8 pm usually means a network doesn't have alot of faith in a show. Granted the slot isn't as tough since Friends ended and the combination of Joey and Will & Grace proved to be a failure but Alais will still really struggle in this slot. Also Jennifer Garner's pregnancy has to factor in as well.