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Alias (TV series)
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Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006. It starred Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a CIA agent.
The main theme of the series explores Sydney's obligation to conceal her true career from her friends and family, even as she assumes multiple aliases to carry out her missions. These themes are most prevalent in the first two seasons of the show.
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Encyclopedia
Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006. It starred Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a CIA agent.
The main theme of the series explores Sydney's obligation to conceal her true career from her friends and family, even as she assumes multiple aliases to carry out her missions. These themes are most prevalent in the first two seasons of the show. A major plotline of the series was the search for and recovery of artifacts created by Milo Rambaldi, a fictional Leonardo da Vinci-like inventor and Nostradamus-like prophet from the Renaissance period. This plot and some technologies used in the series pushed Alias into the genre of science fiction.
Main characters
Production and crew
Produced by Touchstone Television and Bad Robot Productions, film production primarily took place in the greater Los Angeles area. Studio shooting primarily took place at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, along with some outdoor shots near some of the studio's famous buildings (such as the original Animation Building or the ABC building, which appeared as a building in Hong Kong in the season 1 episode "The Coup"). Despite its worldwide locales, only one episode was ever filmed outside the Los Angeles region (Las Vegas, Nevada).
Guest appearances
Alias included a number of A-list stars that appeared as special guest stars on the show. Some had semi recurring roles, like Isabella Rossellini, while others were in one or two episodes. In both cases, the stars served as important plot line characters. Some of the most notable guests include:
Plot
Season One
Seven years before season 1, Sydney Bristow was an undergraduate student of English literature when she was approached with a job offer by someone claiming to work for SD-6, which was supposedly part of the Central Intelligence Agency. She accepted the offer, and quickly became a field agent. In the pilot, she tells her fiancé Danny that she is a spy. As a result of revealing SD-6's existence to an outsider, her fiancé is murdered by SD-6.
It is then that Sydney is told by her father Jack Bristow (another SD-6 agent) that SD-6 is not part of the CIA; instead, it is part of the Alliance of Twelve, an organization that is an enemy to the United States. Sydney decides to offer her services to the real CIA as a double agent. Her offer is soon accepted, and she begins the long and arduous task of destroying SD-6 from the inside. She quickly learns that her father is also a double agent for the CIA.
Major plotlines from season 1 include Sydney hiding her triple-identity from her friends, both in her personal life and in her SD-6 job, Will Tippin's investigation into Danny's death, and the past antics of Sydney's mother. Sub-plots included Sydney's friendship with Francie, Francie's romantic relationship with Charlie, and Sydney's developing relationship with her CIA handler Michael Vaughn, of whom she is skeptical at first but grows to trust as her life becomes increasingly stressful. Season One focuses on the development of Sydney's character, and allows the audience to become familiar with her. The other seasons share the same theme of a guest star appearing throughout the entire season.
Season Two
The second season begins with the introduction of Irina Derevko, Sydney's mother, who soon becomes a vital part of the series. Midway through the second season, the series underwent a "reboot" of sorts with Sydney successfully destroying SD-6 (after gathering valuable intelligence for tactical strikes from an airborne SD-6 server) and becoming a regular agent for the CIA, still in pursuit of former SD-6 leader Arvin Sloane, his associate Julian Sark, and the Rambaldi artifacts. Sydney's friends at SD-6, Marcus Dixon and Marshall Flinkman, are finally made aware of her dual identity and recruited into the CIA. Sydney also begins a romantic relationship with Vaughn, now that their relationship will not endanger them.
In the second half of the season, it is revealed that Francie Calfo, Sydney's best friend, was murdered and replaced by Allison Doren, a woman who was transfigured to look exactly like her. Allison was then in a position to spy on Sydney and Will. The end of the season saw Will possibly murdered and Sydney killing Allison and then falling unconscious. Sydney awakens two years later in Hong Kong, unable to remember the two years that have passed. She soon learns that her friends and the CIA believed her to be dead, and Vaughn found a new love and is now married.
Season Three
The third season takes place two years after the events of season 2, with Sydney having been missing and presumed dead. DNA evidence in a badly burned body confirmed her death to her family and friends.
The truth, however, is that Sydney was kidnapped by a terrorist organization called The Covenant, who tried to brainwash her into believing she was an assassin named Julia Thorne. Eventually Sydney voluntarily had her memories of the two years erased in an attempt to forget some of the deeds she was forced to undertake as Julia and to ensure that one of Rambaldi's most dangerous artifacts would never be found.
As Sydney recovers, she begins investigating her absence while reintegrating into the CIA. There she deals with the facts that Arvin Sloane had become a world-renowned humanitarian after being pardoned, and that Michael Vaughn had married NSC agent Lauren Reed. Reed is later revealed to be a member of the Covenant and a lover of Julian Sark. The National Security Council plays a role as a government organization that holds massive unsupervised power, with a Guantanamo-like detention facility, considerable influence over the CIA, and driven by questionable motives. Sydney later discovers that her mother and Arvin Sloane had a child together, the result of an affair between the two years earlier. She locates her half-sister, Nadia, and rescues her from being killed by the Covenant.
At the end of the season, Sydney goes on a mission and encounters Lauren. After they battle, Lauren begins to taunt Sydney by saying she has information about her past. When Vaughn shows up, Sydney goes to him, leaving Lauren a chance to attack again. Vaughn shoots Lauren, and she dies, but before she does she gives Sydney the number of a security deposit box where she can find information about her past.
Season Four
Season 4 begins where season three ended with Sydney uncovering a shocking, classified document called "S.A.B. 47 Project." It is explained that the document authorizes Jack Bristow to execute Sydney's mother, who had mysteriously placed a contract on Sydney's life (this was apparently something of a retcon to cover for actress Lena Olin's presumed not returning to the series, as the first page refers to Sydney as the "active" subject of a "project" that began 17 April, 1975, a possible reference to Project Christmas, and also setting up Jack as either the real head of, or somehow involved with, the Covenant and/or being a descendant of Rambaldi/Rambaldi himself).
Sydney joins a black ops division of the CIA, patterned after SD-6 and run by her one-time nemesis Arvin Sloane. The new division is dubbed "APO": Authorized Personnel Only. Members of APO (all hand-picked by Sloane) include almost all of the recurring characters from previous seasons, including Jack, Vaughn, Sydney's former partner (and third season CIA director) Marcus Dixon, the computer and technical genius, Marshall Flinkman, and Vaughn's best friend Eric Weiss (brought in after having to be rescued by Sydney and Vaughn, who he previously believed to have left the CIA). Sloane's daughter and Sydney's half-sister Nadia Santos also eventually returns to join APO.
During the season, an Arvin Sloane impostor, jokingly identified as "Arvin Clone," acquired the technology to implement a Rambaldi-predicted apocalypse. Using Omnifam, the real Sloane had polluted the world's drinking water with chemicals that caused feelings of peace and tranquility. However, these feelings can be reversed with the Mueller device. The third Derevko sister, Elena, had built a giant Mueller device in Sovogda, Russia, which drove the residents to insanity. Sydney, Jack, Irina, Nadia, and Vaughn parachute in, destroy the device and kill Elena. But Nadia is injected with the tainted water and driven insane. She battles Sydney until Sloane is forced to shoot his own daughter. Nadia is later put into a coma while a cure is sought and Irina escapes again.
The season concludes with Sydney and Vaughn becoming engaged. On a trip to Santa Barbara, Vaughn confides a shocking secret: his name isn't really Michael Vaughn; their initial meeting wasn't coincidental; and that his allegiance may not be to the CIA. Before he can divulge any more information, another car hits theirs and the season ends.
Season Five
As season five begins, Vaughn is abducted. Sydney learns that Vaughn is under suspicion of being a double agent and that the crash may have been a cover for his extraction. Vaughn later escapes and explains to Sydney that his real name is André Michaux. He reveals that he is investigating a secret operation known as Prophet Five, which at one point involved his father. During a mission in recovering a Prophet Five book, Sydney receives a phone call from her doctor with some untimely news - she's pregnant. (This development was created to deal with the actress' real-life pregnancy.). Vaughn is later shot, and apparently killed, on orders of Prophet Five operative Gordon Dean. Four months later, as Sydney continues to investigate Vaughn's murder, she works with an assassin and associate of his, Renée Rienne, in order to unearth the inner workings of Prophet Five, while at the same time trailing Dean and his criminal organization "The Shed," disguised as a black ops CIA division, very much like SD-6.
Two new members are added to APO to replace Weiss, who moved to Washington, D.C. for a new job, and Nadia, who is still in a coma. Thomas Grace is a brash young agent with unorthodox methods who often butts heads with Sydney. Rachel Gibson is a computer specialist who, like Sydney, was deceived into thinking she was working for the real CIA and briefly works as a mole within The Shed, as did Sydney within SD-6, before The Shed's destruction by Dean.
In an ongoing subplot, Arvin Sloane follows his own personal obsession, finding a cure for Nadia. Sloane is jailed for his actions during Season 4; however, he is released after the sentencing committee is manipulated by Dean. In exchange for his freedom, Sloane is now working for Dean as a mole within APO. Unaware of Sloane's new allegiance, Jack agrees to let Sloane rejoin APO and use its resources to seek a cure for his daughter.
With the series' end, it emerges that Sloane's ultimate goal is that of immortality, for which he sacrifices Nadia's life. However, he is trapped forever in Rambaldi's tomb by a critically wounded Jack, who sacrifices himself to avenge all the pain Sloane caused Sydney over the years. Sydney tracks Sark and the Horizon to Hong Kong, finding Irina. After a final battle between them, Irina plunges to her death.
The series ends with a flash forward to several years in the future. Sydney and Vaughn are semi-retired and married, with a second child named Jack in honour of Sydney's father. Daughter Isabelle exhibits the same ability to complete the CIA test that marked Sydney's inborn skills to be an ideal agent at that age. However after completing the puzzle she casually knocks it over, perhaps signalling that she will not follow in her mother's footsteps.
Themes
- Family — Family relationships abound throughout the show. In the first season this focused mainly on the strained relationship between Sydney and her father, with echoes in Arvin and Emily Sloane's relationship as surrogate parents for Sydney, and her idealization of her supposedly dead mother. The second season saw Sydney having to come to grips with issues surrounding her mother. The third and fourth seasons changed the mostly parent-child family dynamic, and instead introduced issues revolving around spouses and extended family, as Vaughn struggled to save his marriage and renew his relationship with Sydney. We also met the two sisters of Irina Derevko. However, the parent-child dynamic survived as Vaughn learned that his father was more than a simple CIA agent and as Sloane discovered that he had a daughter. The fifth season can be, in some ways, regarded as a "next generation" in the family drama of Alias. Sydney and Vaughn were finally to be married, and Sydney is becoming a mother in her own right. This is literal, as Sydney discovered that she was pregnant, and also figurative as Sydney takes on a parental role in relation to the new agent Rachel.
- Prophecy/Predetermination — A good deal of Alias revolves around the prophecies of Milo Rambaldi. (In a humorous in-joke, producer J.J. Abrams has admitted that the name "Rambaldi" was borrowed from that of Carlo Rambaldi, the Academy award-winning special effects artist who helped create E.T. for Steven Spielberg in 1982.) We are first introduced to a prophecy about a woman who will "render the greatest power unto utter desolation." Later, as Sloane completes part of the Rambaldi prophecy we learn that he has received his own prophetic message. The Rambaldi storyline seemed to come to a close with the conclusion of Elena Derevko's endgame at the end of season four, but the fifth season introduced its own "prophet" (also in pursuit of Rambaldi) in the form of the mysterious organization known as Prophet Five, which ended up being a reference to Rambaldi and the final part of his endgame, immortality, which had been set up in the first season (though this was only one part of his plan. The first part was world peace, which Elena Derevko perverted and attempted in Season 4).
- Trust/Betrayal — Much of the first three seasons of the show revolved around issues of trust and betrayal. Most obvious is the betrayal of Sydney by SD-6 which starts the show. However, the show includes numerous other examples of betrayal including Irina's betrayal of Jack, Sloane's betrayal of the Alliance, Sydney's betrayal of SD-6 and Sydney's lying to her friends. Indeed the first season can be viewed as a story of Sydney learning to trust her father and the second season can be viewed as Sydney struggling with trust issues relating to her mother.
- Private/Non-Governmental Intelligence Agencies — The world of Alias has one of the largest collections of fictional intelligence agencies in the history of espionage fiction. These agencies are clandestine espionage groups that trade secrets and weapons. Fictional spy organizations that have been featured on the show include:
- SD-6: one of twelve Section Disparu cells under the Alliance of Twelve, employing Sydney Bristow in Season 1 under the pretense that it is a black-ops division of the CIA.
- The Alliance of Twelve: a ruthless international organization, originally formed by twelve defectors from various intelligence agencies. Each member of the Alliance of Twelve is believed to be in charge of an SD cell.
- K-Directorate: a private agency based in Russia and staffed by veterans of communist intelligence services. It is featured mostly in Season 1.
- FTL: based in Hong Kong and apparently specialized in more high tech espionage. It was destroyed by Julian Sark in Season 1.
- "The Man" (aka Irina Derevko) ran an unnamed organization which destroyed FTL and co-opted K-Directorate.
- The Covenant was introduced in season three. They had co-opted many agents of other organizations including Sark, McKenas Cole, and even (through brainwashing) Sydney.
- Prophet Five: the organization that oversees The Shed, and is one of the oldest agencies yet to be discovered by the CIA, having been involved in some sort of high level research twenty years ago. It has been running at least one SD-6-like organization, the Shed, which Rachel Gibson was a part of. Prophet Five is in control of a communications network that reveals infiltration of major intelligence agencies such as MI-6 and others. The twelve leaders of Prophet Five were all killed by Kelly Peyton in the series finale.
- The Trust- five US rogue partners, with places high up in the American government.
- Clandestine operations — The government agencies that Sydney Bristow works for are conducting secret operations in various countries regularly. The same applies of course to the mentioned illegal agencies which are battled against. Those clandestine operations deal with collecting the sought-after Rambaldi artifacts, but also with aspects like illegal arms trade or blackmailing. To further their objectives, the CIA or APO, respectively, arrest criminals from other countries and bring them to interrogation facilities of the CIA.
Credits, Logos, and Graphics in the show
Alias is unusual for an American drama series in that the opening credits do not run until the end of the first long act, sometimes as late as 15 minutes into the episode. In some respects, this mimics the James Bond films, which likewise feature sometimes-lengthy pre-credits sequences. Depending on the demands of a particular episode, the credit sequence is occasionally dropped as the actor credits play over a scene; on those occasions, the series title does not appear on screen until the final fade out.
As the opening credits appear, the letters in the ALIAS reference flash in negative form one by one. The "S" is the last letter to appear, this time in permanent negative. In virtually every episode, the title of a city or town location will slowly zoom in, with one letter being shown in negative and a specific scene appearing within that negative. As it usually does with the "S" in the show title at the very start, this letter eventually takes up the entire screen and gives way to the scene itself.
The first three seasons used a minimalist credit sequence consisting only of the actors names appearing as the title Alias gradually forms in one corner of an otherwise black screen. For one frame in Seasons 1 and 3 during Victor Garber's credit, the Rambaldi "eye" symbol ( ) flashes over the Alias title; In Season 2, it flashes during Lena Olin's credit. In season 5 it flashes during Balthazar Getty's credit.
For the fourth season, a shorter, flashier credit sequence was introduced that used a new, remixed version of the theme. As the cast names appeared, 52 images of Sydney in 47 various disguises appear in rapid succession, ending with a shot from the third season premiere of her shooting a miniature grenade launcher.
For the fifth season, another credit sequence was designed, as the previous version was criticized for making it difficult to read the actors' names (since the eye was drawn to the many images of Jennifer Garner) and for focusing exclusively on Garner. Now for the first time, the actors are shown on screen as their names appear. The same remix of the theme music from the previous year is utilized. Also, the flashing of the letters when ALIAS is spelled out is actually in morse code. The flashing translates to AGENT KANE (who was a character in the 2nd season played by Faye Dunaway). During the first half of the season, Elodie Bouchez appeared in the opening credits, but beginning with the episode "S.O.S." Her credit was changed to a "special guest star" credit outside the opening sequence and Amy Acker was added to the opening credits in place of Bouchez.
Most episodes in the first season included a prologue narrated by Sydney Bristow, setting up the premise of the series. In the first half of season two this was replaced by a voiceover by Greg Grunberg (who plays Agent Weiss) and later in season 2 was dropped entirely.
Timeframe
The events of the first season of Alias begin in 2001, the same year the series first aired. A reference to Homeland security midway through the first season suggests the series begins not long before, or not long after September 11. (The series, in fact, premiered 19 days following the attacks.) Though there was reference to such a part of government, the federal Homeland Security department was not established until 2003. (Aside from the Homeland Security reference, there is no explicit reference to 9/11 in the first season; however, there is a reference to Osama bin Laden and a reference to the War on Terror in two episodes in season 2). In season 1, each episode covers roughly the events of one week in Sydney's life, thus each episode is said to take place a week apart, although this pattern was not maintained throughout the series. In several episodes, references were made to actual real world events. For example, in one episode, Sydney suggested to Vaughn that they should catch a L.A. Kings game, and that they'd be taking on the Islanders. This actual game took place roughly around the same time the episode was broadcast on January 20th, 2002.
The season 2 finale, which sees Sydney lose two years of her life, would suggest that the series as of the start of season 3 takes place two years ahead of "real world" time, however the series was not always consistent in maintaining this. For example, in season 3 episode 17 (airdate 3/28/04), the date 3/26/04 was shown on Lauren's event calendar. For most of the episodes in Season 3-4, the writers avoided mentioning any current calendar dates in any episode. The one fact that did contradict this was the date on the tombstone of the supposedly dead Irina Derevko, which, when calculated, would suggest that the show was still running on "real world" time rather than 2 years in the future. However, a statement made by Sydney in the fifth season premiere "Prophet 5" regarding the length of time since she first went undercover at SD-6, is in keeping with the established timeline. And finally, the timeline seems to jump back one more time. In the season 5 episode "Out of the Box", character Renee tells Dr. Desantis, the genetic double of her father from the cryogenic box that it is currently 2006. This appears to be the first direct reference to the actual date of events. In another episode of the same season, a hockey magazine received by Sydney indicates the year to be November 2005. This is contradicted, however, by a visual of Nadia Santos' hospital admission bracelet following her recovery in the episode "30 Seconds." The date of admission reads "04-23-06".
No time elapses between the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2, and there are two years, one month, and several hours between seasons 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and 4 and 5 respectively (in addition, the events of the season 5 premiere episode take place over the course of 4 months). Given that there were roughly three to four months between the airing of the first few seasons, an 8-month interval between the broadcast of seasons 3 and 4, and a 4-month hiatus in the midst of season 5, by the final season Alias would only be a matter of months ahead of real-world time, making the 2006 statement plausible in the timeline. The series finale makes a further jump forward of several years (circa 2014 based upon the age of Sydney's daughter).
U.S. Television Ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Alias on ABC.
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
| Season | Timeslot
(Eastern & Pacific Time) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Ranking | Viewers
(in millions) |
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| 1 | Sunday 9:00 PM (September 30, 2001 - May 12, 2002) | September 30, 2001 | May 12, 2002 | 2001-2002 | #58 | 9.7 |
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| 2 | Sunday 9:00 PM (September 29, 2002 - May 4, 2003) | September 29, 2002 | May 4, 2003 | 2002-2003 | #78 | 9.0 |
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| 3 | Sunday 9:00 PM (September 28, 2003 - May 23, 2004) | September 28, 2003 | May 23, 2004 | 2003-2004 | #78 | 8.2 |
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| 4 | Wednesday 9:00 PM (January 5, 2005 - May 25, 2005) | January 5, 2005 | May 25, 2005 | 2004-2005 | #40 | 10.3 |
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| 5 | Thursday 8:00 PM (September 29, 2005 - November 17, 2005)
Wednesday 10:00 PM (December 7, 2005 - December 14, 2005)
Wednesday 8:00 PM (April 19, 2006 - May 17, 2006)
Monday 9:00 PM (May 22, 2006) | September 29, 2005 | May 22, 2006 | 2005-2006 | #93 | 7.2 |
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Although Alias was never considered a major "hit", its series run began during a time when the ABC television network was in decline, after Who Wants to Be a Millionaire saw its ratings plummet. In fact, Alias was one of the first shows to be placed in one of the old Who Wants to Be a Millionaire timeslots, which were Sunday nights at 9 p.m. (Eastern & Pacific time) in late 2001. Unlike many of the programs on ABC from 2001-2003, Alias was a series that garnered critical buzz, a cult following, and decent viewing numbers in the advertiser-friendly age 18-49 demographic. This led to ABC keeping the series on its schedule for 5 years.
Despite earning critical acclaim from USA Today for the January 26, 2003 episode entitled "Phase One" and attracting the largest audience of the series with 17.4 million viewers, this episode retained just 19 percent of the Super Bowl XXXVII audience and has the dubious distinction of earning the lowest overall ratings for a program airing after a Super Bowl since at least 1987 and the lowest rating ever (8.3 rating) in the age 18-49 demographic for a post-Super Bowl program. Also, since the episode started airing at 11 p.m. on the East Coast, it was not eligible for the week's list of top primetime shows ranked by Nielsen Media Research and thus, the episode's viewership numbers were not factored in the series' overall 2002-2003 season average.
Its ratings peak was reached in its fourth season, when ABC moved the program to Wednesdays 9 p.m. (Eastern & Pacific time), the time slot following another (yet more successful) J. J. Abrams' drama, Lost, while airing the season's episodes in (almost) consecutive weeks beginning with the January 5, 2005 2-hour season premiere (watched by 15.8 million viewers; the second most-watched episode in the series) and ending in May 2005. However, the fourth season was the only season in which this near-consecutive-week schedule was used and the increase in audience numbers was minimal since it faced hefty timeslot competition from the results show of the fourth season of FOX's mega-hit American Idol.
Coming off its most-watched season, Alias was moved to Thursdays 8 p.m. (Eastern & Pacific time) in the fall of 2005 by ABC in an effort to invigorate the network's lackluster Thursday night lineup. However, the move proved unsuccessful for the series, receiving the lowest viewership in the show's history. Alias became another scripted show in the history of ABC to not survive more than a year in this timeslot since Mork & Mindy was cancelled in 1982. (other ABC shows experiencing this Thursday 8 p.m. fate: Joanie Loves Chachi, The Fall Guy, Sledge Hammer!, Knightwatch, Mission: Impossible, Father Dowling Mysteries, Delta, My So-Called Life, Vengeance Unlimited, Monk, Threat Matrix)
ABC gave the show a 4-month hiatus (to allow Jennifer Garner to give birth) and when it was brought back in April 2006, its new timeslot was Wednesdays at 8 p.m. However, the viewer numbers remained dismal, culminating in a 2-hour series finale airing on Monday, May 22, 2006 (against the season finales of the hit dramas, FOX's 24 and CBS' CSI: Miami) which attracted 6.68 million viewers. In comparison, the first season averaged 9.7 million viewers.
Spoofs
The Alias production team has participated in at least two spoofs based upon the series and featuring cast members.
- The first was produced in 2002 for a segment of ABC's Monday Night Football in which Sydney (played as always by Jennifer Garner) is ordered by Sloane (Ron Rifkin) to infiltrate the locker room of the Washington Redskins NFL team in order to steal the coach's playbook. Syd disguises herself as a cheerleader and distracts the "Hogettes," a group of Redskins fans, with a glass of beer before stealing the book. Upon returning to SD-6 headquarters, she is horrified to find Sloane wearing a pig mask and oinking. This skit was advertised as being included in the season 2 DVD box set, but it was dropped from the set at the last minute without explanation. Another specially filmed MNF segment featuring Garner was included in the season 3 DVD set, but this was not, strictly speaking, a spoof.
- Another faux Alias "episode" was produced for a 2003 TV special celebrating the 50th anniversary of ABC. Featuring most of the regular cast of the series, the skit began with Jack Bristow preparing Sydney and Vaughn for a mission, and informing them that they will have a new partner - Detective Columbo (Peter Falk). Columbo proceeds to wreak havoc at CIA headquarters, accidentally shooting Vaughn with an anesthetic dart and volunteering to wear a skimpy bikini intended for Sydney during the mission. Columbo reveals that his mission is not to aid the CIA but rather to help Walt Disney Company/ABC head Michael Eisner better understand the show. His work completed, Columbo departs, leaving Jack to utter a confused, "Dear God, that was strange."
Other spoofs and humorous references include:
- "Alias: The Lost Episode" was created as a tribute to the show by Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin's Newborn Pictures, an independent film company. A tribute to the series' beginnings, it is a parody of a typical Season 1 episode, from Sydney's relationship with Francie and Will, to Sydney's sexual tension with her CIA handler Vaughn, to the episode's cliffhanger. The co-writers and directors, who also act in the film (Rankin plays the part of Sydney Bristow), sent the short to J.J. Abrams, who in turn wrote letters of thanks to the cast and crew of the film. Potelle and Rankin later won the second Project Greenlight Competition. Their 15-minute short can be viewed online: .
- In an episode of Bradley Cooper's sitcom Kitchen Confidential, Michael Vartan guests as a rival French chef. Cooper's character makes a quip along the lines of, "it's almost like we used to work together".
- MADtv created a season 1 spoof.
- In episode 23 of Robot Chicken, the series is re-imagined with the part of Sydney being played by a killer whale ("Whalias"), complete with red hair and lipstick. The sketch features Sydney undercover in a glamorous party at Sea World, pretending to be a prize-winning cellist. A fight scene occurs in typical Alias style.
- In the roosterteeth production, the mini series named "strangerhood" had a five minute episode based on alias
Hair and wigs
The program was renowned for the vast array of hair styles adopted by the characters. Head Hair Designer Michael Reitz was nominated for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series at the Emmys 5 years in a row (2002-2006); as well as 3 nominations and 1 win at the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards.
Notable contributions to the hair stylist team include:
- Karen Bartek (3 Emmy Award nominations)
- Julie Woods (1 Emmy Award nomination)
- Grace Hernandez (1 Emmy Award nomination)
- Kathrine Rees (1 Emmy Award nomination)
- Yesmin Osman (1 Emmy Award nomination)
Soundtracks
Alias released a season one soundtrack containing 26 tracks. These tracks were tracks used in the show, including the opening theme. All of them are composed by Michael Giacchino, except for the opening theme which was composed by J.J. Abrams. The tracks share a similar dance genre, however a few tracks, such as 'In the Garden' share more of a slowed down tempo. A second Soundtrack was also released containing music from the second season, but didn't receive as much praise as the first soundtrack. A soundtrack for Alias: The Video Game was also released, but can only be downloaded online, and is composed by Chris Tilton.
Alias: The Video Game
The video game Alias, based on the series, is a 3D third-person stealth action title developed and released by Acclaim Entertainment for the PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The plot was written by the creators of the show and the game features the voices of the cast principals. It was released on April 6, 2004, and has a rating of T for Teen. The game is set between episodes 19 and 20 of season 2. The game allows the player to be Sydney (and briefly on one mission Vaughn), and sends her on various missions her many different locations. The missions become more difficult as you come closer to finishing the game. The game includes using many spy-skills that Sydney uses in the show.
Prior to the Acclaim release, ABC Television produced an episodic downloadable videogame entitled Alias: Underground which is available through ABC's website. The game was a 3D third-person stealth action game much like the Acclaim production, with missions released monthly during the original broadcast of the TV show's second season.
Original novels
A number of original novels based upon the series have been published, primarily for a teenage reading audience. Due to the intricate and story arc-based nature of the series, most novels published to date have been prequels to the series, some focusing on Sydney in her early missions for SD-6, and others focusing on Vaughn's missions before meeting her. Their canon status with regards to the televised series has yet to be determined. Although aimed at young readers, the books tackle serious subject matter, such as one volume which details the first time Sydney kills someone.
- Recruited - Lynn Mason (2002) ISBN 0-553-49398-1
- A Secret Life - Laura Peyton Roberts (2003) ISBN 0-553-49399-X
- Disappeared - Lynn Mason (2003) ISBN 0-553-49400-7
- Sister Spy - Laura Peyton Roberts (2003) ISBN 0-553-49401-5
- The Pursuit - Elizabeth Skurnick (2003) ISBN 0-553-49402-3
- Close Quarters - Emma Harrison (2003) ISBN 0-553-49403-1
- Father Figure - Laura Peyton Roberts (2003) ISBN 0-553-49404-X
- Free Fall - Christa Roberts (2004) ISBN 0-553-49405-8
- Infiltration - Breen Frazier (2004) ISBN 0-553-49437-6
- Vanishing Act - Sean Gerace (2004) ISBN 0-553-49438-4
- Skin Deep - Cathy Hapka (2004) ISBN 0-553-49439-2
- Shadowed - Elizabeth Skurnick (2004) ISBN 0-553-49440-6
The second series of novels, titled "The APO Series", fit into the season four timeframe and are published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment.
 - Two of a Kind? - Greg Cox (April 26, 2005) ISBN 1-4169-0213-9
- Faina - Rudy Gaborno, Chris Hollier (April 26, 2005) ISBN 1-4169-0245-7
- Collateral Damage - Pierce Askegren (June 28, 2005) ISBN 1-4169-0247-3
- Replaced - Emma Harrison (July 26, 2005) ISBN 1-4169-0246-5
- The Road Not Taken - Greg Cox (October 4, 2005) ISBN 1-4169-0248-1
- Vigilance - Paul Ruditis (December 6, 2005) ISBN 1-4169-0928-1
- Strategic Reserve - Christina F. York (March 7, 2006) ISBN 1-4169-0946-X
- Once Lost - Kirsten Beyer (April 25, 2006) ISBN 1-4169-0947-8
- Namesakes - Greg Cox (July 11, 2006) ISBN 1-4169-2442-6
- Old Friends - Steven Hanna (September, 2006) ISBN 1-4169-2443-4
- The Ghost - Brian Studlet (November, 2006) ISBN 1-4169-2444-2
- A Touch of Death - Christina York (December 2006) ISBN 1-4169-2446-9
- Mind Games - Paul Ruditis (December 2006) ISBN 1-4169-2445-0
See also
External links
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