If Roswell was a new show in 2007.

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tequathisy
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If Roswell was a new show in 2007.

Post by tequathisy »

I was just wondering what Roswell would be like if it had aired in 2007 instead of 1999.

TV shows have changed so much since Roswell went off the air. Lost has rewrote the script and now the big shows have a totally different way of telling their story. Big multinational casts, complicated storylines, shock deaths are all the rage now. So what would have been done differently.

Here's how I think it could have been done today.

* There's no way that Max, Michael and Isabel's alien nature would have been revealed before the second ad break. At least one of them wouldn't have been outed for months, probably Michael.

* Maria wouldn't have been told in the first episode, she would have investigated it and found out in a dramatic cliffhanger

* They wouldn't have been able to change Max's blood in time.

* Pierce would have been a threat early on. Topolski's torture and death would have been played out longer.

* A human would have been revealed to be at least part alien.

* Hubble would have been a multi-episode arc.

* Somebody would have died earlier in the season,

* Michael would have been the one who killed Hank and he wouldn't have got out of jail so quickly and easily. That would have been dragged out too.

* Liz would have developed powers much earlier.

* The parents would have had a much bigger role and would have been developed as characters too.

* Less plot holes and inconsistencies.

* Liz and Max's relationship wouldn't have started for ages and ages.

* Season one would have happened over the space of about a month and not over a year.

* There would have been at least one flashback episode

* Nacedo would have been revealed as a character that was in the show the whole time.

* It would have revolved less around Liz and more around the ensemble cast.

* Kyle's role would have been bigger and he probably would have been nastier.

*The skins arc would have lasted throughout season two and not just a couple of episodes.

Anybody else have any views on this?
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Augustus Snodgrass
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Post by Augustus Snodgrass »

Tess' character would not have been as wishy-washy.
She would have either been totally evil, or most certainly a victim of her circumstances.
They would have showed what it was like growing up with Nasaedo, in either case.
I'm finally legal, and he gets married. Oh, the irony. The adolescent fantasies of an 11 year old girl have been crushed.
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Jared_
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Post by Jared_ »

i second the totally evil comment lol even though i still think she was totally evil from the beginning.
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cardinalgirl
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Post by cardinalgirl »

tequathisy, you also have to consider that this is how it would have been if Roswell were being handled by a major network like ABC or NBC... NOT the WB, or even the CW. :lol:

BUT, I think you're absolutely right on a lot of your points. It would have been very exciting to see the show done over in the hyper-detailed, multi-plotted way a lot of the bigger shows are being done now.

Still, the thing I loved about the show is how natural things progressed, and I can't say there's a natural progression in any of the big shows that are set up in the way you're talking (Lost, Heroes, etc.) Those shows, while entertaining and definitely exciting to watch, lose a little bit of the heart that we had in Roswell. With so many characters it's hard to form emotional connections not only between all of them, but also between them and the viewers, and with so much time having to be devoted to plot, there's very little space for things like comic relief or just character-development.

So there's an up and a down side, at least so far as I see it. :wink:
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Post by DreamerLaure »

Hmm, well I think one thing that's worth mentioning is that Roswell done anytime around this year would instantly lose that "90's" charm.

Things are so different now for teenagers that the pace of the show would have to be much quicker and dramatic to pull the audience that could rival the shows that are really popular now. I think the first season would be totally different if it were done, and I also think that the premise of the show - and this was one of the show's weaker points, I agree tequathisy, that it focused on Liz too much sometimes - would be different and less of a main theme in the show...I'm getting ahead of myself but there's also two possible directions that whichever network that picked this up could go - they could make it all about drama or appeal to the younger generation, and I don't think they would balance both very well.

Also that 90's charm applies to who these characters are...If Liz were that serious about Harvard she would have been under so much more pressure...And I don't think Alex's death would have been so rushed; they would have spent time creating evidence that could be plausible for the viewers. It seems the big theme recently on TV is medical terminology and I don't think Roswell would have overlooked that, and the same goes for the shooting; it would have been handled differently....And Max and Liz...I don't think the relationship would be the same if it were done now. For those of you who aren't dreamers, feel free to tune me out, lol, but I think it'd be different, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. To be honest, I can't imagine it because when it comes to the show I'm so used to all of these characters in their safe little 1999-2002 cocoon.

Very interesting topic tequathisy I was *just* thinking about this a few days ago :D
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Post by nibbles2 »

Really interesting topic.

I think it would have been about the aliens more and less about Liz.

We would have seen the struggle Max and Isabel faced at home because of the lies they told their parents and I think Michael's abuse would have been revealed sooner and lasted longer instead of being over and done with in one chapter. I definately think that Michael would have been the one to kill Hank in that case.

Liz would have developed powers sooner.

Tess would have been even grayer and if she was evil it would have built up slowly instead of being rushed.

The others would have developed more powers and not just Max. Certainly Isabel's power would have evolved into something stronger.
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Post by Natalie36 »

there would defenantly be a cementing :wink: Alex would not have died since they would be able to out tess faster then they did. max would have had more of a spine. kyle would be with issy not jesse, nothing wrong with jess but i thought her and kyle looked cute together. liz would have kicked tess's ass for all the shit that went down. max and liz would have kept zan.
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Post by sprayadhesive »

This is the only thing that I can think of that someone hasn't yet mentioned:

The White Room scenario. They built up the abduction, they had a stay with it, but the rescuing and the aftermath was all too rushed. Especially Max's recovery from the Room.

There would have been many more explorations into the effects and how the gang was going to cope with it.

The same goes for Michael killing Pierce in Destiny.
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Post by erinkatie »

t, you make it out to seem more like Lost...


I think it really depends on the Network. Shows on ABC are so different than shows on the CW.
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Post by Spiletta42 »

I personally think it wouldn't have been too terribly different. The writers had their story to tell, and did it well. I was going to say that post Sept 11th, the US became a lot more paranoid, but Roswell already portrayed the FBI and Air Force as paranoid.

This said, I haven't watched much (okay, any) mainstream television in the last few years. I think many of the points everyone's made would more aptly apply to the question, "What if JJ Abrams wrote <i>Roswell</i>?" Granted, I still haven't watched Lost, but I did see <i>Alias</i>. His version would definitely be darker (ie Michael killing Hank), faster paced yet slower with reveals (ie Maria being in-the-know later), and with the threads more entangled.

The only still-in-production shows I watch these days are <i>Stargate SG-1</i>, <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>, the new <i>Doctor Who</i>, and <i>Bones</i>. (American Idol doesn't count.)

Every show has its own feel, and I think <i>Roswell</i> holds up well against newer shows of similar genre. Spectacularly well, actually, which is why I passed out season one this Christmas.

And on an entirely different note for this thread . . . there are some ideas here that might make an interesting A/U series. Perhaps a group project or fic challenge might emerge?
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