Is Alias too Complicated?

[freelancer1]

I was looking online for Alias reviews and i got this:
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - An attractive female star, innovative filmmaking techniques, an ingenious story line and the coolest music since "Miami Vice" ... with all the advantages of good television, what's keeping "Alias" from being a smash hit?

ABC Chairman Lloyd Braun says, given the quality of the show, it should be doing a great deal better.

Spearheaded by the creator and executive producer of "Alias," JJ Abrams, the Network has taken a closer look at viewer reactions to the show that airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. It seems "Alias" might almost be too intelligent for its ratings to peak anywhere near what critics make it out to be.

"We have to make the show more receptive to non-viewers. There is a feeling among people who have not watched the show, that it's tough to break in," says Braun.

With a complicated family drama intertwined in a complex spy game between the CIA and its false affiliate SD-6, it is quite a task to stay on top of things.

"The episodes are still a little too confusing," says Braun about viewers who may be joining the show half way into the second season.

"JJ has been incredible with figuring out ways with dealing with this issue," Braun continues, regarding some of the techniques "Alias" has been engaging to clarify the plot, giving the 10-minute summary at the beginning of each episode as an example.

However, even wiith the show's reluctant success, ABC still has no plans to change its night or timeslot.

Braun says that eventually the ratings are going to "bear out" that decision.


so is the complication of the shows the reason for the bad ratings?.....

 

[Agent Mshheaddoc]

It wasn't complicated till they started changing the plot so much ...

 

[IluvVaughn13]

what the heck no is it complicated whatever I dont think it is

 

[alias_luver]

Yea, it's not complicated. I starting watching during the beging of season 2, and I get it, and i'm only 13!!

 

[freelancer1]

yeah i agree with you but some people think that its too complicated i mean it teels you what happend at the beging of most episode

 

[Tommy]

I've watched Alias since the premiere. I was extremely let down by this season...I will go as far as saying it sucked. The first season was much better and while JJ says he did not dumb it down, he did!

 

[sdmix]

it is a complex show. but i don't think it's difficult to understand. you just have to be patient and wait for the information. if someone watches for 2 - 3 weeks they'll be able to figure out most of what they need to know to get into ALIAS. they just have to be patient. and the recap bit at the beginning is really sufficient for letting you know what you need to know to understand that episode. because they don't just recap last week, they recap everything that is of significance to this episode.

but i think that with the release of seasons 1 & 2 on dvd this fall and action figures i heard they're making i think that ALIAS could begin to interest enough people that if they get tv viewers informed of when the season premier is, they'll reach new ratings heights for ALIAS.
}oh and don't forget the press that could help with all the Emmy nominations and of course Jennifer Garner's growing fame.

 

[lenkid]

yeah, I think this past season has been much easier to figure out. But even so, no matter when you started watching, just as long as you watched for a couple of weeks, you'd be able to get the gist of what was going on. But some people just don't want to spend the time doing that I guess.

 

[VaughnFan13]

its not confusing! i mean, i watched on and off the first season and really started watching every ep of the second, but i still understood it!

 

[freelancer1]

I've watched Alias since the premiere. I was extremely let down by this season...I will go as far as saying it sucked. The first season was much better and while JJ says he did not dumb it down, he did!

why did you hate it so much?

 

[Milo47]

of course it is, that's what keeps the normal viewers hooked on it though! JJ's fan club is growing every episode....and we are the people who are bringing in the other people!!!

 

[Patomac]

Alias is complicated. But I started watching at the end of season two and it only took my two or three episodes to figure out what was going on. Now I love it.
My cousin doesn't like it because she says it's depressing. I don't think it is.

 

[Milo47]

if you understand it, you love it, if you don't understand, you desperately want to understand it!

 

[AliasALIAS]

The complicated plot is what's blamed for the lack of audience, though it can't scientifically be proven.

Alias started out strong, but gradually the viewers were lost. It can't be the quality of the show, because the cult fans and Emmy nominations and critics' top picks disprove that. So what's to blame? The complexity.

I didn't watch all of Season One, and when I did watch, I was confused. Everything is interconnected. But I just kept watching because I knew it would all tie in together and I'd understand eventually, which I did.

 

[Milo47]

hahaha....ALIAS IS COMPREHENSIBLE and AWESOME!

 

[krzykty57789]

it isnt hard to understand...if u watch it for maybe to eppies u understand the show enough to comprehend everything...

 

[verdantheart]

One of the things that I really like about Alias is that it can be understood on a number of levels. If you want to, you can take it at a very superficial level and look to the caper, costume, and gadget of the week. Yipee!

Or, if you like, you can follow the emotions and continuing story. That takes a little more attention.

Then, if you really want to get into it, there are several levels of intrigue that you can get into. And some things don't really come into focus until you start looking back on them after they happen. And that--for those who say Alias has been "dumbed down"--includes this year.* So, it may be that Alias starts to take off more when the DVDs become available--I hope so.

* Do you really think Sloane's kidnapping plot to save Emily was a dumb-down? How about Jack's equivocal behavior towards Irina? (See my season-end summary for my reasons why that can only be explained by looking deep within the characters) Scratch the surface and you find interesting depths nearly everywhere.

 

[ISpy10]

I would say if first time people started watching the 3rd season from the beginning the viewers will understand because there will be a re-cap and Season 3 is a whole new thing, so we dont even know whats going to happen!

 

[QueenCutie712]

Whenever I got into Alias a couple months ago, going to fan sites and reading the summaries and other things really helped me. So, even though I've only been watching a short time, I know and understand most of the stuff about the plot. I think other people could do this too.

 

[Milo47]

If Alias wasn't the way it is, it would just be another boring show on TV that people would watch but wouldn't be interesting or eye-catching like it is now. I like it just the way it is, and if people can't understand after fully watching it and trying to understand, then they shouldn't watch it, it's their problem, and they can move on to another show.