But merely having a female lead would not have been enough to ensure the show's success: There is general agreement that without an actress who carries Garner's charisma and sheer fortitude, there would have been no "Alias." She has proved the show's steadying, riveting core while growing into a star in her own right; she's also said to be a beloved figure on the set -- a sentiment trumpeted by co-stars Ron Rifkin and Victor Garber, as well as Abrams.
"There's nobody like Jennifer in the world," says Rifkin, who portrays Arvin Sloane. "Everything you hear about her is true: She's truly a wonderful human being with grace and kindness and generosity. The crew just worships her."
Adds Garber, who plays Sydney's father Jack Bristow: "She embraces the crew in a way that's not common, honestly: Everybody is a friend, treated with respect. She came up with the idea of a 'crew member of the week,' where a different one would get a prize. You'd be working at 2 a.m. on a Friday, and a pizza truck would pull up -- compliments of Jennifer. It makes you happy to go to work."
For her part, Garner -- who became a new mother in December with the birth of daughter Violet, with husband Ben Affleck -- sounds most happy simply to take a deep breath after five years of 18-hour workdays that found her in nearly every scene of an hourlong series.
"I think I had two days off in the last three years because I was doing movies, too," she says. "So I have the big emotion of getting my life back, of having this amazing new baby, but at the same time I'm so emotional about the 'Alias' part of my life ending. It has meant so much to all of us. Just surviving it has been an accomplishment, for sure -- but, I mean, we had an amazing set. I've just been blessed to be on a show like this.
"As an actress, you just want to keep working," Garner adds. "To be on something that runs 100 episodes, that just never happens. And thank God the material has been so good -- I'll always be able to talk about this with pride."
. Wow, there's a way to make people sad 
She looked freakin' hysterical! Almost laught my ass off.. 