Now that Lost has ended, Star Trek producer/director JJ Abrams is currently producing a mere two TV series: Undercovers for NBC and Fringe for Fox. But a new report from E! says that he may move that back up to three again, with ABC interested in creating a "reboot" of Abrams spy show Alias.
Alias: The Next Generation?
According to a report at Eonline.com, ABC is feeling lost without Lost and wants to see if they can keep in the Abrams biz. Here is what the unconfirmed report states:
A reliable insider at ABC tells me that there is talk of the network doing a “reboot” of one of the greatest TV series of all time, J.J. Abrams’ Alias.
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According to this source, ABC is hoping to hold onto its lost Lost audience with a re-envisioned J.J. Abrams series, in light of FlashForward not working out so well.
JJ Abrams created the spy series Alias for ABC in 2001 and it ran for five seasons. The show focused on the spy Sydney Bristow, mixing her personal life with global espionage and a bit of genre mythology (which the E! report says would not be part of this new show). Many of the original Alias team moved with JJ Abrams to his first feature film (Mission: Impossible III) and then on to Star Trek, including writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, production designer Scott Chambliss, and composer Michael Giacchino.
The cast of "Alias"
Star Trek’s Orion girl Rachel Nichols was in the Alias cast, as was Victor Garber who played the Klingon interrogator in a deleted scene. JJ Abrams pal and Alias regular Greg Grunberg, also had a voice cameo in Star Trek. Alias star Jennifer Garner did not make in to Star Trek, but had said that she was very interested in getting a part.
New spy shows: Undercovers & Nikita
One new Abrams spy show that is certainly starting this fall is Undercovers on NBC. The show is more light-hearted than Alias, and focuses on the lives of two married spies. You can learn more at the official site nbc.com/undercovers.
And Undercovers isn’t the only new spy show coming this fall. The CW recently announced the series Nikita starring Maggie Q, based on the film La Femme Nikita. Mor info on that show at cwtv.com/shows/nikita.
What’s with all the re-booting? Maybe they should switch to Mac.
It’s too soon for an Alias reboot anyway.
now that ‘last’ has ended?
Alias only ended 5 years ago! Bit early to reboot, isn’t it?
if the original cast of alias came back (the living characters that is) I would be interested in an Alias reboot
Alias was great for about two years, then self-destructed with the two-year jump in time, and finally devolved into the mythology mess.
I loved Alias, so I’m not sure how I feel about a “reboot”. Jennifer Garner was perfect in the role. The whole cast was perfect. It will be hard to get the same chemistry and make it work like the original Alias worked.
At this point, there’s no reason that they couldn’t get most of the original cast back and just pick up where they left off. If they did that, I’d definitely be in.
Would love to see the show back on the air. Maybe Jennifer Garder would like to be back on tv. she’s not doing to many movies right now
“one of the greatest TV series of all time”
um
Not to knock any show, but come on… it’s not fair to claim such kudos until a bunch of other people offer them. This was what made the 2-hour tailgate show to the Lost finale such a diabetic’s nightmare, the self-congratulatory crapola. Bottom line: if there’s an audience for this, then do it. But, come back strong. Stop wrapping yourself in nonsense terms like “reboot” and start writing strong scripts. (Classic example: Sherlock Holmes DIED! at Reichenbach Falls. YEARS later Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles with NO explanation as to how Holmes came back from the dead. No one cared. The readers loved the new stuff because it was well-written.)
What? Alias had a good season or two, and then it was a muddled mess.
i’ve an idea – lets remake Lost – the time is ripe it’s been off the air for two weeks now.
Reboot, after five years? That’s just….
Can’t anyone come up with anything original anymore?
Oh wow, just what the world has been waiting for, another Hollywood reboot on old material….ZZZZZZZZZ!
What an idiotic idea. If anything, just do a spin-off.
Syd had a daughter so maybe they could set it in the future with her daughter? Her daughter was able to solve that puzzle that Syd solved.
It’s only been 5 years since the shown went off the air and less since I’ve watched it on DVD. Now I love the show, but if they are rebooting something, can’t they comb the archives and come up with something that hasn’t been seen in awhile? Or better yet..maybe come up with something NEW??
5. Thorny
Yeah. I loved Alias for the whole of its five seasons, but the first season and a half were my favourites!
Maybe if they looked seriously at where things went askew in Alias, neo-Alias could pick up the pieces nicely. Personally, I’d love the show to come back with Rachel Nichols in the lead and perhaps they could bring Jack Bristow back somehow. I mean the circumstances of where he ended up do leave a door open for him to come back!
How bout getting me alias on blu-ray instead. In fact while your at it, get me the rest of the star treks, and buffy on blu-ray.
Too soon. Stick to the spy series you’ve got going now, JJ, and wait another ten years.
I didn’t think Alias was one of the greatest series of all time, anyway… I adored the first few seasons, but the story and mythology got really jumbled and unsatisfying after that, and then with Jennifer Garner getting pregnant and her replacements coming in and having so much of the screen time, I lost interest.
Now, AP, are you STILL able to sell the notion that Abrams will be able to direct the Star Trek sequel?
he needs to do a new trek tv series :)
#1, nice, and well said.
But as far as rebooting Alias, I think it seems like too new of a series to be rebooted already. Seems like maybe a sequel series might do better.
It would be nice if JJ would do a weekly serial scifi drama called Star Trek
not necessarily a reboot, but it would be nice to have some more Trek on a regular basis.
anyone else think that it’s time to bring back a Star Trek series?
Alias was already a big-budget ripoff of the La Femme Nikita TV series, lifting a lot of elements wholesale (crew members admitted having videotapes of Nikita episodes on set as reference). Now, Nikita is getting the reboot treatment as well?
Enough already.
I’ve wanted to get something on TV or in the movies for some time now. If they’re doing a re-boot of Alias, I guess I just don’t get what or how it’s done.
Alias Smith & Jones I could see.
It’s only a matter of time before we get new versions of “Full House” and “According To Jim”, two crap shows that somehow lasted eight seasons each….
Clearly, whovever told Hollywood to begin recycling wasn’t specific enough, or the studios misinterpreted….
…”greatest tv series of all time”?????????? WTF????
No need to kiss JJ’s a&&, but really?? Alias had a phenomenal first season, and most of the 2nd season never lived up to the first. The 3rd was a bit better than the 2nd. Then it just deflated…
So…ABC has no faith in an original idea from JJ??? He has to reboot a series thats been off the air for 4 years?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
No more “Alias”!
Especially not this quickly for cryin’ out loud.
Isn’t there also a reboot of Nikita (La Femme Nikita) underway? Maybe they just want another female spy series to compete with Nikita.
19
I am not ‘selling’ anything. From what I undestand, and from what JJ Abrams has told me, he could still chose to direct the star trek sequel. Super 8 does not appear to have changed that, and this may only be a rumor and even if it isn’t, it should not really impact Trek. Abrams should be expected to develop a new show for next pilot season. He has a deal with WB to develop new shows and so he will develop new shows, just like he produces multiple movies for Paramount. But just like with Steven Spielberg, he can still find time to direct new movies.
There is no guarantee he will direct the star trek sequel, but I would still say it is more likely he will. But if he doesn’t, that will more likely be due to him deciding another director would be better for the script, not due to timing.
An Alias reboot is a lame idea. If this happens than we know from here on out all original thinking has officially died. I expect Lost to be rebooted within five years if this Alias reboot happens.
Hollywood hasn’t had an original idea in years. Simply sad.
I loved Alias, but if JJ Abrams and his team are creative enough to create Fringe (despite its similarity to X-Files) I’m pretty sure they can come up with better than a reboot. Put that creativity to work, gentlemen! People love it!
Don’t these guys have a Star Trek movie to work on?
They are going to keep remaking old shows and movies until we the paying public stop watching. You vote with your wallets and your remotes.
#24
I’m with you.
Wild Wild West was well done. Let’s all agree that the Will Smith movie never happened and try again…..
Heres an idea: Do an Alias reboot VIA ta new Star Trek series…aka reset all the characters from Alias into the 23rd Century and into Section 31…which could interlink with the next Trek film if they do it right!
ALIAS was awesome. A “sequel” could be equally good, JJ just needs to keep his hands in. ALIAS started to have trouble when JJ left to do other stuff.
#23 – It’s not a “ripoff”of LA FEMME NIKITA any more than LOST was a ripoff of Gilligan’s Island or STAR TREK was a ripoff of LOST IN SPACE.
#10 –
Reboot “Lost?” I’m with you there! Maybe this time around they’ll actually have it planned and structured from the start and hire some half-descent writers. “Lost” was a muddled mess from the start.
Um….you’re going to reboot this crap fest & not do a new Trek series?
Brilliant.
Why don’t you just suck all the fun out of Bonanza & reboot that?
It worked for Gilligan’s Island…I mean Lost.
Hey, how about a Star Trek Reboot? ;)
37. Simon: ‘ALIAS was awesome. A “sequel” could be equally good, JJ just needs to keep his hands in. ALIAS started to have trouble when JJ left to do other stuff.’
Agreed. I remember having arguments on this site back when it started with people who were rabidly anti the newly-announced Trek film and slagging off Alias and Lost as reasons the new Trek film would fail. They were talking about starting fan campaigns to stop the film being made! Ha ha!!
One of the things I pointed out at the time was that invariably their criticisms of Alias and Lost came from ***after*** Abrams had moved on.
The biggest problem with Abrams is that he’s constantly coming up with new ideas and prefers to set things up, then move on to the next big idea. In one way, that’s great for him, as he avoids becoming a televisual one trick pony like JM Straczynski, Chris Carter, Gene Roddenberry and Joss Whedon all became. In another, for us, it means sometimes it means that his great setups lead to someone else failing on the resolution.
If Abrams ‘rebooted’ Alias (and I think an Alias ‘reboot’ this soon would more likely be a loosely-connected sequel, set in the same world, but with mostly different characters) I’m sure he could come up with a great new hook to start off the show. How it progresses, though, will be down to whoever takes up the reins when he moves on!
Amy Acker mmmmm
Garner would be a good Chapel, she’s definitely masculine enough in the face.
@43. Zebonka – June 1, 2010
LOL, ouch!
I’m so sick of all these reboots.
yeah I hated losing enterprise. I’ve wanted it back since it left. Now that its basically too late to bring it back, I would like to see a new star trek show.
Yes a new Trek series. But which one?
The bean counters will worry that a weekly Trek will affect box office gross for next movie.
A good Trek series would whet the appetite for more.
If you write it they will come……….
37 and 41 are right.
I really enjoyed LOST all the way through, though. But regardless, what will make or break any JJ series is who ends up running it after he moves on.
From what my wife tells me (she’s an Alias fan like I’m a Trek fan), Alias had the problem of the network (ABC) meddling too much. She read all the message boards and insider crap that I (a casual viewer) don’t have time for. ;) She said the network kept trying to turn the show into what they thought it should be; a generic spy show for non-regular viewers to easily follow.
The APO crap at the end especially.
It felt like they were trying to recreate the first season except without the “Sidney double agent counter-mission” stuff that made the first season so interesting, because it also made it confusing for anyone who wasn’t watching every week. The whole APO mess was horribly contrived.
So it felt to us like it already had several reboots during its 5 year run. All of which flopped horribly.
The counter missions and her “double life” (her regular life) at the beginning were what made it all work. When they took that away it was just a run of the mill spy show.
I told my wife about this rumor and she just kind of rolled her eyes. I don’t think she has any interest in watching it. And she’s a die-hard fan. :)
Kind of like a lot of Trekkie’s response to Enterprise. LOL
Nope, don’t care.Grrl power does not do it for me.
#41 – Cuse & Lindelof perhaps?
Speaking of JJ projects, what made M:I:III better was JJ injecting a bit of ALIAS into it (and a byproduct was keeping it more like the original MISSION IMPOSSIBLE TV series). Simon Pegg was essentially Marshall and Ving Rhames fulfilling the Dixon role. Not to mention Cruise selected him after watching ALIAS!
CMDRR
… Actually Sherlock Holmes explained his “death” ta’ Watson by sayin’ he had ta’ fake it and lay low until dead Moriarity’s henchmen chilled oot’…
Or maybe Jeremy Brett just made that ups… I’ll have ta’ check me library and see if it be in a story…
What’s wit’ this reboot shite? Clint Eastwood once suggested that they just lock writers up in a room fur’ days on end until they have original idears. He’s probably dreadin’ tha’ remakes o’ Rawhide and Dirty Harry…
Dirty Harry- starring Ben Stiller! “Go ahead, make me gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…