Roswell in Today’s USA Today

Thanks to deah, Jordan and Kartraice for this:

Readers say “Roswell” should stay. Sci-Fi fans rally for the WB show in USA
TODAY’S Save Our Show Poll.

“Sending Out an SOS”

You didn’t really like most of the prime-time TV shows hovering “on the
bubble” between renewal and cancellation, but you cared enough to weigh in
anyway.

The results of USA TODAY’s fourth annual Save Our Shows poll are in, and
38,415 readers voted, more than three times the 12,667 who responded last
year.

Cover Story

Roswell which 44% of fans want renewed, and Fox’s X-Files spinoff, The Lone
Gunmen, which 40% would like to see return.

Roswell, which drew similar fan support in last year’s poll, follows the
adventures of three high school aliens.

A Roswell fan from “day one” Deborah Kelley of Edgewater, Fla., says “the
show gripped me right away. I couldn’t wait till the next week. To me,
Roswell, is the best show on TV and the only one I look forward to watching.”

“I cried when I found out that the show was taking a break for a while,”
wrote Erica Furst of Baltimore, adding ominously: “Just imagine what I will
do if it really goes off the air!”

Roswell producer Jason Katims seems genuinely flattered by the outpouring:
Nearly 16,000 voted to keep the show in USA TODAY’S poll, significantly more
than any other show. The bad news: Roswell and Gunmen remain long shots for
new seasons.

Roswell also has suffered from low ratings, and barely survived last season
until fans deluged WB with Tabasco Sauce (a plot point) to demonstrate their
support. A further complication: network irritation with the drama’s
producer, 20th Century Fox Television, which is moving Buffy the Vampire
Slayer to UPN this fall. (WB may cancel Buffy spinoff Angel as well, but that
series would shift to UPN.)

Katims says the Buffy drama makes renewal “more of a challenge” but hopes
level heads will prevail. “There might be a lot of heated feelings, but it’s
stories you have to look at, not the politics or business involved.”