Say Farewell to Roswell – TV guide

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From: TV Guide Insider

Say Farewell to Roswell

With UPN’s Roswell signing off tonight (at 9 pm/ET), TV Guide Online called creator Jason Katims to do a postmortem on his teen sci-fi sudser. Or is it more of an alien autopsy? Either way, we find out what went wrong — and whether space stud Max and Earth girl Liz (Jason Behr and Shiri Appleby) still have a future. — Daniel R. Coleridge

TVGO: We’re so sure Liz’s dire premonition — that her alien pals will be killed by the Feds — comes true. What really happens? And why is Liz suddenly psychic?
Katims: Are all these couples going to stay together or not? That’s what the meat of this episode is. The finale nostalgically hearkens back to the show’s beginning — so Liz has certain powers she’s not in control of, as a result of Max having healed her [gunshot wound] in the pilot. Max and Liz fell in love then, and now, they essentially decide to be together in a permanent way.

TVGO: Which we won’t spoil by giving away. So, Roswell spent two seasons on WB, then was axed after just one on UPN. Why?
Katims: Personally, the toughest blow for me is that from day one on UPN, our numbers were way too low. The writing was on the wall even then, although the network liked the show and, frankly, gave it their best shot. We just wound up in a highly competitive timeslot. Unfortunately for us, Smallville did incredibly well. Plus, other unexpected [successes] like The Guardian took some of our audience. We just did not hold enough of our lead-in audience [from Buffy the Vampire Slayer] — that was a great disappointment for me.

TVGO: The show has had trouble balancing its sci-fi and soapy aspects. Looking back, what might you have done differently?
Katims: I would’ve stayed with the Skins as antagonists — and not gone off on things like the whole storyline about alien DNA. And in the second season, the mythology of the show became very complicated and the audience started to get lost. I think that’s what people got frustrated with more than the soap-opera element of the show. It is a soap opera!

TVGO: Is there any truth to fansite buzz about Roswell coming back as a TV movie or feature film?
Katims: Over the last few months, there have been murmurings, but there is nothing planned. First, you’d have to establish enough [public] interest to do it. Then, you’d have to assemble all the actors at the same time, which could prove difficult — it’s an extremely appealing cast, and they’re all going on to other things. It’s unlikely, but not impossible.