What Do We Know About The CW’s New Alien Show?

So, what do we know about new The CW alien show, which is currently in development?

We collected everything we could find and what the woman behind the show, Carina MacKenzie (The Originals), revealed on social media. At the moment, we can’t directly see what about this new show is tied to the books or the orginal show. We came to the conclusion that this version is slightly different from anything we’ve seen so far, even the Roswell High book series itself. Thus, a “re-imagination.”

For us, it looks like a completely new show which happens to take place in the town of Roswell, although there is some alien action and a romance which is of course similar to “Roswell”.

There won’t be any Tabasco sauce involved.

With the help of Tabasco – the aliens’ favorite condiment – fans saved the show years ago. When asked “Keep the hot sauce 🔥 thing please.”, MacKenzie replied: “I don’t think I can because they do the same thing on iZombie! Working on an alternative. :)”

Everything is new

“This is a completely new story, new characters, new mystery.” said MacKenzie on Twitter. The official tagline says the following:

“After reluctantly returning to her tourist-trap hometown of Roswell, New Mexico, the daughter of undocumented immigrants discovers a shocking truth about her teenage crush who is now a police officer: He’s an alien who has kept his unearthly abilities hidden his entire life. She protects his secret as the two reconnect and begin to investigate his origins, but when a violent attack and long-standing government cover-up point to a greater alien presence on Earth, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose him and destroy their deepening romance.”

Why is it marketed as a ‘Reboot’?

While most of the articles are wording this project as a ‘reboot’ of “Roswell”, it’s not exactly how Carina MacKenzie would describe it. “It’s inspired by the same source material that the original series was based on. I would say “reimagining” but I’m not press. :)” explained MacKenzie. In a later reply she clarified “The word “twist” was used by press, not me.”

Liz Ortecho?

In the very first draft for the “Roswell” pilot, there wasn’t Liz Parker but Liz Ortecho. It’s well known that the character name was changed to Parker because of Shiri Appleby’s brilliant audition. The issue of diversity on Roswell, and specifically why Liz Ortecho from the books became Liz Parker on the show was addressed in an article back in 1999. Read more (Diversity on Roswell):

[…] However, Nutter and Katims made the difficult choice of transforming the show’s starring role from the Latina “Liz Ortecho” of the original young-adult novels to the WASPier “Liz Parker.”

The decision to change the character’s name and, by implication, downplay her ethnicity was due to newcomer Shiri Appleby’s brilliant audition, Nutter said.

“You cast for parts, you look for the best actor, regardless of where they come from,” he said. “Shiri Appleby came in and she definitely encapsulated everything we wanted to see in that part.” […]

In the new show, which is currently in develpment, diversity will play a larger role. “Liz was Latina in the books, her friend was Native American, etc.” sets MacKenzie. She added in another reply: “The word “twist” was never used in my pitch. It’s not a twist — Liz was Latina in the original novels & thus I will not whitewash.” In another conversation she explained that she will write about fear and hatred, but with sci-fi elements as well. “I’m writing more about my experience w fear and hatred as a Muslim American than anything else.” and said “But like… also UFOs and shit.”

Related News:
Articles About The CW’s New Alien Drama, October 14th, 2017
The CW Develops Show Based On The “Roswell High” Books, October 13th, 2017