Thanks to Nikki for this:<\/p>\n
This is a article from the UK. Even though it’s months old, I haven’t seen
\nit in any news archives or on any websites, so thought you might appreciate
\nit. Of course, it’s not much without the pics that go with it (including a
\nfull page of Colin!), but it’ll do… The website of the publisher for
\nanyone who wants to order a backcopy is: www.visimag.com
\nEnjoy, Nikki<\/p>\n
Cult Times (UK) Special Issue #13
\nMarch 2000<\/p>\nDown To Earth<\/p>\n
What problems might aliens have if they visited our planet? Breathing our
\nEarth air? Understanding our human customs? Or would they just worry about
\nhiding from the local sheriff and the implications of dating their friends?<\/p>\nIn the small town where I grew up, folk legend passed down the story of
\nIphon 9. One day, a quiet, intense 11 year old boy \u2013 let\u2019s call him Brian \u2013
\nhad gone to bed as normal. The next morning he came down for breakfast.
\n\u201cGood morning, Brian,\u201d said his mother. \u201cI\u2019m not Brian,\u201d he replied. \u201cI\u2019m
\nIphon 9, from the planet Iphon. Last night, Brian and I swapped bodies for a
\nyear to learn about each other\u2019s cultures.\u201d<\/p>\nAs I did not grow up in Roswell, New Mexico, it\u2019s safe to assume that
\nBrian\u2019s year long stint as Iphon 9 was a rather sad plea for attention. But
\nRoswell, a new series broadcast on the WB, taps into that same sense of
\nchildhood loneliness and isolation by defrosting three hibernating alien
\nsurvivors of the 1947 crash and enrolling them in high school. The result,
\nbased on Melinda Metz\u2019s series of Roswell High books, is the most exciting
\nnew Sci-Fi show of the year.<\/p>\nThe cast, a group of well adjusted and gorgeous 20-somethings, don\u2019t seem to
\nshare their character\u2019s sense of alienation when they look back at their own
\nschool days. Colin Hanks, son of Tom, and the actor who plays the all too
\nhuman Alex, admits to sometimes wearing \u201cblack pants and black shirts like
\nevery other teen\u2019, but acknowledges that he didn\u2019t have the full high school
\nexperience. \u201cI went to a small private school in northern California. There
\nwere 35 people in my graduating class, so it was more of a community than a
\nschool. I\u2019m pretty outgoing \u2013 the class clown, the goofball \u2013 so there
\nwasn\u2019t too much angst there. Overall, I was pretty happy.\u201d<\/p>\nMuch the same story is told by Roswell\u2019s leading man, Jason Behr, who plays
\nMax. \u201cI went to a small private school as well, and I was one of the more
\noutgoing kids. I could pretty much sit down with anyone I wanted at lunch.\u201d
\nWhat about method, darling? The best the cast can muster is lead actress
\nShiri Appleby (Liz) suggesting that people thought she was a bit of a freak
\nwhen she started leaving class at 16 to take acting jobs. I would have
\nthought that, in southern California, the kids who didn\u2019t take acting jobs
\nat 16 would have been the freaks, but these grizzled veterans of childhood
\nTV commercials must know what they\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\nRoswell is closer to Dawson\u2019s Creek than Buffy the Vampire Slayer, full of
\nearnest soul searching rather than comic book shenanigans, and is really
\nbeginning to find its feet halfway through the first season, according to
\nits creator, Jason Katims. \u201cWe\u2019re excited about the stuff that\u2019s coming up
\nin the second half of the season,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have had the opportunity to
\nset up this world and the people, and now we\u2019re able to have a lot of fun
\nwith expanding it and the characters and where we get to go.\u201d The series\u2019
\nworld and characters are straightforward enough: Max, Isabel and Michael are
\naliens, and Liz, Alex and Maria are their human friends. Needless to say,
\nthey all fancy each other: Michael and Maria go at it like trains, Liz and
\nMax act all coy around each other, and Alex has the hots for Isabel but
\nwithout too much affection in return. Apart from their hormones, the major
\ndriving forces of the plot are William Sadler\u2019s sheriff, who suspects the
\nkids of something, but he\u2019s not sure quite what, and the aliens\u2019 search for
\na fourth of their kind whose presence is suggested by a photograph dating
\nfrom 1959.<\/p>\nKatims is especially enthusiastic about the long term plotting that\u2019s been
\ninvolved in the \u2018fourth alien\u2019 storyline. \u201cWe\u2019re having a lot of fun with
\nthe mythology,\u201d he says. \u201cThe whole idea of the search for the fourth alien
\nreally heats up, and what becomes really interesting about that is that
\nMichael thinks the alien is potentially his father. Over the next few
\nepisodes we start to get a hint of the possibility that the fourth alien
\nmight just not be all good. When we learn that we don\u2019t really know what his
\nmotivations are, that suddenly complicates their search.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cBy the middle of the season, we\u2019ll know for certain that the fourth alien
\nis here among us today, as opposed to just in the photograph that they have
\nfrom 1959. By the end of the year we\u2019ll glimpse him. He will be a character
\nthat has either been in the show or will be in it by the end of the season.\u201d
\nKatims obviously relishes the opportunity for this sort of intrigue. \u201cThis
\nis the first time I\u2019ve worked on this kind of thing. Most of the stuff I\u2019ve
\ndone has been putting three people in a room and waiting for one of them to
\ncry.\u201d<\/p>\nCanadian actor Brendan Fehr feels that moody Michael is the linchpin of this
\nplotline. \u201cTo an extent, my character propels the Sci-Fi aspect, but,
\nwithout Max and Isabel keeping him in check, he\u2019d blow his load in the first
\nthree episodes. He would just leave town. His primary roles are the Sci-Fi
\nthing, and trying to convince Max and Isabel to help him feel as though he\u2019s
\nwanted, as though he belongs.\u201d Fehr is nervous about the finding of the
\nfourth alien, though. \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be exciting for them. It\u2019s the
\nprocess of finding him and how Michael relates to Max and Isabel throughout
\nit that\u2019ll be the fun part.\u201d<\/p>\nJust in case the Sci-Fi aspect is a turn off for some viewers \u2013 though
\nBuffy\u2019s success suggests entirely the opposite \u2013 there\u2019ll be plenty of teen
\nangst and issues being dealt with as well. Katims can rattle off details of
\nsuch episodes with ease. \u201cThere\u2019s one shooting now where Max gets drunk for
\nthe first time in his life, and he does it by taking one sip of alcohol \u2013 so
\nwe\u2019re exploring what happens to an alien when he gets drunk.\u201d<\/p>\nI imagine viewers will be more interested in another plotline he mentions.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s one where we start to explore sexuality. Max and Liz get together
\nand start to kiss and it becomes more than just kissing and she starts to
\nhave flashes.\u201d Before the reader thinks that\u2019s a typing error, I\u2019d better
\npoint out that Max can see flashes of Liz\u2019s past when he touches her. \u201cNow
\nLiz starts seeing into Max\u2019s past,\u201d Katims continues. \u201cThe two of them
\ninvolved in this sexual thing becomes a euphemism for orgasms, and Maria
\nstarts to wonder why she didn\u2019t have the flashes when she was with Michael.
\nThat pushes the Michael-Maria thing forward. And they all start to say,
\n\u2018What the hell, let\u2019s go for it!\u2019 that makes Isabel wonder, \u2018What about me?\u2019
\nand Alex says, \u2018Here I am!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nThe Isabel-Alex relationship sounds like a plotline that\u2019ll run and run.
\nColin Hanks is certainly pleased about it \u2013 but then, I would be if I had to
\npair off with Katherine Heigl, the lovely actress who plays the female
\nalien. \u201cNow it doesn\u2019t look like we\u2019re together, now we might be\u2026 it\u2019s cool.
\nThis is my first time having a love interest in a TV show,\u201d Hanks says, \u201cso
\nto be paired up with Katy is just great. I think the characters clash very
\nwell, \u2018cause I\u2019m all baggy pants and sort of goofy looking and she\u2019s a vixen
\nin leather. Which makes a nice contrast.\u201d<\/p>\nMy word. None of this sounds like my school days \u2013 more\u2019s the pity \u2013 but it
\nmight be relevant to some more adventurous kids. Jason Behr is adamant that
\nTV should not be teenager\u2019s first port of call for lifestyle guidance,
\nthough. \u201cI would hate for kids to tune into a show to solve their problems,\u201d
\nhe says, with horror in his voice. \u201cIf TV and our show can help, that\u2019s
\nfine, but I hope that they have close enough family and friends to go and
\nsolve their problems at home. Then they can enjoy the show, but not as
\ntherapy.\u201d<\/p>\nIf fan mail is a form of therapy for teenage girls, Roswell certainly
\nprovides plenty of opportunity for it. Already a heart throb for his stint
\nas Chris Wolf on Dawson\u2019s Creek (most likely to say, \u201cAnyone for a
\nthreesome?\u201d), Behr tries to shrug the fame thing off as best he can. \u201cI am
\naware that I have fans, but I don\u2019t know to what extent,\u201d he grudgingly
\nadmits. \u201cIt could all turn to crap at any point, so you appreciate it. You
\ntake it for what it is worth: it means that you\u2019re doing a good job, but
\nthere\u2019s a place to draw the line. If that fulfils you and makes you feel
\nimportant, you\u2019ve got to give yourself a head check. My family and friends
\nare all quick to do that, and I don\u2019t think they need to do it too often.\u201d<\/p>\nBut Roswell has more strings to its bow than sex appeal and flying saucers.
\nWhen Jason Katims says, \u201cWe wanted to use the community in the south-west,\u201d
\nhe means New Mexico, not Somerset. As in the X-Files, native American
\ntradition has been brought into Roswell to add another layer to its
\nmythology. \u201cWe thought that we could expand the show by using it,\u201d explains
\nKatims, \u201cand we did research about an Indian reservation about five miles
\noutside of Roswell. We loosely based things on that, but we\u2019ve created a lot
\nof our own mythology. When you\u2019re writing, you look for resources and
\npossibilities, and that community seemed to have a natural connection,
\nbecause the metaphor of the series is aliens in a reservation.\u201d<\/p>\nAnother topic of much interest to viewers is the aliens\u2019 powers, of which
\nthe actors seem rather jealous. \u201cI\u2019d like the molecular structure thing.
\nThat\u2019d be cool,\u201d says Jason Behr talking about the aliens\u2019 power to
\nmanipulate matter on a molecular level, while Brendan Fehr bemoans the fact
\nthat Max has \u2018flashbacks and stuff\u2019, while Michael doesn\u2019t. Behr consoles
\nhim: \u201cMichael\u2019s\u2019 not inept \u2013 he\u2019s very powerful. He just lacks focus.\u201d
\nPersonally, Isabel\u2019s ability to go strolling through people\u2019s dreams would
\nbe the superpower I\u2019d choose out of the three.<\/p>\nRoswell isn\u2019t going to rest on its laurels, either. Before the fourth alien
\nupsets the balance, a new female regular is going to be introduced towards
\nthe end of the season to shake things up. Says Jason Katims, \u201cThat\u2019s what
\nhappens in life. Since the beginning of the series, all the characters have
\nmade an incredible adjustment. When they think they\u2019ve got a handle on
\nwhat\u2019s happening, the new girl shows up. She takes a certain interest in Max
\n\u2013 and he takes a certain interest in her.\u201d Handbags at dawn, then.<\/p>\nAliens, superpowers, Native Americans, wicked policemen, vixens in leather \u2013
\nall this and Jonathon Frakes, too. What more could an audience want?
\nRoswell, currently airing on Sky, should hit the BBC later this year, so if
\nyou haven\u2019t seen it already, start preparing yourselves.
\nGareth Wigmore<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thanks to Nikki for this: This is a article from the UK. Even though it’s months old, I haven’t seen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-roswell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}