Roswell, New Mexico: In the Media

[shantown]

I've learned that especially for The CW the people who make the promos very rarely talk to the people who make the episodes! I'll give most new shows a try for three episodes - hoping for good things!

[ellieart]

They're terrible with promos!  But the trailer wasn't really great either and that was done by the showrunner/people involved. I wasn't super into the pilot script either but I was willing to give it a chance. It just sucks because I was curious to see what a more faithful adaptation of the books would look like and that's not even happening.  I'll still probably sample the pilot and maybe a couple more episodes, but I'm losing interest fast with every new piece of information coming out.

[paulvdb]

The CW Sets Spring Premiere Dates

Quote

The season finale of Roswell, New Mexico will air Tuesday, April 23 at 9 PM.

[ellieart]

 

This is just bad...

Edited January 13, 2019 by ellieart

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, ellieart said:

This is just bad...

Maybe because I just re-watched the original pilot, I would be okay with the scenario in the preview if Shiri and Jason were playing the parts, even though it would have to be an alternate universe where none of the events of the original 3 seasons every happened.

[tessaray]

3 hours ago, ellieart said:

This is just bad...

Not an auspicious start, to say the least.  

[cynic]

Ugh, I hope they end having more chemistry than displayed in that clip. That's one thing the original got absolutely right. Applebly and Behr were great playing off each other.

Also, I'm not even convinced these two have much charisma individually going by that.

Maybe I'm biased though. I just purchased the first season streaming on Amazon (for $9.99!) and the pilot totally took my little shipping heart back in time. It had me from go.

Anyway, I'll cross my fingers that the new one can win me over.

[phoenics]

I'm going to give it a chance - but I am concerned that NewMax doesn't play Max Evans with enough "mystery"... I guess OriginalMax's guardedness really made that character work for me - it gave him a gravitas that this Max doesn't seem to have from the clips - he's almost too open?  

Maybe I need to look at the books again to see if that Max is a bit more like this one... I'll check after the show airs.

I'm trying hard to have an open mind and not grasp for the show to be exactly like the other one... but it's sooooo hard.

[shapeshifter]

1 minute ago, phoenics said:

I'm trying hard to have an open mind and not grasp for the show to be exactly like the other one... but it's sooooo hard.

--especially with that clip above trying to be exactly the same (IMO).

[phoenics]

9 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

--especially with that clip above trying to be exactly the same (IMO).

But it's not though - not really - that part is also in the book, just slightly different.  I'm worried that the diner being empty makes the show lose a bit of urgency and gravity - half the drama is people almost seeing Max heal Liz and also Michael attempting to stop him and everything that flows from that - the gravity here loses that because they are alone.  You could even have it where a cellphone captures him going up to her, etc. etc... this excludes Michael, Maria, etc - both of whom are there in the book.  It's an odd choice leaving them out and changing it when that's literally from the books.

But okay okay - I'll keep an open mind.  T minus 2 minutes.

[Primal Slayer]

Interesting that nathan was meant for Michael at first. I think it would've fit him well.

Quote

osa. What can you say about that twist and what it means going forward?

Here's what I'll say: When we were casting Max, I had real trouble finding the right guy to play this character. I wanted there to be an edge to him, and we were looking at a lot of guys who just had this purity of heart in the way they played him. At the time, in my head, Nathan Parsons was Michael. Nathan and I had talked about him playing Michael for so long — he was the first person to read the script, when it was still 80 pages long and really bad, because we were friends — but we needed one more person to audition for Max. I called Nathan and asked him to come in, like "You're not gonna get it, you're definitely Michael, but can you just do me this favor?"

It was hard for me to see him as Max, because Nathan comes with this sense that he's seen some shit, and there's a little bit of trouble to him. And after we cast him as Max, that final moment of the episode really shifted. There are other readings of that last line, "She can never know about Rosa," where he was sadder or more scared, and less dark, but after I saw the way that played we shifted the whole ending around so that it was the final beat of the show. So that we leave on the sense of, "Oh, fuck, did we just watch Liz fall in love with the bad guy?" We're really tightly weaving the mystery and the clues so that on the second watch of season one, you'll get way more than you got the first time.

[Chas411]

Also I’d say there’s decinetly going to be Michael/Maria at some point.

 

Quote

n that note, Alex is gay, Michael is bisexual, and we will be exploring Michael's relationships with women on the show too.

[phoenics]

9 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

From the interview:

Here's what I'll say: When we were casting Max, I had real trouble finding the right guy to play this character. I wanted there to be an edge to him, and we were looking at a lot of guys who just had this purity of heart in the way they played him. At the time, in my head, Nathan Parsons was Michael. Nathan and I had talked about him playing Michael for so long — he was the first person to read the script, when it was still 80 pages long and really bad, because we were friends — but we needed one more person to audition for Max. I called Nathan and asked him to come in, like "You're not gonna get it, you're definitely Michael, but can you just do me this favor?"

It was hard for me to see him as Max, because Nathan comes with this sense that he's seen some shit, and there's a little bit of trouble to him. And after we cast him as Max, that final moment of the episode really shifted. There are other readings of that last line, "She can never know about Rosa," where he was sadder or more scared, and less dark, but after I saw the way that played we shifted the whole ending around so that it was the final beat of the show. So that we leave on the sense of, "Oh, fuck, did we just watch Liz fall in love with the bad guy?" We're really tightly weaving the mystery and the clues so that on the second watch of season one, you'll get way more than you got the first time.

Like - if they make Max a bad guy I will literally destroy something.  I really hope that's not where they are going and that it's more that it's just unexpected that Max would have had to do something dark in the past to protect their secret.  

I wonder if this is where Michael's comment about Max protecting himself came from - whatever this is with Rosa.

But - after watching Max being so obviously in love with Liz and so obviously unable to let go of that for 10 years, and his genuine earnestness and sweetness, I didn't take his last line as "dark".  I took it as a bunch of secrets - I hope they don't flip this on us and destroy Max/Liz for some kind of "gotcha" twist that ruins Max Evans.  Cause that will cause fans to riot and leave the show - that's literally what killed OGRoswell.  Max NOT being the guy we all wanted him to be in S2 and all that mess with Tess literally tanked the show.

Edited January 17, 2019 by phoenics

[Sakura12]

For me season 3 tanked the show, the season Tess wasn't even in until the end. 

I know I was in the minority, but I loved Tess because she was more Alien than the rest. She gave me the alien lore that I wanted. Before her Roswell seemed like every other teen show. Yes they were aliens but they all acted human. Tess wanted to get back to their planet and would do whatever it took to get there. 

I hope this show does bring someone like her in, male or female. 

Edited January 17, 2019 by Sakura12

[phoenics]

11 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

For me season 3 tanked the show, the season Tess wasn't even in until the end. 

I know I was in the minority, but I loved Tess because she was more Alien than the rest. She gave me the alien lore that I wanted. Before her Roswell seemed like every other teen show. Yes they were aliens but they all acted human. Tess wanted to get back to their planet and would do whatever it took to get there. 

I hope this show does bring someone like her in, male or female. 

I partially agree with you.  I loved the alien lore that accompanied Tess - but I did not like Tess or the story she brought from a romantic angle.  I would have been fine with her as an interloper but not for it to go all the way to a soap opera style story.  If they'd stopped short of having her be pregnant, and then stopped short of continuing a bad storyline in S3 of Max searching for a baby that would have been fine - that and if they'd made sure NOT to wallpaper Liz.  The show just went too far into the alien abyss and lost the heart of the show.  It's the same as DC heroes vs Marvel.  Marvel is usually more relatable to fans, which is why to make DC relevant with it's godlike heroes, they make sure to humanize them through their relationships with humans.  It's the same with aliens - their relationships with the humans where the humans aren't just props for the aliens is what made S1 so good and what made S2 and S3 not as good.

The new show is clearly already trying to bring in more mythology to the show - I'm fine with that kind of lore - what I didn't like was the package it came in (Tess and sidelining the human characters and making them nothing more than props for the alien characters).  The books did a great job of bringing the alien lore without a character as one-dimensional as Tess became.  There were at least 3 alien characters they used to do it - so we don't need a character with the same character beats as "Tess" to bring more alien lore.  

[Sakura12]

It was a teen drama, they all have soap opera storylines.  I couldn't even name one teen drama that didn't have some kind of stupid love triangle or the characters sleeping with each other. Lol

[phoenics]

7 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

It was a teen drama, they all have soap opera storylines.  I couldn't even name one teen drama that didn't have some kind of stupid love triangle or the characters sleeping with each other. Lol

No I get it - it's just that the Max/Liz relationship was special and the way they told that story and then treated it dismissively like it was nothing and then compounded that with an entire arc of Max looking for his son... it was just a mistake in the writing, imo.  The ratings definitely didn't support it.  Max searching for his baby and Isabel pushed into the "lead" spot put the show in last place in the ratings, I'm just sayin.

[phoenics]

I don't think this has been posted, but this article is a really interesting look at each of the characters and how they are different.  One interesting piece is that it says Maria isn't necessarily Liz's BFF - that she was actually BFFs with Rosa first?

https://www.cbr.com/rowell-new-mexico-tv-character-guide/

[Sakura12]

Maybe it was like someone suggested, that Rosa had the Liz role while they were in high school, only it ended badly. 

[Primal Slayer]

Having Liz be so disconnected from everyone isnt that smartest thing.

[shapeshifter]

A fun review of the Pilot with some good (moderated?) comments below it: http://foreveryoungadult.com/2019/01/16/roswell-new-mexico-1x01-pilot/

A review of the first 3 episodes (mild spoiler alert) that compares the show with Twilight: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/01/221360/roswell-new-mexico-cw-review-season-1-alien-romance

Edited January 19, 2019 by shapeshifter

[phoenics]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

A fun review of the Pilot with some good (moderated?) comments below it: http://foreveryoungadult.com/2019/01/16/roswell-new-mexico-1x01-pilot/

A review of the first 3 episodes (mild spoiler alert) that compares the show with Twilight: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/01/221360/roswell-new-mexico-cw-review-season-1-alien-romance

That last review was so insulting.  Roswell - the books and the original show - came first and fans have long ragged on Twilight for being "Roswell with Aliens" because it's pretty much the exact same concept.  That the writer says that Roswell gives one a "Twilight deja vu" is SO effed up when Roswell predates Twilight and it's highly likely Stephanie Meyers just ripped off Roswell (people have written entire posts about the similarities, right down to biology lab partners) and replaced the aliens with vampires.

Oh and the movies would have been infinitely better with Shiri Appleby and Jason Behr playing the lead roles.  I introduced my sister to Roswell and after that she kept raging that SA/JB didn't play Bella/Edward in Twilight.

So there.

[Kareny]

31 minutes ago, phoenics said:

Roswell predates Twilight and it's highly likely Stephanie Meyers just ripped off Roswell (people have written entire posts about the similarities, right down to biology lab partners) and replaced the aliens with vampires.

 

Wait, I'm not the only one with this theory?? 

[phoenics]

6 minutes ago, Kareny said:

Wait, I'm not the only one with this theory?? 

Nope!  I'm so happy I'm not alone!

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, phoenics said:

That the writer says that Roswell gives one a "Twilight deja vu" is SO effed up when Roswell predates Twilight and it's highly likely Stephanie Meyers just ripped off Roswell (people have written entire posts about the similarities, right down to biology lab partners) and replaced the aliens with vampires.

46 minutes ago, Kareny said:

Wait, I'm not the only one with this theory?? 

Didn't Stephanie Meyers post on the FanForum.com Roswell FanFic thread? Or was it just the 50 Shades author?

[phoenics]

13 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Didn't Stephanie Meyers post on the FanForum.com Roswell FanFic thread? Or was it just the 50 Shades author?

The 50 Shades author posted on some Twilight fanfic forum until she was asked (by some publisher, right?) to make her story into a separate series of books - with new characters, etc...

If SM posted on any Roswell fanfic thread, I never heard about it...

[kj4ever]

7 hours ago, phoenics said:

Nope!  I'm so happy I'm not alone!

A good friend of mine called me after she read Twilight and was all "OMG this lady ripped off Roswell and switched the aliens with vampires!"

[KittenPokerCheater]

https://www.tvguide.com/news/roswell-new-mexico-tyler-blackburn-michael-vlamis-interview-malex-passionate-relationship-lgbtq/

Looks like they might be a OTP for the show.

[shapeshifter]

18 hours ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

https://www.tvguide.com/news/roswell-new-mexico-tyler-blackburn-michael-vlamis-interview-malex-passionate-relationship-lgbtq/

Looks like they might be a OTP for the show.

It sure does. At this point, the only way I can imagine a bisexual Michael with Maria pairing is if they kill off Alex (again).

[methodwriter85]

I feel like I'm okay with this because that allows me to just keep my memories of OG Michael and Maria intact instead of having to compare.

[phoenics]

46 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

It sure does. At this point, the only way I can imagine a bisexual Michael with Maria pairing is if they kill off Alex (again).

They aren't gonna kill Alex off.  The showrunner seems determined to avoid those kinds of tropes.  That's why the issue with them isn't that Alex is closeted or his dad is homophobic. The issue is that Michael isn't "good enough" for Alex, Alex is conflicted and thus keeps going hot and cold with Michael.  

[Cristofle]

I feel like OG Michael/Maria was lightning in a bottle with Fehr and Majandra, and they were a lot of what sold it. I'm totally okay with them sticking with Michael and Alex here (although I agree with what's been said elsewhere that I feel it more from Michael than Alex so far).

[KittenPokerCheater]

So the actor who plays Alex is going to be on an episode of Charmed.

https://ew.com/tv/2019/02/22/charmed-pretty-little-liars-tyler-blackburn-the-originals-leah-pipes/

Edited February 23, 2019 by KittenPokerCheater

[Trini]

[KittenPokerCheater]

I believe they finished shooting some time ago, but I can't be sure.  That trailer seemed more like clips from episodes we've already seen.  Meh.  I wish this episode had more shows this season, because I am enjoying it more than I thought I would.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Trini said:

This^ makes me wish Shiri A and Jason B were staring in the current version. 

[RachelKM]

There were some questions about Michael vlamis' public comments on Malex and M&M, so I thought I'd post this here:

https://ew.com/tv/2019/03/26/michael-vlamis-roswell-new-mexico-special-malex-moment/

He's really respectful to both his acting partners and doesn't really disparage M&M, but his preference for Malex is explicit. 

[Chick2Chic]

Thanks, @RachelKM.

I kind of hated his answer as a Black woman who constantly has witnessed Black women on shows disregarded or whose actors are victims of anti-Blackness on social media. It is as if BW are falsely equated with a privilege they don't have or are considered less marginalized than LGBT despite rampant misogynoir both in fandoms and in real life. IMO he doesn't understand intersectionality at all if he equates all heterosexual relationships without addressing racial differences. 

I also hated the cloying shipper framing of the piece. Yet another reason I was annoyed that Maria was inexplicably marginalized for the first 7 eps so now she's put in a harder position in general because of that. I wish someone on that show other than Heather Hemmens understood that (and I know she does cause she liked a tweet of mine blasting the show for its sidelining and segregation of Maria)

Edited March 28, 2019 by Chick2Chic
fixed something.

[Cristofle]

Yeah, I think he doesn't get that black women on TV shows face a huge uphill battle in being seen as love interests, particularly of white men (see: the debacle that was Sleepy Hollow). And I feel like Carina set Maria up here to be hated, by sidelining her while building Alex/Michael only to bring Michael and Maria up NOW. I was hoping, if she was going to go the Michael/Alex route, that Maria would have her own love interest (perhaps Kyle). 

[RachelKM]

Chick2Chic and Cristofle I noted (and bristled at) that too.  I read his comment about representation and though, "yeah... kind of applies to both pairings, my dude."  

I'm not trying psychoanalyze him here, but I wonder if its a bit of actor-character egocentricity.  In the Malex relationship, his own character is the not just part of but is the representation.  Whereas, with Maria, he's just the white guy, so viewing it from his character's perspective, it doesn't mean as much if that makes sense.   He seems really please to be part of the Malex thing and excited about the opportunity to invest Malex with all the characteristics usually reserved for straight couples on TV. 

Edited March 28, 2019 by RachelKM

[Chick2Chic]

3 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Chick2Chic and Cristofle I noted (and bristled at) that too.  I read his comment about representation and though, "yeah... kind of applies to both pairings, my dude."  

I'm not trying psychoanalyze him here, but I wonder if its a bit of actor-character egocentricity.  In the Malex relationship, his own character is the not just part of but is the representation.  Whereas, with Maria, he's just the white guy, so viewing it from his character's perspective, it doesn't mean as much if that makes sense.   He seems really please to be part of the Malex thing and excited about the opportunity to invest Malex with all the characteristics usually reserved for straight couples on TV. 

I get what you're saying but I don't think it's that deep for him cause his comments (and the interviewer's cloying fangirling) leads me to believe he (and she) doesn't get that Michael being with a White woman is different than Michael being with a Woman of Color. I think he's simplistic in breaking it down solely as Straight vs Gay representation so I don't see him applying that racial differences matter too thinking to it. He could be excited for something *new* with Michael/Alex vs OG canon Michael/MAria but at the same time, he doesn't seem to understand that heterosexual relationships aren't all equal (same goes for gay relationships) so his comments felt like a slap to the face for me. Racebent Maria isn't the same as OG Roswell Maria but he's missing that comprehension. 

TBH, I think it's something the showrunner doesn't get either from what I've seen of her on twitter and interviews so it's not shocking but it's irritating AF to have people out here wanting to carry a representation and inclusivity flag but not understand one thing about intersectionality. I know folks on social media have sent her comments about Maria's marginalization & segregation and her response is to either cling to scheduling issues (which I think she mentioned only being an issue for ep 6 about Maria's absence, not the first 7 eps as a whole). As someone else said in one of the ep threads ( @phoenics ? ) that I'm paraphrasing here, CAM is all about gay inclusivity for this reboot but at the same time she's severely diminished a Black woman character on every single level to do it. 

[Chick2Chic]

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, Chick2Chic said:

I think they'll renew the show, because it's doing alright and because The CW are losing a bunch of shows going into next year (Crazy Ex, JtV, iZombie, and likely In The Dark, and then they're losing their veteran show Arrow at the beginning of 2020, with Supernatural ending as well next year). Plus, the network's pilot orders at the moment aren't promising. But I could see the show moving to a less favourable timeslot, like Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays. 

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

But I could see the show moving to a less favourable timeslot, like Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays. 

Or (cue dirge music) Fridays -- which The X-Files survived in the 90s, as did Fringe in 2009.

[tessaray]

It might be a step down in the tv world but Fridays would be a-okay by me. I might actually get to watch it live.

[Cristofle]

4 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I think they'll renew the show, because it's doing alright and because The CW are losing a bunch of shows going into next year (Crazy Ex, JtV, iZombie, and likely In The Dark, and then they're losing their veteran show Arrow at the beginning of 2020, with Supernatural ending as well next year). Plus, the network's pilot orders at the moment aren't promising. But I could see the show moving to a less favourable timeslot, like Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays. 

I agree - they're losing a ton of shows this year/next year, and this one has more potential than some to perk up based on Netflix, because of the OG show. I think it's not a given, but at least a 65% chance they'll renew the show.

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Or (cue dirge music) Fridays -- which The X-Files survived in the 90s, as did Fringe in 2009.

True, although I think they like to keep Fridays open for their dramedies/really low rated shows. Dynasty will remain on Fridays, so they only need two shows to fill the slot: one during the Fall season and one during the Winter/Spring. I honestly think Roswell will likely stay off of Fridays, although the question is, if it's renewed, will it be a midseason show again? 

I'm feeling more like 80% sure that it'll be renewed. 

[theschnauzers]

I’ve suggested in other threads that this season has felt like a season long setup for future seasons. The show hadn’t been renewed when the bulk of the CW schedule was renewed because it had just begun airing. Of the 5 broadcast nets, it incorporates viewers on its apps more than the others (I suspect the CW goes to the live plus 30 data) as well as international viewing.

It certainly is doing better among the demo than some of the other that have already been renewed. The big question is whether the show can handle more than 13 episodes in a season, production wise, especially with the looming loss of so many established CW shows. 

My guess too is renewal for possibly more than 13 episodes.

[KittenPokerCheater]

I seem to recall an interview with the writer/show runner that they had a five seasons worth of story planned out.  I don’t know how this will change if they get wind of only two seasons or so.

[ellieart]

This show has hardly been handling a cohesive story in 13 episodes, there's no way in hell they should ever get a full 22 episode season or they risk going the way of Riverdale and going from already not that great to truly awful.  Though if it is renewed, I could see it staying at midseason, but moved out of Tuesdays.