I would say that "Alias" actually held onto lost pretty damn well compared to most other pre-empted shows."Stacked" and "Life on a Stick" are two perfect examples. The only one really holding onto an audience better is "Greys Anatomy" after "Desperate Housewives" and "House" after "Idol".

Infact last week "Alias" held onto 60% of Lost's audience and as usual rose in its second half hour. Thats pretty impressive; and infact its a similar if not better contention than "24" used to have on a similar slew. I guess they figure Alias can pull a 24 and do well on its own again, but on such a competitive night its a bit of a stupid idea.

They marketed the whole "Abrams Night" so much that i thought it would be a returning phenomena, but apparently they are using Lost to piggyback other shows. I am not keen; if the new shows fail then i'd bet Alias would return to post Lost.

I Think they do see "Alias" as a reliable ratings staple thats always going to pull in around 9-12 million viewers no matter what they do; and they probobly hope it can hold its own better than other ABC shows on that Thursday lineup.

It'll likely drive "Alias" to a very low 5th season; but the contracts are up in 2007 so i guess thats when ABC will decide.... Its the best show of all time in my opinon and trust me i would easily burst out crying and go into a week of intense anger if it got cancelled, THATS how much of a fanatic i am. Honestly i really REALLY hope they renew it after this year; it seems we have a waiting game to see if its renewed each year; this year it was an early renewal and then the schedule change countered the good news.

"Best show of all time" as in "every television show ever created all time?"

If Alias dies out after next season that would be the best thing that could happen to it and it's fans. I wish X Files had died out after a few seasons, it would probably still be a cult classic instead of the self destroyed thing it became.

Entirely a matter of opinon, critics and apparently [going by ratings and the seasons performance] viewers are very much enjoying this season of Alias. Its actually my 2nd favourite season after season 2.

And yes i mean best show EVER.
If Alias ends I'd disown ABC and stop watching all its shows and ABC1. Just to prove a point that cancelling quality is cancelling viewers.

So in theory you want Alias to run forever. Perhaps with Nadia taking over the lead from Sydney?

Archie makes a good point, cult shows should die young.

You completely mis read my post. Let me restate it a different way.

Alias, even if I'm not loving it, is still pretty decent as a show, I was complimenting it by saying I hope it gets cancelled next season for its' own sake. It hasn't sunk into the depths like some shows have after being on several years. Yet. But if it goes on for 10 years it is likely it will become unrecognizable for you. So just take the 5 years and be glad they kept up the production values, kept ahold of the cast etc.

If Jennifer Garner leaves. Alias ends for me. But if Alias can keep the cast together [which all appear willing to do, god knows i admire Garner for sticking with the show in the face of a flourishing film career] and Abrams stays involved then i say bring on season 50.
Thats how simple that is. Im up for a Nadia spin off; or an Irina Derevko spinoff even.
But certainly; Jennifer Garner IS Alias. Without her the show loses its core and would be totally hollow. She carries that show and shes much of the reason that one night, when channel hopping, i tuned into a tv network called Sky One, though i was watching something that seemed to be a Buffy ripoff and became addicted to a show called "Alias" which turned out to transform the way i looked at film and tv; as well as took an active interest in tv ratings and in turn, box office grosses.

Well, if The O.C. stays at Thursdays at 8pm, then I will have to stop watching Alias. (except for when The O.C. is having re-runs)

I see what you guys mean with Alias. While five seasons sounds so meager compared to other shows, Alias can easily take a dive like any show, especially with JJ Abrams doing different movies and TV shows. In any event, six or seven seasons would sound good. Five just doesn't sound right, you know? Even though I get it that a good show should end before it overstays its welcome.

What I Will Be Watching (in bold)

Monday
8 p.m. Wife Swap
9 p.m. Monday Night Football

Tuesday
8 p.m. According To Jim
8:30 p.m. Rodney
9 p.m. Commander-in-Chief
10 p.m. Boston Legal

Wednesday
8 p.m. George Lopez
8:30 p.m. Freddie
9 p.m. Lost
10 p.m. Invasion

Thursday
8 p.m. Alias
9 p.m. The Night Stalker
10 p.m. Primetime Live

Friday
8 p.m. Supernanny
9 p.m. Hope and Faith
9:30 p.m. Hot Properties
10 p.m. 20/20

Saturday
8 p.m. Movie

Sunday
7 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy

Less Than Perfect, Jake in Progress, and The Bachelor should have been cancelled instead of 8 Simple Rules. Complete Savages is returning in June to air its final episodes I believe. I might watch The Night Stalker or Invasion. These are what I am watching with the schedules of NBC and The WB in mind.

Dang, that sucks. I feel bad for you.

If Alias goes. Im seriously going to consider never watching "Desperate Housewives" again as a protest to my loyalty.
Although of course im in the UK and thy dont give a shit. I love ABC. Please dont make me hate you.

I like According to Jim and I only watch Rodney because all shows are basically in the middle at 8:30.

I think all their contracts (Alias) expire next season anyway, so hmmm, I could see a few cast members leaving regardless of wehter the show continues or not.


I don't know. Thursday. 8 PM. It jsut seems really odd. I remember it was even a big deal before because of the content of the show and it airing at 9 PM.

But then again as Joey Will & Grace continues to fade, nothing on the WB/UPN it just has Survivor to go up against. I have a feeling not alllll that many people watch both the OC and Alias. It seems a little bit geared towards...different audiences.

Well, assuming OC and Survivor stick to their Thursday time slots, let's take a look:

ABC: Alias
CBS: Survivor
NBC: Joey/Will and Grace
FOX: The O.C.
WB: Smallville
UPN: WWE Smackdown!

Well, Smackdown is out, because that has its own core audience and nothing really affects that. Joey and Will & Grace are fading, and I really don't see viewership increasing next year for no reason at all. The O.C. could benefit from this, but seeing as how ratings haven't improved this season over the course of the year, I don't see much improvement next season, either. Probably the same numbers for NBC and FOX. This leaves Smallville and Survivor. Smallville is fighting for the same type of hardcore fans, while Survivor will undoubtedly be the time period champion, with around 20+ million a week. Something needs to step up as a solid competitor to Survivor, and since Friends was able to pull in 20+ million viewers a week when Survivor was doing the same ratings, I can't see why something else won't be able to do it again. Alias will NEVER be that big, but it's possible that if anything does it, Alias could. But, I still doubt it. If it pulled the same ratings that it did on Wednesdays, there is no problem and ABC finally has some good news on Thursday. But, if it gets in the 4.0 and 5.0 range, Season 5 may be the last. Maybe it could be like a "24" thing, where "24" didn't really do all that great leading out of American Idol, but it really scored big on Monday nights, doing better without the Idol lead-in. We'll have to wait and see.

Anything over 8 million viewers would actually be a hue improvement over anything ABC has had in the Thursday 8 PM slot for like...years.


But it'd still be sad to see it go that low.

And IU just hate to see ABC start to repeat it's past errors.

And UGH I'm so frustrated that Jake in Progress comes back but not 8 Simple Rules.

When I saw NBC's schedule I thought it was pretty stupid.
And ABC's almost comes close!!!

Not only will ALIAS lose its lead-out LOST viewers and drop a bit because it's on Thursdays, it's on at 8:00pm

I think alot of people don't realize the 8pm hour might be what kills it the most. I would have suggested moving ALIAS to a 10pm hour. As far as I know it, ABC has signed its death wish for ALIAS. I had a strong feeling way before anything was announced that next year would be the last for ALIAS. It just doesn't seem to have the spark anymore. They have really tried to re-ignite it the second half of this season but it's never gonna be as good as it once was and I think that is the consensus among most viewers and creators/writers even if they won't admit it publicly.

Personally, I really think Abrams' multi-tasking on 20,000 different projects is damaging each one. LOST is great now and one of the best new additions, but I will admit I see signs of fatigue already... it doesn't seem as strong and well put-together as ALIAS did in its first 2 years. Although he is only one of the many brains behind all the tasks he's managing, ALIAS was his original creation and it is suffering most from lack of Abrams' focus and touch.

Then again, I always hold my theory that ALIAS went a bit awry and lost direction when they lost Lena Olin. It seemed they stalled and didn't know what to do so they made the 2 years storyline up to gain some perspective on how to proceed. So, if Lena Olin returns, Abrams and the writing team could enter another great season, maybe follow up with some ideas they must have had before Lena Olin left. Now, of course, they have more on their plate to deal with (3 more family members).

So, I would bet alot that tomorrow's 10pm episode and the finale will draw in more viewers than almost the entire season thus far, probably almost on par with the season premiere.

I don't think there is much competition on Wednesdays at 10pm. They could have easily plugged a new show between the two Abrams headliners and assuredly gotten better results.

I think LOST in the 9pm our is bad mostly because it isn't good to start changing around a new hit show, even if it is a 1 hour timeframe difference. However, I think 9pm hour slot on Wednesdays might bring in a bit stronger ratings because obviously more adults will be watching at 9 rather than at 8. Plus, I think the competition won't be too strong at 9pm until AI rolls around. Then it will get interesting.

I don't see Extreme MakeOver: Howd They Do That on the list, so I'm assuming it won't return.
Supernanny at 8pm on Fridays I think is one of their best moves (which isn't saying alot).

I don't know why they picked up a show called Freddie. It seems doomed from the beginning. I mean don't these execs feel it? So many TV viewers are right on the money with what will fail horribly, why aren't the network heads?

Commander in Chief looks doomed too. One of the first to be cancelled in the season. High profile or even midprofile stars (or even no profile stars) in over-the-top ambitious shows come off cheasy and don't fool viewers. Why hasn't ABC learned that yet??? The Court (sally Fields), Blind Justice!

Maybe I'm being too skeptical.

But wile I'm at it, I'd say Night Stacker won't see the light of Christmas only based on its name!

As for Invasion... what do they expect to be the plot of the series? If they are introducing the aliens or mentioning their invasion this early in the plot of the series, what are they gonna base the next few years' worth of episodes on, the resistance? the alliance? It seems like a movie plot more than a series.

I think ABC really needs to beef up 20/20 and Primetime. That will get them ahead. Both are prime hours just screaming out to interested adults and viewers. They need to find great big stories but have to take their audience seriously. Tackle some big issues!!

We'll just have to see how it plays out. Depending on how strong Fox opens its season, ABC is looking to nab #2 again next year, even with all their switcharoos.

Moving Alias to Thursday is a risky move, but the night is so dead for ABC that anything over 5 million will make them happy. And when it comes down to it, Alias is losing more then 40 percent of Lost's audince, and performs quite poorly without an original episode of Lost. Not that I'm saying it was the best move, but I think you guys are overreacting.

But the lineup of new shows doesn't look promising.The only ones I could see living to a second season are Hot Properties (Just because) and mayby Invasion.

Alias deserves way, way more viewers than it gets; i think everyone can agree on that. I mean you see shows like Raymond pulling in 32.2 million viewers and im sitting wondering...."what the fuck is America thinking?"

Still mad about 8 Simple Rules being cancelled.

I'm still mad about Once and Again being cancelled.

From Zap2it.com :

Despite Momentum, ABC Shakes Up Fall Schedule
(Tuesday, May 17 05:56 AM)

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) It's been quite a year at ABC. Mired deep in fourth in most key measures last year at this time, the network has posted what it describes as the largest season-to-season audience growth for any major network in the coveted adult 18-49 demographic in at least 25 years. However, not content to continue along the same path, ABC has shaken up its schedule from top to bottom for next season.

Coming off a year that saw ABC land fresh breakout hits from "Desperate Housewives" to "Lost" to "Grey's Anatomy," the network is prepared to launch three new dramas and two new comedies this fall, with even more new programming on tap for midseason. In addition, the network is shifting around many of its most popular and established shows, looking for footholds on new nights and in new time periods, with only Sunday night (and the Saturday movie) remaining stable.

"Through strong development and strategic marketing, we were able to make valuable strides this season. Our responsibility next season and beyond is to continue that forward movement," says ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson. "We're grateful to all of the people at ABC, as well as those in the creative community who are contributing to our promising first steps."


Viewers may need to seek out such favorites as "Boston Legal" (now on Tuesday) and "Alias" (running the lead leg on what ABC hopes will be a vital Thursday), but ABC has set up familiar buffers for most of its new offerings. On the comedy side, ABC's fresh fall will include "Freddie" and "Hot Properties," while "Commander-in-Chief," "Invasion" and "The Night Stalker" are the new dramas.

ABC's week will kick off on Mondays with "Wife Swap" leading into the network's final season of "Monday Night Football." When the pigskin action comes to its close, "The Bachelor" will return in the 8 p.m. ET time period, followed by the Heather Graham comedy "Emily's Reasons Why Not," and the returning single-camera comedy "Jake in Progress." The John Stamos comedy was one of ABC's most surprising renewal. The night will conclude with "What About Brian," a J.J. Abrams-created dramedy starring Barry Watson and the only one of three pilots from the "Lost" creator to make ABC's roster.

"According to Jim" and "Rodney" move up an hour to kick-start ABC's Tuesday. Instead of more comedy, though, ABC will shift gears with Geena Davis in the female president drama "Commander-in-Chief" at 9 p.m. and "Boston Legal" in its new 10 p.m. home.

On Wednesday, ABC is moving the desert island smash "Lost" down to 9 p.m., starting the night with new comedies, returning bubble show "George Lopez" and "Freddie," which aims to make a sitcom star out of Freddie Prinze Jr. "Lost" will take the middle of the night, providing a compatible lead-in of "Invasion," an alien-based drama that McPherson describes simply as "spectacular."

For the third year in a row, "Alias" finds itself in a new home, joining the tight battle on Thursday night at 8 p.m. The action show, which will have to deal with star Jennifer Garner's reported pregnancy, will set up "The Night Stalker," an update of the 1970s supernatural series, which had a strong cult fanbase. The night will close with "Primetime Live."

After several seasons of attempting to rejuvenate TGIF comedies on Friday night, ABC is turning over the evening's first hour to the not-so-funny reality series "Supernanny." Returning comedy "Hope & Faith" is one of the few shows in ABC's entire schedule to remain in its home from last year, setting up the real estate half-hour "Hot Properties." The 10 p.m. hour goes to "20/20."

ABC is remaining true to the movie-of-the-week on Saturday.

The network will also hold on to the Sunday lineup that has gone from struggling to unstoppable in recent months. From "America's Home Videos" to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" to returning hits "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" (now ordered for a full season of 22 episodes), ABC can count on closing its week strong.

Including the Monday post-football shows, ABC has already ordered a whopping seven shows, with three comedies, three dramas and one alternative program. In addition, "Less than Perfect" will be back at some point, though ABC hasn't committed to a time slot for the returning comedy.


So far I'm not incredibly excited about any of the new shows they will have. But it's cool that LESS THAN PERFECT will be back again. I just wish they also would have kept 8 SIMPLE RULES, especially over HOPE & FAITH.

Although I don't really watch ALIAS, I think it seems cool and I plan on catching up with it on DVD soon. But I still know exactly how you feel. I feel the same way about GILMORE GIRLS. In my opinion, it is the BEST SHOW EVER and if it was cancelled I'd freakin' die. I would be depressed, pissed, and maybe even need to be locked up :razz:. A life without GILMORE GIRLS is a life I can't imagine living - it completes me . So I get where you're coming from. Hopefully for your sake it does well and gets another season. It's too bad ABC is kind of killing it by moving it to Thursday's. It just doesn't seem like a good move to me. But maybe it will work out. Hopefully it does.

Well i think they hope Alias can pull its 10 million viewers on Thursday nights too, which would be a vast improvement over what they are used to. But i dunno....
It shouldnt have the responsibility of anchoring a night, it should be pre-empted.

If they really wanted to have a killer Thursday night I think they should have LOST on Thursday nights. I really don't think they are being smart expecting ALIAS to perform so well and be the lead-in for a new show on a Thursday night. They are being stupid. Hopefully ALIAS can kick ass in this new spot, but they are taking a HUGE risk with it.