5pm? Is that really the most suitable time for this show?

/me waits for the hacking and the slashing from the Channel 4 editing team...

channel 4 really dont knwo what to do with programming do they? what with angel, B5 and now this...

Unfortunately as Wo said due to past experience, em C4 doesn't seem to have any experience working out what a good show is.

Especially as I would have put Alias as a more mainstream drama programme.

I'm very rarely in front of the tv on a Saturday - never mind at 5.30 !!!

gutted! i really hoped BBC2 would get this because at least they seem to know what to do with this sort of thing. Its gonna die on C4 at that time which is such a shame as its a fantasic show!!

also with the edits - mmmm coz C4 are gonna show the dental torture scenes at 5:30 pm.

*EDIT STOPID C$ PROGRAMMING GRRRRRRRRR*

I don't know... channel 4 is sometimes sensible with its TV shows. But they put everything too late or too early. Examples. Practically every American Drama type show(West Wing, 6 feet under(which I have never seen due to its time), Third Watch(again never seen but supposedly good))

Then More culty shows like Angel, Smallville and so on tend to get shoehorned into 6pm slots.

But damn Channel 4 for putting Alias at such a stupid time. I would have liked the BBC to have picked it up as an alternative to 24 - which also would have meant me being able to tape it all uncut without adverts.

Oh, and whilst I'm thinking of shows that have suffered for late or early times, let us not forget Scrubs, which I think falls into Channel 4 territory very well. But Instead of sensibly pairing it with friends as it is in America now, they put it on at 10.35.

Well there's my yearly channel 4 rant over... for now.

I'm looking forward to this as i missed it when it was on Sky One

I had originally not thought that Alias looked any good at all but after my sister's (Sydney) description of it decided that it seemed quite good after all. I decided to wacth it but wait until it came on terrestrial as half the series had already gone by on sky and it would be immposible to catch up. But Channel 4? This along with angel should be on the channel that shows Buffy (also Enterprise, what is going on here, the B.B.C always gets Star Trek) as they know what to do with shows and when to put them on: notice how buffy seems to be getting a bit later each series, perhaps in preperation for all the stuff at the end of S7 (or is it 6 we've just had cause I can't remember the number, Oh well stupid me) that will have to go on after the watershed.
I think I might wait until my sister buys the box sets as I am sure she will.

(Edited by Havoc 12/09/2002 10:25)

I missed the Alias pilot on C4 due to my own incompetence. But I'm going to blame it on C4 anyway. Hah!:

I think the problem with shows like Alias and Angel and their ilk is that the premise of these shows is still very juvenile despite the actual content often being very adult.

This is, I believe especially true when seen through the eyes of a television executive who will see the show Alias as being about a schoolgirl who "just happens" to be a secret agent and saves the world every week. Again, Angel is about a vampire, but a good vampire, with superpowers, who "just happens" to save the world every week. Finally Smallville is about a boy, with superpowers who (and you can join in for the chorus if you want) "just happens" to save the world every week.

I'm fairly sure the TV executives see them as being the evolution of shows like "The Dukes of Hazzard" or "The A-Team" where the characters "just happened" to save the world every week. And as such, they end up in the same "Saturday afternoon" slots that those shows did despite often a more adult storyline running all the way through the plot, many aspects of which, end up on the cutting room floor.

If anything though it's certainly provided the niche for and instigated the production of uncut "box-sets" something that I'm sure many fans would have wanted anyway.

If you're gonna watch Alias...make sure that you don't miss an episode because they all follow on from each other.

Personally i think TV's choice of scheduling genre programing has more to do the 'suits' perception of genre ideas.

I think to them space ships, vampires or superspies are only next to leprechauns, cute robots and teletubbies.

Im sure the idea is that 'grown ups' are supposed to outgrow such ideas and watch shows about drug busts, hostpital drama and the like.

I can only hope this will change with time, its only a recent development that anyone past their mid 20's would contemplate playing computer games though.

With any luck once the 'playstation generation' get into tv schduleing, we'll get some sensible decisions. So expect to see some decent programs on at peak time round about 2025.