Seems fitting, since TBS ran the first Pylea ep this morning!! AA is doing yeoman's work on Alias, hope it leads to much more! I love Fred SO!!

VerseRoamer | March 01, 00:04 CET

Tenner bet they go for an AA spin off.

gossi | March 01, 00:06 CET

I can't believe ABC is doing this to Alias in its last season. Sure the ratings arn't as high as they use to be...but to drop it like this and not even give it a full final season...they should change their station from ABC to FOX!

Jinxieman | March 01, 00:09 CET

At least they have a final season, with notice. Typically a network would just go 'Ah right. We're not renewing you' on the last day of shooting.

gossi | March 01, 00:36 CET

Only slightly off topic: I just watched "A Hole In the World" again and AA is one of the reasons that was a PERFECT hour of television. Hope they give her the chance to do that caliber of work on "Alias"

tuneman570 | March 01, 00:58 CET

This is STILL on the air?

ZachsMind | March 01, 01:29 CET

Yep.

gossi | March 01, 01:30 CET

Unfortunately I haven't watched this show since the season 3 finale because it went down hill past the point of saving in my book (what a loaded sentence). While I hold the opinion that the first two (maybe three) seasons were amazing, I had a slow painful break-up with this one.

MySerenity | March 01, 02:11 CET

What's the point in giving them warning it'll be the last season, thus allowing them to set up the final stretch of episodes in the way they want... only to screw with that planning by cutting the episode order by 5? I thought it was fair enough to end it after this season.

Impossible | March 01, 02:31 CET

Impossible, there's every chance the show runners have known about this for some time. Chances are ABC have diverted the money to the Lost stars pay rise.

gossi | March 01, 02:33 CET

It's unfortunate that Amy only came onboard recently but at least she's getting main cast credit for the last 8 episodes. Maybe AA will end up on Lost? ;)

Silent Night | March 01, 03:38 CET

*sigh*

yeah... alias has had its ups and downs, but i've stuck with it the whole time, so... shortening the season just seems harsh no matter which way i look at it. hopefully this will mean that the last eight episodes will be all killer, no filler.

i sincerely doubt, however, that Amy Acker will have anything particularly spectacular to do - it's cool to see her playing a bad guy, but the role doesn't seem to have that much depth to it.

unsquare | March 01, 03:40 CET

I've loved this show since I first saw it, and watched seasons 1-halfway through 3 almost back to back. I understand how people might not like season 3, but I think it gets a lot of harsh criticism, it was different to previous seasons, but still great. I wasn't hugely impressed with the first half of season 4 the first time I saw it, but enjoyed it much more on DVD.

I really do reckon this show has been firing on all cylinders since about half/twothirds of the way through season 4, season 5 has just been fantastic, the first episode shoving the show in a completely different direction, and remaining as interesting as I've always found it.

I do reckon it's getting screwed over a bit by ABC, while I realise scheduling isn't completely their fault (Damn Affleck!) why did they give us the "March 2nd" return date, and why tell us it was getting a full seasons worth of episodes to finish up? If it weren't for Alias they probably wouldn't have Lost and yet they seem happy to mistreat Alias in it's final year.

Still haven't decided whether I blame the people that stopped watching purely because of the events of this seasons premiere, or the ABC scheduling peoples for the show's cancellation.

Hope the show goes out with a real bang, can't say I'm really worried that it might dissapoint me, only things I can think of that would really piss me off is if either Sloane or Irina went back to their old evil ways, as they're much more interesting characters when they're in murky areas of gray, than when they're just evil for evils sake.

Ghost Spike | March 01, 04:02 CET

From what i understand the Alias writers have prepared for the possibility of less episodes already so hopefully the story will still get the ending it deserves.

I have to admit that, as an Alias fan, ABC pissed me off a little here. I perfectly understood about them cancelling the series, the ratings being what they were. I even understood when it took them a while to schedule the last half of the season as they obviously needed the time slots to try out new series. All fair enough. But to then add insult to injury and shorten the length of the season from 22 to 17 episodes was pushing things a little too far. Not to mention the fact that they are most likely axing Invasion too. And this from a network that i was starting to have a little respect for.

Well, i suppose it's still better than going back on your word on a commitment for a full final season when it was too late to change the fourth season cliffhanger, wouldn't you say, Sci Fi Channel?

Farscape fans hold grudges for a very long time. ;)

Buffysmglover | March 01, 04:19 CET

I just wish they would've stuck with the 24 type season and started airing it in the middle of January with no breaks. It has tremendously helped 24 and I thought last year it helped Alias as well.

Now they kick them down by five eps. Hopefully the finale truly is spectacular and these five eps were not needed at all.

LOUiE | March 01, 04:40 CET

I actually like this season!!! 4th was so choppy, but 5th became suspenseful again. 8 more episodes is far too little. JJ promises big finish, but he says something every year and it never comes true. I wish he were like Joss and actually stick to his projects. He's not even writing or directing the final episode.

ChosenOne5376 | March 01, 05:14 CET

The same could be said of Whedon and Angel though since he was off making Serenity... or calls about Serenity. Or, uh, something. He also had to ditch Smile Time (aka one of the greatest things ever) before getting to the direction point, and that episode totally deserved an audio commentary...

I'd put Abrams into the same category as X-Files' Chris Carter where they have a pretty good build-up but the project just sort of stumbles towards the end for various reasons.

Whedon's stuff on the other hand (aside from the last half of the last season of Buffy... and even then, excluding the finale proper.) generally stands strong and gets better as it approaches it's cancelation/end.

orangewaxlion | March 01, 07:47 CET

im actually a fan of season from Lessons to Bring on the Night and then from Get It Done Chosen. It's the episodes where all the potentials are getting acquainted (Showtime, Potential, First Date, Killer In Me) that I find weak. Season 7 had a strong opening and a solid ending.

Thing about Whedon, he left for Serenity but he still wrote and directed a hole in the world and managed to co-write the finale. It's proven that he can multitask like no one else.

Abrams hasn't penned an Alias in a very long time, and he is one of the best on the creative team........besides Goddard of course. He's doing an awesome job. Heard he's going to Lost, guess I'mma have to force myself to watch that.

ChosenOne5376 | March 01, 09:26 CET

Abrams is working on MI:III, which is a freakin' huge picture. I mean, massive. I mean, the 'versal staff I know are flying all over the world for it at the moment. It wouldn't surprise me if he simply hasn't had chance to do anything.

And, if fairness, during for example season 4 of Angel - there was a large gap, according to Charmisa, where they didn't see Joss. For like, most of the season. And why? Because he was busy producing 3 shows, having one cancelled, having a baby, forming a motion picture and trying to hold it all together.

gossi | March 01, 14:55 CET

Your right. But at least when Joss departs the quality of the show remains strong.....lol well if you're a fan of Season 4.

ChosenOne5376 | March 01, 15:47 CET

Oh no, 17 episodes? That sounds so random, I hadn't even considered anything less than 22 episodes. I knew they were cancelling it but I wish they had have let them go ahead with a full season to wrap everything up properly, it may not be worth keeping for another year (in the network's view) but surely it was doing well enough to let the show finish up with dignity?

I just hope it is a good season even if it's way too short. I'm glad Buffy and Angel were able to finish with full seasons and do the shows justice. Firefly, of course, was even less lucky, but this is like a mini-Firefly to me again. I know a lot of people have problems with Alias but I would still rather watch it than most of the rubbish on TV.

Razor | March 02, 01:38 CET