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Roswell (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Roswell is an American
science fiction
television series developed, produced, and co-written by Jason Katims
. The series debuted on October 6, 1999 on The WB
and moved to UPN
for the third season. The last episode aired May 14, 2002. In the United Kingdom
, the TV series aired as both Roswell High and Roswell.
The series pilot is based on the Roswell High
young adult book series
, written by Melinda Metz
and edited by Laura J. Burns
, who became staff writers for the television series.
and Regency Television
for the Fox Network
, though it eventually landed on The WB (retitled simply to Roswell) thanks to the latter network's offer to extend a full 22-episode upfront commitment. The pilot episode was filmed in 12 days with a budget of $2,000,000. "The Morning After," the second episode of the series, was the first episode with the full title sequence utilizing the theme song, "Here With Me" by Dido
.
Roswell was filmed in various locations around California
. City Hall, Charter Oak High School, and several other businesses and residences in Covina
served as locations for the fictional locations in Roswell, New Mexico
, as well as Vasquez Rocks
, a 905 acres (366.2 ha) park in Los Angeles County.
in the United States to generally favorable reviews. Although it quickly garnered an outspoken fanbase, the series almost immediately entered a steady ratings decline that kept the show under constant threat of cancellation.
In response to the problems the series had with ratings during its first season, The WB ordered the relationship-driven standalone episodes of the early first season to be replaced with more science fiction themes and multi-episode plot arcs. Starting with the second season, which was ordered by the network after a fierce fan-driven campaign involving bottles of Tabasco sauce -- a favorite condiment of the show's alien characters -- be sent to the network's offices, veteran science fiction writer Ronald D. Moore
was brought in to join Katims as an executive producer and showrunner and to further develop the science fiction elements of the show.
Not all fans responded favorably to the shift to more science fiction-driven storylines during the second season and the ratings continued to disappoint WB, causing the network to finally cancel the show on May 15, 2001, after the show's second season finale, a move widely anticipated due to the sagging ratings. 20th Century Fox (the studio that produced the show) was able to persuade UPN
to pick it up for a third season as a package deal when UPN outbid The WB for one of its popular flagship series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. During the 2001 - 2002 television season, Roswell, in its third season, aired directly after Buffy on Tuesday nights on UPN, though it was unable to hold on to the audience Buffy provided as a lead-in. This eventually resulted in the show's cancellation from UPN as well. Roswell aired its final episode on May 14, 2002.
, site of the famed Roswell incident
. The Roswell incident is a continual point of ironic reference in the series, a theme which contrasts the town's sometimes cynical and commercial exploitation of the now ancient 1947 Roswell incident with the "real" Roswell event unfolding before the young protagonists' eyes. Liz's parents, for instance, own the Crashdown Café, which serves alien-themed dishes, and it is here many of the scenes of the season are set. While waitressing there, a disagreement between two customers results in Liz being fatally shot, setting the scene for the entire series. Fellow student Max Evans rushes to her side and heals the wound by placing his hand over it, bringing her back to life. He left a silver hand print on her stomach. This act arouses suspicions which follow the protagonists throughout the series.
During a biology class experiment the next day, Liz obtains a sample of Max's saliva without his knowledge and examines it under a microscope. She discovers Max's cells look nothing like human cells. She confronts Max, who then admits he, his sister Isabel and their friend Michael are aliens whose spaceship crashed at Roswell in 1947. Max admits to Liz he saved her life because he has strong feelings for her and the romance between Liz and Max begins in earnest.
In the first episode Max Evans swears Liz to secrecy, but she tells Maria about Max's origins anyway. Tension around the secrecy issue becomes a major theme both in the development of the relationships of the protagonists, and also for the action elements of the plot. Eventually Alex is let into the secret, resolving the tension between best friends Liz, Maria, and Alex. This group of six teenagers are involved in a struggle to protect the alien trio from Sheriff Valenti, suspicious of them from the first episode and who alerts the FBI, and from FBI agents investigating the paranormal who secretly attempt to discover evidence of their real identities by fair means or foul.
In contrast to the romance tenderly portrayed between Liz and Max, Michael and Maria engage in a passionate and explosive relationship - Maria terms Michael "the worst boyfriend ever". Later in the first season a tentative romance develops between Isabel and Alex. As with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (which this TV series later ran alongside), there is a romantic tension which exploits the theme of the Romeo and Juliet type "star-cross'd lovers" - the "forbidden" relationship (the aliens and humans, vampire slayer and vampire, Montagues and Capulets).
Toward the end of the season another alien named Nasedo is introduced, who is a shape shifter
. Nasedo has a violent, murderous past and nearly causes Max's demise at the hands of a vengeful alien hunter who lost his wife and unborn child to Nasedo. The gang initially believes Tess Harding, the new kid in town, is Nasedo as she seems to have a strange effect on Max, but it is revealed she is a fourth alien hybrid just like them. However, unlike them, she possesses knowledge of their past lives and the concept of their supposed destiny.
At the end of the season, it is learned Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess are clones of the Royal Four of Antar, the planet where they come from. Max is the king, Isabel his sister, Michael his second in command and Tess is Max's wife. The four learn they are alien-human hybrids: their alien DNA was mixed with human DNA in order for them to assume human form. Their mission is to one day return to Antar and reclaim the throne from Kivar
, Max's enemy. As a result of this revelation, Liz distances herself from Max, as she believes she can't get in the way of Max's destiny.
The second season introduces the Skins, another alien race from Antar who have been searching for the alien hybrids since they hatched. Their mission is to locate and turn them over to Kivar, who is now king of Antar. It is revealed Liz's new boss, Congresswoman Whitaker, is a Skin, and her brother Nicholas is the leader of the Skins. Along with renegade Skin Courtney, a Crashdown Café waitress, who believes Michael, not Max, should have been in charge of Antar, the group travels to the town where Congresswoman Whitaker is from and discover the entire town is inhabited by Skins and that they are ready for the "Harvest". Skins unlike "The Royal Four" do not contain a mix of alien and human DNA. In order to survive Earth's climate they create husks (fake bodies) which last around 50 years. Skins are so called because once their husks start to reach the end of their shelf lives, they shed their skin and reveal their true visage.
Nasedo, the shape shifter who was protecting the teen aliens as well as acting as a father to Tess, is killed by Congresswoman Whitaker at the beginning of the season. As Tess has nowhere to go, she moves in with Sheriff Valenti and his son Kyle. Shortly after, the "pod squad" destroys the Harvest. It is revealed during the "Harvest" Isabel was named Vilandra on Antar. Vilandra was in love with Kivar, Max's enemy and rival, and she betrayed her family in favor of Kivar. This haunts Isabel so much it creates a rift between her and Max when they find out another set of clones of the Royal Four were created. The clones, known as the "dupes", are exact copies of Michael, Max, Isabel and Tess, only they grew up in the sewers of New York City
. Their names are Rath (Michael's clone), Zan (Max's clone), Lonnie (Isabel's clone), and Ava (Tess's clone).
Rath, Lonnie, and Ava come to Roswell after killing Zan to convince Max to return with them and represent the family at a summit meeting of the families of the five warring planets. Max and Tess go with Rath and Lonnie to New York, while Ava stays in Roswell because she is haunted by the death of her beloved Zan. Nicholas returns as a voice for Kivar, and it is revealed the owner of the UFO museum, Brody Davis, was used by an alien many times to communicate on Earth, acting as a puppet, explaining why he believes he was abducted by aliens although he has no memories of the incident. Rath and Lonnie tell Tess and Max if they give Kivar the Granilith (the rock which came with the "pod squad" when they landed on Earth), they can go home to Antar. Max remembers what Liz told him before he left—"the Granilith could be dangerous if in the wrong hands" and turns down Kivar's deal. Lonnie betrays the others when she meets Nicholas in secret to discuss her desire to return to Antar, as she remembers more about her past life and wants it back, regardless of whether Kivar gets the Granilith. Nicholas tells her that can be arranged as long as Max is dead. The assassination attempt fails, and Rath and Lonnie "disappear". Ava, still in Roswell, goes to live a "normal" life and is also not mentioned again; however, she does reveal to Liz that since Max healed her and brought her back she has "changed" and will be different from now on.
For most of the second season, Alex is on a trip to Sweden
. However, shortly after coming back and getting Isabel to see him as something more than a friend and start to love him, he dies tragically in a car accident. Liz is devastated when she finds out that the police find enough evidence to rule Alex's death a suicide. Investigating the wreck, she finds a photo with Alex's head torn off from the photograph, causing her to suspect that Alex was murdered. When Liz voices the possibility that an alien killed Alex, she causes tension between the aliens and the humans in the group. Through her investigation, she discovers Alex was never in Sweden, and had actually been living at Las Cruces College. She, Maria, and Michael find out Alex had been working on the translation of the Destiny book. Even though they find the translation, they are unable to discover the identity of Alex's killer. It is first believed the woman in his pictures from Sweden may be an alien and the one responsible for Alex's death. However, Liz figures outs the girl that Alex was with is human, thus she could not have been responsible.
As Max is angry towards Liz and her investigations, he grows closer to Tess and they end up sleeping together. She discovers that she is pregnant and informs Max that alien pregnancies last about a month. The baby can't survive on Earth, so the aliens make a collective decision to leave the planet, with the knowledge gleaned from the Destiny translation. Everyone has 24 hours to say their goodbyes. Max and Liz make a last ditch effort to find Alex's killer. Isabel dances with Alex's spirit at his grave. Michael and Maria make love for the first time. An hour before the aliens are to leave, Maria and Liz realize that Tess mindwarped Kyle, and Kyle is able to recall Alex's death. Michael decides at the last minute that he'd rather stay on Earth with Maria and exits the Granilith. Liz rushes in to tell Max that Tess was the one who killed Alex. Tess reveals that she mindwarped Alex to translate the book. Nasedo and Tess made a deal with Kivar: Tess can return home safely as long as she's carrying Max's child, but she must turn over Max, Isabel, and Michael to Kivar. Max lets Tess go and the gang watches as Tess leaves Earth via the Granilith. Maria realizes Michael stayed for her. Max tells Liz he loves her, and now he must save his son.
s for a role in Star Trek: Enterprise. The fifth alien is, in fact, a very successful film producer who is also Max's protector. Max, against the fifth alien's wishes, forces him to help him find the ship, which is at a military base. They attempt to fly it but the ship is too damaged from the crash in 1947. Max leaves L.A. disappointed and he feels as though he has let down his son.
Isabel is revealed to be haunted by Alex's ghost, but it is actually a figure of her subconscious. She begins a relationship with Jesse Ramirez, an attorney several years older than she is and works with her father. As the season unfolds, Max and Isabel's father is diving deeper into the past of his children, due to Max not giving him a satisfactory reason as to what happened in Utah, or why Max was even there in the first place. Midway through the season, Isabel gets married, much to the disappointment of her parents, Max, and Michael. While on her honeymoon with Jesse, Isabel comes in contact with Kivar. He awakens Isabel's past self, Vilandra, who betrayed Max and Michael in their previous life for her love with Kivar, which is the reason the four of them died in their first life. Kivar tries to compel Isabel (now reawakened as Vilandra) to travel through a portal back to their home world, while Max and Michael attempt to stop them. In the end, Isabel pushes Kivar into the portal.
Michael and Maria are having trouble with their relationship, especially when Maria feels the whole "alien thing" is ruining her life and decides to take a break from the gang so she can try to live out a "normal" life. Michael takes a job as a security guard during the night at a local pharmaceutical factory. But little does Michael know, the owner of the company has been going through the trash to obtain Michael's DNA. When the owners find out he is an alien, they kill one of Michael's co-workers "Munk" to see if Michael is "the healer". But of course Max is the healer, not Michael, so he is powerless to save his dying colleague. Michael and Former Sheriff Valenti find a room with all of Michael's things and realize what the company has discovered; Valenti, however, is captured. Michael enlists the help of Max and Isabel in order to rescue Valenti. During the escape attempt Valenti is shot near the heart from behind. As Max is saving Valenti's life he is taken by the millionaire's desperate wife and goons and coerced into healing the dying millionaire. Max is wary of doing so, as the millionaire has lived out his life and will die of natural causes, but he tries anyway. Max ends up transferring his youth, and the millionaire's body transforms into Max's body, killing Max. While Michael and Isabel try to come to grips with Max's death, a patrol
of guards come. Michael and Isabel use their powers to destroy their vehicles, but Isabel is shot. The millionaire is at his house in Max's body when he receives a memory of Liz. He can't stop thinking about her, due to having Max's soul inside him, so he decides he must kill her in order to get rid of Max. Meanwhile, Michael unknowingly inherits Max's powers after his death, which he then unknowingly uses to heal Isabel during an emotional moment. As all of this goes down, Isabel's husband, Jesse now realizes and as Michael explains, that Isabel, he and Max are aliens. The millionaire travels to Vermont with his reluctant wife to find Liz. He murders his wife then sets his sights on Liz. As he is about to kill Liz, they both fall from the 'Rat' (Rathskeller) attic window of Liz's boarding school. Seeing Liz is about to die, Max takes control over the body and uses his powers to save her life while he hits the ground. The millionaire's soul dies and Max miraculously survives after Liz kisses him. The group heads back to Roswell.
Meanwhile, the FBI has been studying the group for many months and is closing in on them. Liz begins to exhibit alien powers, including premonitions, towards the end of the season, which later causes her to become a target. When Tess returns with Max's son, Zan, the gang must group together and plan to escape Roswell. Tess' unexpected arrival causes the FBI to find more evidence of the aliens, including a video revealing Isabel's powers. Everyone is angry with Tess and at first tries to kill her, but instead end up helping her. Because of Liz's forgiveness, Tess decides to sacrifice herself by turning herself in and blowing up the military base. The baby is revealed to be fully human, as only Max's and Tess' human DNA produced the baby. Max, realizing his son can have a normal life, gives him up for adoption. He uses his father's help to get the baby into a good family.
The series closes with Liz getting a premonition of her, Max, Michael and Isabel dying in an FBI setup, so they decide to leave Roswell after their high school graduation. With the realization he will be leaving Roswell, possibly forever, Michael professes his love for Maria and she makes the decision to be with him no matter what. After Liz, Max, Michael, Isabel, Maria and Kyle escape from their high school graduation, where the FBI setup is, they hit the road in a van,where there are several emotional goodbyes, especially between Kyle and his father, Jim Valenti. Isabel decides to leave her husband behind in order to save his life. The final scenes of the show feature Max and Liz getting married and Liz's father reading her journal, chronicling the last three years. The final scene has Liz peering out of the van in her wedding dress saying, "I'm Liz Parker and I am happy".
Due to licensing issues, a majority of the music used during the show's original broadcast was replaced on the DVD versions of the episodes. The new music featured on the DVD sets were handpicked by the original music supervisors from the show. Despite this, the series' theme song "Here With Me" by Dido
was retained, as were the songs "Fear" by Sarah McLachlan
and "Crash Into Me
" by Dave Matthews Band
in the pilot episode as the producers felt those songs in particular were vital to the show's theme and should not be replaced by new songs. "Genie in a Bottle
" by Christina Aguilera
is also still heard in a scene on the first season DVD because Maria (Majandra Delfino
) is singing along with her radio to the song and they were therefore unable to change it without filming a new scene for the episode entirely. "I Shall Believe" by Sheryl Crow
also remained in a second season episode due to the importance of the song to the episode's story.
In 2008, all three seasons of Roswell were re-released on DVD with new cover art prominently displaying actress Katherine Heigl
(who portrayed Isabel Evans on the series) who was, at the time, experiencing enormous success and fame from her role on the popular television series Grey's Anatomy
and movies such as 27 Dresses
and Knocked Up
. The rest of the content on these DVDs, with the exception of the new cover artwork, remains the same as the original releases.
Although most of the DVD releases contain edited music, the German dub (in Region 2 markets) is known to be the only one that contains the original music.
book series that inspired the television series, a range of novels were published based on the events depicted in the show. These focused on events that largely went unexplained on screen.
. When the show was cancelled, this series ceased publication.
young adult novel series written by Melinda Metz
and Laura J. Burns
, there are several major and minor differences between the books and TV show.
Some of the minor differences between the two have to do with character names, descriptions and ages. For example, Shiri Appleby
's Liz Parker
and Colin Hanks
' Alex Whitman from the television series are originally the characters Liz Ortecho and Alex Manes in the books. Alex is also described in the book series as having red hair, but is clearly portrayed by darker haired Hanks on screen. Katherine Heigl
's Isabel Evans
is a year older than her brother, Jason Behr
's Max Evans
, in the books, while they are portrayed as roughly the same age in the television series, with Isabel graduating from high school earlier than her brother and the rest of their classmates. This was perhaps done as Heigl looked slightly older than the rest of the cast by the time the show reached its final season, meant as the character's senior year.
Some other major differences between characters have also greatly influenced the plotlines between the two series as well. In the books, Emilie de Ravin
's character of Tess Harding
and Jim Ortlieb's Nasedo
do not exist at all, while they took on roles of great importance during the last half of the show's first season and onward. In the books, however, there are a greater number of major alien characters from Antar present that never make true appearances on screen. For example, the character of Nikolas Branson is the fourth pod alien in the book series instead of Tess. This character does not get portrayed in the TV series at all, though another sinister alien character named Nicholas Crawford, played by Miko Hughes
, is introduced to the show in its second season and could possibly have been meant as a replacement by the show's writers. Other alien characters from the books not seen on screen at all include Adam, a fifth pod alien; Trevor, Michael's brother; Elsevan, an evil alien character; and Ray Iburg, the manager of the UFO Museum who is also secretly an alien (this character also could have at least been partially replaced by Desmond Askew
's character of Brody Davis
on the show).
The alien characters and storylines are not the only ones that deviate greatly between the books and TV show. Though originally introduced to seem villainous on the show, Sheriff Jim Valenti
and his son Kyle Valenti
eventually become close allies to the core characters towards the end of the show's first season. However, they remain at odds with one another throughout the book series. Adam Rodríguez
's character of Jesse Ramirez, who eventually marries Isabel on the TV show, is also a completely original character for the show and does not appear in the books at all.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series developed, produced, and co-written by Jason Katims
Jason Katims
Jason Katims is an American television writer, producer, and playwright. He is best known for Relativity, which he created and wrote for; Roswell, which he developed, produced, and wrote for; Boston Public, which he co-wrote; Pepper Dennis, a short-lived dramedy starring Rebecca Romijn on The WB;...
. The series debuted on October 6, 1999 on The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
and moved to UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
for the third season. The last episode aired May 14, 2002. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the TV series aired as both Roswell High and Roswell.
The series pilot is based on the Roswell High
Roswell High
Roswell High is a young adults book series written by Melinda Metz and published by Pocket Books. The 10-book series chronicles the adventures of three teen aliens and their human friends, who attend the fictional Ulysses F. Olsen High in Roswell, New Mexico...
young adult book series
Book series
A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher....
, written by Melinda Metz
Melinda Metz
Melinda Metz is an American author of young adult books. Her series Roswell High, about teenage aliens, is the basis of The WB television series Roswell. Another series, Fingerprints, is about a psychic girl who reads thoughts from fingerprints...
and edited by Laura J. Burns
Laura J. Burns
Laura J. Burns is a Californian author originally from Long Island, New York. Starting in publishing, she now specializes in novels based on television shows or movies. She often collaborates with fellow author Melinda Metz, with whom she writes the book series based on the Everwood TV show, and...
, who became staff writers for the television series.
Cast
Main
- Shiri ApplebyShiri ApplebyShiri Freda Appleby is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her leading role as Liz Parker in the television series Roswell...
as Liz ParkerLiz ParkerLiz Parker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Roswell High book series and Roswell T.V. series, which ran from 1999 to 2002. The character was portrayed by Shiri Appleby.... - Jason BehrJason BehrJason Nathaniel Behr is an American film and television actor. He first starred in the American television series Roswell, for which he was twice nominated for a Saturn Award, followed by roles in the films The Shipping News and the American remake of the Japanese horror film The Grudge...
as Max EvansMax EvansMaxwell "Max" Evans is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell... - Katherine HeiglKatherine HeiglKatherine Marie Heigl is an American actress and producer. She is possibly best known for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on ABC's Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2010, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series in 2007...
as Isabel EvansIsabel EvansIsabel Evans is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell... - Brendan FehrBrendan FehrBrendan Jacob Joel Fehr is a Canadian actor. He portrayed Michael Guerin on the WB television series Roswell and Laboratory Tech Dan Cooper in CSI: Miami.-Early life:...
as Michael GuerinMichael GuerinMichael Guerin is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell... - Majandra DelfinoMajandra DelfinoMajandra Delfino is an Alma Award-nominated Venezuelan-American actress and singer best known for her role as Maria DeLuca on the television series Roswell and Georgia's best friend, Jo Pye on the State of Georgia.-Personal life:Delfino was born in Caracas, Venezuela, the daughter of an...
as Maria DeLucaMaria DeLucaMaria DeLuca is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell... - Colin HanksColin HanksColin Lewes Hanks is an American actor who is best known for his work as Shaun Brumder in the film Orange County and as Alex Whitman in Roswell. He also portrayed the role of Henry Jones in Band of Brothers and is currently on the sixth season of the Showtime crime drama Dexter...
as Alex Whitman - William SadlerWilliam Sadler (actor)William Thomas Sadler is an American actor who works in film and television. His television and motion picture roles have included Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller in The Pacific, Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sheriff Jim Valenti in Roswell, convict Heywood in The Shawshank Redemption,...
as Sheriff Jim ValentiSheriff Jim ValentiSheriff James "Jim" Valenti, Jr is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell... - Nick WechslerNick WechslerNick Wechsler is an American actor best known for his role as Kyle Valenti in the The WB teen drama series Roswell . He stars as Jack Porter on the ABC drama series Revenge.-Life and career:...
as Kyle ValentiKyle ValentiKyle Valenti is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell. He was portrayed by actor Nick Wechsler in the television series.- Fictional character... - Emilie de RavinEmilie de RavinEmilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
as Tess HardingTess HardingTess Harding is a fictional character created by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell. She was portrayed by actress Emilie de Ravin.-Fictional character summary:...
- Adam RodríguezAdam RodriguezAdam Michael Rodríguez is an American actor and director. He is best known for his long running role as Eric Delko on CSI: Miami.-Life and career:...
as Jesse Ramirez
Recurring
- Nicholas Stratton as Young Michael
- Julie BenzJulie BenzJulie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...
as Kathleen Topolski - Jim Ortlieb as NasedoNasedoNasedo aka Edward "Ed" M. Harding is a fictional character from the television series Roswell, portrayed mainly by actor Jim Ortlieb, although also by many others whose form he "shapeshifts" to.-Biography:...
- Garrett M. Brown as Philip Evans
- Mary Ellen TrainorMary Ellen TrainorMary Ellen Trainor is an American actress best remembered as either Dr. Stephanie Woods in Lethal Weapon or as Harriet Walsh in The Goonies.Trainor was born in Chicago, Illinois...
as Diane Evans - Diane FarrDiane FarrDiane Farr is an American actress. She is known for her roles as FBI agent Megan Reeves in the CBS television series Numb3rs and Laura Miles on Rescue Me.-Life and career:...
as Amy DeLuca - Devon GummersallDevon GummersallDevon Ryan Gummersall is an American actor, writer, and television and film director, perhaps best known for acting on the cult classic television show My So-Called Life.-Life and career:...
as Sean DeLuca - John DoeJohn Doe (musician)John Doe is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet and bass player. Doe founded the much-praised L.A. punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres...
as Jeff Parker - Jo AndersonJo AndersonJo Anderson is an American actress.-Life and career:Anderson has had guest-starring appearances in many television shows, has appeared in a few movies, as well as many TV-movies. She has also starred in some television series. Recently she has guest-starred in some TV series including ER, C.S.I...
as Nancy Parker - David ConradDavid ConradDavid Crawford Conrad is an American actor. From 2005 to 2010, he starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt.-Early life:...
as Deputy David "Dave" Fisher/FBI Agent Daniel Pierce - Desmond AskewDesmond AskewDesmond Askew is an English actor of film and television. In 1983 he had the lead role of 'naughty schoolboy' in the promo video of the Wham single Bad Boys. He has appeared in films such as Go , Repli-Kate , The Hills Have Eyes and Turistas...
as Brody DavisBrody DavisBrody Davis is a fictional character created by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell. He is portrayed by actor Desmond Askew.-Character summary:...
/Larek - Gretchen EgolfGretchen EgolfGretchen Egolf is an American film and television actress.Egolf grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she began acting in theatre as a child. After high school, she attended the Juilliard School for drama in New York and has been living and working in New York and Los Angeles ever since...
as Congresswoman Vanessa Whitaker - Steve HytnerSteve HytnerStephen Arthur "Steve" Hytner is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Kenny Bania in Seinfeld...
as Milton Ross - Sara DowningSara DowningSara Nicole Downing is an American actress who has had a starring role in the television series Dead Last.-Filmography:* Boy Meets World .... Camryn...
as Courtney Banks - Miko HughesMiko HughesMiko John Hughes is an American actor best known for his film roles as a child actor as Gage Creed in Pet Sematary , as an autistic boy opposite Bruce Willis in Mercury Rising and as Dylan, Heather Langenkamp's son in Wes Craven's New Nightmare .-Career:Hughes started his acting career in a...
as Nicholas Crawford - Richard SchiffRichard SchiffRichard Schiff is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on the NBC television drama The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award...
as Agent Stevens
Guest stars
- Daniel Hansen as Young Max
- Sebastian Siegel as Brad
- Joe PantolianoJoe PantolianoJoseph Peter "Joe" Pantoliano is an American film and television actor. He played the character of Ralph Cifaretto on The Sopranos, Bob Keane in La Bamba, Cypher in The Matrix, Teddy in Memento, Francis Fratelli in The Goonies, Guido "the Killer Pimp" in Risky Business, and Jennifer Tilly's...
as Kal Langley - Jonathan FrakesJonathan FrakesJonathan Scott Frakes is an American actor, author and director best known for his role as Commander William T. Riker in the Star Trek franchise, as well as for his tenure as host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction ....
as Himself - John BillingsleyJohn BillingsleyJohn Billingsley is an American actor, known for his role as Doctor Phlox on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.-Career:...
as Himself - Erica GimpelErica GimpelErica Fawn Gimpel , American television actress. She is best known for her roles on television shows Fame as Coco Hernandez and on Profiler as Angel Brown. She is also known for her major recurring roles on the television shows ER as Adele Newman and on Veronica Mars as Alicia Fennel...
as Agent Susan Duff - Howie DoroughHowie DoroughHoward Dwaine "Howie D." Dorough is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, musician, entertainer, actor and member of American music group Backstreet Boys-Biography:...
as Alien - Nelly FurtadoNelly FurtadoNelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
as Herself - Jason DohringJason DohringJason William Dohring is an American actor who is best known for his role as Logan Echolls on the 2004 television show Veronica Mars and for his role as Josef Kostan on the 2007 series Moonlight.-Personal life:...
as Jerry - Spence Decker as Kivar
Production
Roswell High was originally developed by 20th Century Fox Television20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and Regency Television
Regency Television
Regency Television is a joint-venture between Regency Enterprises and Fox Television Studios founded in 1998. Regency's best-known TV shows include The WB sci-fi drama Roswell and the Fox sitcoms Malcolm in the Middle and The Bernie Mac Show....
for the Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, though it eventually landed on The WB (retitled simply to Roswell) thanks to the latter network's offer to extend a full 22-episode upfront commitment. The pilot episode was filmed in 12 days with a budget of $2,000,000. "The Morning After," the second episode of the series, was the first episode with the full title sequence utilizing the theme song, "Here With Me" by Dido
Dido (singer)
Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong , known as Dido, is an English singer-songwriter.Dido shot to worldwide success with her debut album, No Angel...
.
Filming locations
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. City Hall, Charter Oak High School, and several other businesses and residences in Covina
Covina, California
Covina is a small city in Los Angeles County, California about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley region. The population was 47,796 at the 2010 census, up from 46,837 at the 2000 census...
served as locations for the fictional locations in Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,366 at the 2010 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also...
, as well as Vasquez Rocks
Vasquez Rocks
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park is a 905-acre northern Los Angeles County, California, USA park acquired by the Los Angeles County government in the 1970s...
, a 905 acres (366.2 ha) park in Los Angeles County.
Airing history and reception
The series premiered on October 6, 1999 on The WB Television NetworkThe WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
in the United States to generally favorable reviews. Although it quickly garnered an outspoken fanbase, the series almost immediately entered a steady ratings decline that kept the show under constant threat of cancellation.
In response to the problems the series had with ratings during its first season, The WB ordered the relationship-driven standalone episodes of the early first season to be replaced with more science fiction themes and multi-episode plot arcs. Starting with the second season, which was ordered by the network after a fierce fan-driven campaign involving bottles of Tabasco sauce -- a favorite condiment of the show's alien characters -- be sent to the network's offices, veteran science fiction writer Ronald D. Moore
Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...
was brought in to join Katims as an executive producer and showrunner and to further develop the science fiction elements of the show.
Not all fans responded favorably to the shift to more science fiction-driven storylines during the second season and the ratings continued to disappoint WB, causing the network to finally cancel the show on May 15, 2001, after the show's second season finale, a move widely anticipated due to the sagging ratings. 20th Century Fox (the studio that produced the show) was able to persuade UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
to pick it up for a third season as a package deal when UPN outbid The WB for one of its popular flagship series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. During the 2001 - 2002 television season, Roswell, in its third season, aired directly after Buffy on Tuesday nights on UPN, though it was unable to hold on to the audience Buffy provided as a lead-in. This eventually resulted in the show's cancellation from UPN as well. Roswell aired its final episode on May 14, 2002.
Ratings
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Viewers (in millions) |
18-49 Average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wednesdays 9:00 P.M. | October 6, 1999 | May 15, 2000 | 1999-2000 1999–00 United States network television schedule This was the United States broadcast television schedule on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 1999. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New series highlighted in bold.... |
3.56 | 2.6/4 | N/A |
| 2 | Monday 9:00 P.M. | October 2, 2000 | May 21, 2001 | 2000-2001 2000–01 United States network television schedule This was the United States broadcast television schedule on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 2000. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold.... |
4.0 | 2.7/4 | #122 |
| 3 | Tuesdays 9:00 P.M. | October 9, 2001 | May 14, 2002 | 2001-2002 2001–02 United States network television schedule This was the United States broadcast television schedule on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 2001. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold.... |
3.0 | N/A | #140 |
Plot
Season one
Liz Parker, Maria DeLuca, and Alex Whitman are high school students and best friends residing in the small town of Roswell, New MexicoRoswell, New Mexico
Roswell is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,366 at the 2010 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also...
, site of the famed Roswell incident
Roswell UFO incident
The Roswell UFO Incident was the recovery of an object that crashed in the general vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico, in June or July 1947, allegedly an extra-terrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and of...
. The Roswell incident is a continual point of ironic reference in the series, a theme which contrasts the town's sometimes cynical and commercial exploitation of the now ancient 1947 Roswell incident with the "real" Roswell event unfolding before the young protagonists' eyes. Liz's parents, for instance, own the Crashdown Café, which serves alien-themed dishes, and it is here many of the scenes of the season are set. While waitressing there, a disagreement between two customers results in Liz being fatally shot, setting the scene for the entire series. Fellow student Max Evans rushes to her side and heals the wound by placing his hand over it, bringing her back to life. He left a silver hand print on her stomach. This act arouses suspicions which follow the protagonists throughout the series.
During a biology class experiment the next day, Liz obtains a sample of Max's saliva without his knowledge and examines it under a microscope. She discovers Max's cells look nothing like human cells. She confronts Max, who then admits he, his sister Isabel and their friend Michael are aliens whose spaceship crashed at Roswell in 1947. Max admits to Liz he saved her life because he has strong feelings for her and the romance between Liz and Max begins in earnest.
In the first episode Max Evans swears Liz to secrecy, but she tells Maria about Max's origins anyway. Tension around the secrecy issue becomes a major theme both in the development of the relationships of the protagonists, and also for the action elements of the plot. Eventually Alex is let into the secret, resolving the tension between best friends Liz, Maria, and Alex. This group of six teenagers are involved in a struggle to protect the alien trio from Sheriff Valenti, suspicious of them from the first episode and who alerts the FBI, and from FBI agents investigating the paranormal who secretly attempt to discover evidence of their real identities by fair means or foul.
In contrast to the romance tenderly portrayed between Liz and Max, Michael and Maria engage in a passionate and explosive relationship - Maria terms Michael "the worst boyfriend ever". Later in the first season a tentative romance develops between Isabel and Alex. As with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (which this TV series later ran alongside), there is a romantic tension which exploits the theme of the Romeo and Juliet type "star-cross'd lovers" - the "forbidden" relationship (the aliens and humans, vampire slayer and vampire, Montagues and Capulets).
Toward the end of the season another alien named Nasedo is introduced, who is a shape shifter
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
. Nasedo has a violent, murderous past and nearly causes Max's demise at the hands of a vengeful alien hunter who lost his wife and unborn child to Nasedo. The gang initially believes Tess Harding, the new kid in town, is Nasedo as she seems to have a strange effect on Max, but it is revealed she is a fourth alien hybrid just like them. However, unlike them, she possesses knowledge of their past lives and the concept of their supposed destiny.
At the end of the season, it is learned Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess are clones of the Royal Four of Antar, the planet where they come from. Max is the king, Isabel his sister, Michael his second in command and Tess is Max's wife. The four learn they are alien-human hybrids: their alien DNA was mixed with human DNA in order for them to assume human form. Their mission is to one day return to Antar and reclaim the throne from Kivar
Kivar (Roswell)
Kivar is a fictional character from the Roswell television series and the Roswell High series of books. He is technically the main antagonist of the series, although he is not seen throughout the entire series until season 3 where he appeared in a few episodes. He is portrayed by Spence...
, Max's enemy. As a result of this revelation, Liz distances herself from Max, as she believes she can't get in the way of Max's destiny.
Season two
The second part of Max and Liz's love story involves Liz's insecurities about getting in the way of the destined love between Max and Tess, even though Max assures her his heart only beats for her. This causes a rift between Tess and the rest of the gang, as she always feels unwanted. Right when Liz finally starts to believe Max will deny his destiny of being with Tess, the "Future Max" appears to Liz claiming they must find a way to get Max to fall out of love with her in order to save the future and the lives of everyone they know. This leads to a relationship between Max and Tess, even though Liz still has hope she and Max will one day be together.The second season introduces the Skins, another alien race from Antar who have been searching for the alien hybrids since they hatched. Their mission is to locate and turn them over to Kivar, who is now king of Antar. It is revealed Liz's new boss, Congresswoman Whitaker, is a Skin, and her brother Nicholas is the leader of the Skins. Along with renegade Skin Courtney, a Crashdown Café waitress, who believes Michael, not Max, should have been in charge of Antar, the group travels to the town where Congresswoman Whitaker is from and discover the entire town is inhabited by Skins and that they are ready for the "Harvest". Skins unlike "The Royal Four" do not contain a mix of alien and human DNA. In order to survive Earth's climate they create husks (fake bodies) which last around 50 years. Skins are so called because once their husks start to reach the end of their shelf lives, they shed their skin and reveal their true visage.
Nasedo, the shape shifter who was protecting the teen aliens as well as acting as a father to Tess, is killed by Congresswoman Whitaker at the beginning of the season. As Tess has nowhere to go, she moves in with Sheriff Valenti and his son Kyle. Shortly after, the "pod squad" destroys the Harvest. It is revealed during the "Harvest" Isabel was named Vilandra on Antar. Vilandra was in love with Kivar, Max's enemy and rival, and she betrayed her family in favor of Kivar. This haunts Isabel so much it creates a rift between her and Max when they find out another set of clones of the Royal Four were created. The clones, known as the "dupes", are exact copies of Michael, Max, Isabel and Tess, only they grew up in the sewers of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Their names are Rath (Michael's clone), Zan (Max's clone), Lonnie (Isabel's clone), and Ava (Tess's clone).
Rath, Lonnie, and Ava come to Roswell after killing Zan to convince Max to return with them and represent the family at a summit meeting of the families of the five warring planets. Max and Tess go with Rath and Lonnie to New York, while Ava stays in Roswell because she is haunted by the death of her beloved Zan. Nicholas returns as a voice for Kivar, and it is revealed the owner of the UFO museum, Brody Davis, was used by an alien many times to communicate on Earth, acting as a puppet, explaining why he believes he was abducted by aliens although he has no memories of the incident. Rath and Lonnie tell Tess and Max if they give Kivar the Granilith (the rock which came with the "pod squad" when they landed on Earth), they can go home to Antar. Max remembers what Liz told him before he left—"the Granilith could be dangerous if in the wrong hands" and turns down Kivar's deal. Lonnie betrays the others when she meets Nicholas in secret to discuss her desire to return to Antar, as she remembers more about her past life and wants it back, regardless of whether Kivar gets the Granilith. Nicholas tells her that can be arranged as long as Max is dead. The assassination attempt fails, and Rath and Lonnie "disappear". Ava, still in Roswell, goes to live a "normal" life and is also not mentioned again; however, she does reveal to Liz that since Max healed her and brought her back she has "changed" and will be different from now on.
For most of the second season, Alex is on a trip to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. However, shortly after coming back and getting Isabel to see him as something more than a friend and start to love him, he dies tragically in a car accident. Liz is devastated when she finds out that the police find enough evidence to rule Alex's death a suicide. Investigating the wreck, she finds a photo with Alex's head torn off from the photograph, causing her to suspect that Alex was murdered. When Liz voices the possibility that an alien killed Alex, she causes tension between the aliens and the humans in the group. Through her investigation, she discovers Alex was never in Sweden, and had actually been living at Las Cruces College. She, Maria, and Michael find out Alex had been working on the translation of the Destiny book. Even though they find the translation, they are unable to discover the identity of Alex's killer. It is first believed the woman in his pictures from Sweden may be an alien and the one responsible for Alex's death. However, Liz figures outs the girl that Alex was with is human, thus she could not have been responsible.
As Max is angry towards Liz and her investigations, he grows closer to Tess and they end up sleeping together. She discovers that she is pregnant and informs Max that alien pregnancies last about a month. The baby can't survive on Earth, so the aliens make a collective decision to leave the planet, with the knowledge gleaned from the Destiny translation. Everyone has 24 hours to say their goodbyes. Max and Liz make a last ditch effort to find Alex's killer. Isabel dances with Alex's spirit at his grave. Michael and Maria make love for the first time. An hour before the aliens are to leave, Maria and Liz realize that Tess mindwarped Kyle, and Kyle is able to recall Alex's death. Michael decides at the last minute that he'd rather stay on Earth with Maria and exits the Granilith. Liz rushes in to tell Max that Tess was the one who killed Alex. Tess reveals that she mindwarped Alex to translate the book. Nasedo and Tess made a deal with Kivar: Tess can return home safely as long as she's carrying Max's child, but she must turn over Max, Isabel, and Michael to Kivar. Max lets Tess go and the gang watches as Tess leaves Earth via the Granilith. Maria realizes Michael stayed for her. Max tells Liz he loves her, and now he must save his son.
Season three
The third season opens with Max's quest to save his son. He and Liz are arrested in Utah after holding up a convenience store. They both end up getting out of jail, but their actions have serious consequences for the rest of the season. Max, during the holdup, found an alien ship being stored in the basement, but when he goes back, the ship is gone. While they are in a Utah jail, Michael searches for evidence of a diamond (the key to the space ship) Max tossed in a field while being chased. A man approaches him and warns him and the others to stop their search. This man is mysteriously murdered in L.A. by a fifth alien. Knowing the alien is a shape shifter and in the film industry, Max tries out acting and auditionAudition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing* Adobe Audition, audio editing software...
s for a role in Star Trek: Enterprise. The fifth alien is, in fact, a very successful film producer who is also Max's protector. Max, against the fifth alien's wishes, forces him to help him find the ship, which is at a military base. They attempt to fly it but the ship is too damaged from the crash in 1947. Max leaves L.A. disappointed and he feels as though he has let down his son.
Isabel is revealed to be haunted by Alex's ghost, but it is actually a figure of her subconscious. She begins a relationship with Jesse Ramirez, an attorney several years older than she is and works with her father. As the season unfolds, Max and Isabel's father is diving deeper into the past of his children, due to Max not giving him a satisfactory reason as to what happened in Utah, or why Max was even there in the first place. Midway through the season, Isabel gets married, much to the disappointment of her parents, Max, and Michael. While on her honeymoon with Jesse, Isabel comes in contact with Kivar. He awakens Isabel's past self, Vilandra, who betrayed Max and Michael in their previous life for her love with Kivar, which is the reason the four of them died in their first life. Kivar tries to compel Isabel (now reawakened as Vilandra) to travel through a portal back to their home world, while Max and Michael attempt to stop them. In the end, Isabel pushes Kivar into the portal.
Michael and Maria are having trouble with their relationship, especially when Maria feels the whole "alien thing" is ruining her life and decides to take a break from the gang so she can try to live out a "normal" life. Michael takes a job as a security guard during the night at a local pharmaceutical factory. But little does Michael know, the owner of the company has been going through the trash to obtain Michael's DNA. When the owners find out he is an alien, they kill one of Michael's co-workers "Munk" to see if Michael is "the healer". But of course Max is the healer, not Michael, so he is powerless to save his dying colleague. Michael and Former Sheriff Valenti find a room with all of Michael's things and realize what the company has discovered; Valenti, however, is captured. Michael enlists the help of Max and Isabel in order to rescue Valenti. During the escape attempt Valenti is shot near the heart from behind. As Max is saving Valenti's life he is taken by the millionaire's desperate wife and goons and coerced into healing the dying millionaire. Max is wary of doing so, as the millionaire has lived out his life and will die of natural causes, but he tries anyway. Max ends up transferring his youth, and the millionaire's body transforms into Max's body, killing Max. While Michael and Isabel try to come to grips with Max's death, a patrol
Patrol
A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as police officers or soldiers, that are assigned to monitor a specific geographic area.- Military :...
of guards come. Michael and Isabel use their powers to destroy their vehicles, but Isabel is shot. The millionaire is at his house in Max's body when he receives a memory of Liz. He can't stop thinking about her, due to having Max's soul inside him, so he decides he must kill her in order to get rid of Max. Meanwhile, Michael unknowingly inherits Max's powers after his death, which he then unknowingly uses to heal Isabel during an emotional moment. As all of this goes down, Isabel's husband, Jesse now realizes and as Michael explains, that Isabel, he and Max are aliens. The millionaire travels to Vermont with his reluctant wife to find Liz. He murders his wife then sets his sights on Liz. As he is about to kill Liz, they both fall from the 'Rat' (Rathskeller) attic window of Liz's boarding school. Seeing Liz is about to die, Max takes control over the body and uses his powers to save her life while he hits the ground. The millionaire's soul dies and Max miraculously survives after Liz kisses him. The group heads back to Roswell.
Meanwhile, the FBI has been studying the group for many months and is closing in on them. Liz begins to exhibit alien powers, including premonitions, towards the end of the season, which later causes her to become a target. When Tess returns with Max's son, Zan, the gang must group together and plan to escape Roswell. Tess' unexpected arrival causes the FBI to find more evidence of the aliens, including a video revealing Isabel's powers. Everyone is angry with Tess and at first tries to kill her, but instead end up helping her. Because of Liz's forgiveness, Tess decides to sacrifice herself by turning herself in and blowing up the military base. The baby is revealed to be fully human, as only Max's and Tess' human DNA produced the baby. Max, realizing his son can have a normal life, gives him up for adoption. He uses his father's help to get the baby into a good family.
The series closes with Liz getting a premonition of her, Max, Michael and Isabel dying in an FBI setup, so they decide to leave Roswell after their high school graduation. With the realization he will be leaving Roswell, possibly forever, Michael professes his love for Maria and she makes the decision to be with him no matter what. After Liz, Max, Michael, Isabel, Maria and Kyle escape from their high school graduation, where the FBI setup is, they hit the road in a van,where there are several emotional goodbyes, especially between Kyle and his father, Jim Valenti. Isabel decides to leave her husband behind in order to save his life. The final scenes of the show feature Max and Liz getting married and Liz's father reading her journal, chronicling the last three years. The final scene has Liz peering out of the van in her wedding dress saying, "I'm Liz Parker and I am happy".
DVD releases
| Season | | Episodes | | Originally aired | | Release date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||||
| 1 | 22 | 1999 – 2000 | February 17, 2004 | April 26, 2004 | April 2, 2004 | |
| 2 | 21 | 2000 – 2001 | October 5, 2004 | August 9, 2004 | February 7, 2005 | |
| 3 | 18 | 2001 – 2002 | August 9, 2005 | October 11, 2004 | March 15, 2006 | |
| 1-3 | 61 | 1999 – 2002 | April 29, 2008 | October 31, 2005 | April 19, 2006 | |
Due to licensing issues, a majority of the music used during the show's original broadcast was replaced on the DVD versions of the episodes. The new music featured on the DVD sets were handpicked by the original music supervisors from the show. Despite this, the series' theme song "Here With Me" by Dido
Dido (singer)
Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong , known as Dido, is an English singer-songwriter.Dido shot to worldwide success with her debut album, No Angel...
was retained, as were the songs "Fear" by Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
and "Crash Into Me
Crash into Me
Stevie Nicks released "Crash into Me" as the first single from her album, The Soundstage Sessions, on March 17, 2009.The promo, with the orchestra version of "Landslide" as the B-side, was serviced to radio on the week of March 3, 2009. It has been serviced to Triple A radio stations, and to XM...
" by Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
in the pilot episode as the producers felt those songs in particular were vital to the show's theme and should not be replaced by new songs. "Genie in a Bottle
Genie in a Bottle
"Genie in a Bottle" is the second single by American pop recording artist, Christina Aguilera, taken from her self-titled debut album. It was co-written by David Frank, Steve Kipner, and Pamela Sheyne, and produced by Frank and Kipner respectively...
" by Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
is also still heard in a scene on the first season DVD because Maria (Majandra Delfino
Majandra Delfino
Majandra Delfino is an Alma Award-nominated Venezuelan-American actress and singer best known for her role as Maria DeLuca on the television series Roswell and Georgia's best friend, Jo Pye on the State of Georgia.-Personal life:Delfino was born in Caracas, Venezuela, the daughter of an...
) is singing along with her radio to the song and they were therefore unable to change it without filming a new scene for the episode entirely. "I Shall Believe" by Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
also remained in a second season episode due to the importance of the song to the episode's story.
In 2008, all three seasons of Roswell were re-released on DVD with new cover art prominently displaying actress Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl is an American actress and producer. She is possibly best known for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on ABC's Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2010, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series in 2007...
(who portrayed Isabel Evans on the series) who was, at the time, experiencing enormous success and fame from her role on the popular television series Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
and movies such as 27 Dresses
27 Dresses
27 Dresses is a 2008 romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Aline Brosh McKenna. The film stars Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The film was released January 10, 2008 in Australia and opened in the United States on January 18....
and Knocked Up
Knocked Up
Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the film follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between Rogen's slacker character and Heigl's just-promoted...
. The rest of the content on these DVDs, with the exception of the new cover artwork, remains the same as the original releases.
Although most of the DVD releases contain edited music, the German dub (in Region 2 markets) is known to be the only one that contains the original music.
Novels
In addition to the original Roswell HighRoswell High
Roswell High is a young adults book series written by Melinda Metz and published by Pocket Books. The 10-book series chronicles the adventures of three teen aliens and their human friends, who attend the fictional Ulysses F. Olsen High in Roswell, New Mexico...
book series that inspired the television series, a range of novels were published based on the events depicted in the show. These focused on events that largely went unexplained on screen.
Pocket Books
While Roswell was still on air, three novels were published by Pocket BooksPocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
. When the show was cancelled, this series ceased publication.
- Loose EndsLoose Ends (Roswell Novel)Loose Ends is the first original novel based on the Roswell TV series.-Plot summary:It started out as an innocent road trip to Carlsbad Caverns to unwind, but now Max, Isabel, Michael, Liz, and Maria are totally regretting their plan...
by Greg Cox (June 2001) - No Good Deed by D.A. Stern (October 2001)
- Little Green Men by D.W. Smith and K.K. Rusch (April 2002)
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
In 2002, Simon Spotlight Entertainment picked up the Roswell range and published eight more novels. Following low sales, the series ended a year later. The first four novels act as a bridge between seasons two and three, and the last four are set after the events of the series.- Shades by Mel Odom (September 2002)
- Skeletons In The Closet by Andy MangelsAndy MangelsAndy Mangels is an American science fiction author who has written novels, comics, and magazine articles, and produced DVD collections, mostly focusing on media in popular culture...
& Michael A. MartinMichael A. MartinMichael A. Martin is an American author.Most of Martin's works have been written in collaboration with partner Andy Mangels, who brought him aboard as a co-writer in 1997 for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine comics at Marvel...
(November 2002) - Dreamwalk by Paul RuditisPaul Ruditis-Early life:Ruditis was born and raised in Philadelphia. He attended West Chester University where he majored in Theatre Arts with a directing emphasis. After graduation he moved to Los Angeles where he began working at Paramount Pictures where he worked as a tour guide and usher...
(January 2003) - Quarantine by Laura BurnsLaura J. BurnsLaura J. Burns is a Californian author originally from Long Island, New York. Starting in publishing, she now specializes in novels based on television shows or movies. She often collaborates with fellow author Melinda Metz, with whom she writes the book series based on the Everwood TV show, and...
(March 2003) - A New Beginning by Kevin Ryan (June 2003)
- Nightscape by Kevin Ryan (July 2003)
- Pursuit by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin (September 2003)
- Turnabout by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin (November 2003)
Key differences
Though the television series was based on the Roswell HighRoswell High
Roswell High is a young adults book series written by Melinda Metz and published by Pocket Books. The 10-book series chronicles the adventures of three teen aliens and their human friends, who attend the fictional Ulysses F. Olsen High in Roswell, New Mexico...
young adult novel series written by Melinda Metz
Melinda Metz
Melinda Metz is an American author of young adult books. Her series Roswell High, about teenage aliens, is the basis of The WB television series Roswell. Another series, Fingerprints, is about a psychic girl who reads thoughts from fingerprints...
and Laura J. Burns
Laura J. Burns
Laura J. Burns is a Californian author originally from Long Island, New York. Starting in publishing, she now specializes in novels based on television shows or movies. She often collaborates with fellow author Melinda Metz, with whom she writes the book series based on the Everwood TV show, and...
, there are several major and minor differences between the books and TV show.
Some of the minor differences between the two have to do with character names, descriptions and ages. For example, Shiri Appleby
Shiri Appleby
Shiri Freda Appleby is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her leading role as Liz Parker in the television series Roswell...
's Liz Parker
Liz Parker
Liz Parker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Roswell High book series and Roswell T.V. series, which ran from 1999 to 2002. The character was portrayed by Shiri Appleby....
and Colin Hanks
Colin Hanks
Colin Lewes Hanks is an American actor who is best known for his work as Shaun Brumder in the film Orange County and as Alex Whitman in Roswell. He also portrayed the role of Henry Jones in Band of Brothers and is currently on the sixth season of the Showtime crime drama Dexter...
' Alex Whitman from the television series are originally the characters Liz Ortecho and Alex Manes in the books. Alex is also described in the book series as having red hair, but is clearly portrayed by darker haired Hanks on screen. Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl is an American actress and producer. She is possibly best known for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on ABC's Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2010, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series in 2007...
's Isabel Evans
Isabel Evans
Isabel Evans is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell...
is a year older than her brother, Jason Behr
Jason Behr
Jason Nathaniel Behr is an American film and television actor. He first starred in the American television series Roswell, for which he was twice nominated for a Saturn Award, followed by roles in the films The Shipping News and the American remake of the Japanese horror film The Grudge...
's Max Evans
Max Evans
Maxwell "Max" Evans is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell...
, in the books, while they are portrayed as roughly the same age in the television series, with Isabel graduating from high school earlier than her brother and the rest of their classmates. This was perhaps done as Heigl looked slightly older than the rest of the cast by the time the show reached its final season, meant as the character's senior year.
Some other major differences between characters have also greatly influenced the plotlines between the two series as well. In the books, Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
's character of Tess Harding
Tess Harding
Tess Harding is a fictional character created by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell. She was portrayed by actress Emilie de Ravin.-Fictional character summary:...
and Jim Ortlieb's Nasedo
Nasedo
Nasedo aka Edward "Ed" M. Harding is a fictional character from the television series Roswell, portrayed mainly by actor Jim Ortlieb, although also by many others whose form he "shapeshifts" to.-Biography:...
do not exist at all, while they took on roles of great importance during the last half of the show's first season and onward. In the books, however, there are a greater number of major alien characters from Antar present that never make true appearances on screen. For example, the character of Nikolas Branson is the fourth pod alien in the book series instead of Tess. This character does not get portrayed in the TV series at all, though another sinister alien character named Nicholas Crawford, played by Miko Hughes
Miko Hughes
Miko John Hughes is an American actor best known for his film roles as a child actor as Gage Creed in Pet Sematary , as an autistic boy opposite Bruce Willis in Mercury Rising and as Dylan, Heather Langenkamp's son in Wes Craven's New Nightmare .-Career:Hughes started his acting career in a...
, is introduced to the show in its second season and could possibly have been meant as a replacement by the show's writers. Other alien characters from the books not seen on screen at all include Adam, a fifth pod alien; Trevor, Michael's brother; Elsevan, an evil alien character; and Ray Iburg, the manager of the UFO Museum who is also secretly an alien (this character also could have at least been partially replaced by Desmond Askew
Desmond Askew
Desmond Askew is an English actor of film and television. In 1983 he had the lead role of 'naughty schoolboy' in the promo video of the Wham single Bad Boys. He has appeared in films such as Go , Repli-Kate , The Hills Have Eyes and Turistas...
's character of Brody Davis
Brody Davis
Brody Davis is a fictional character created by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell. He is portrayed by actor Desmond Askew.-Character summary:...
on the show).
The alien characters and storylines are not the only ones that deviate greatly between the books and TV show. Though originally introduced to seem villainous on the show, Sheriff Jim Valenti
Sheriff Jim Valenti
Sheriff James "Jim" Valenti, Jr is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell...
and his son Kyle Valenti
Kyle Valenti
Kyle Valenti is a fictional character created by Melinda Metz for the young adults book series Roswell High and adapted by Jason Katims for the 1999-2002 American science fiction television series Roswell. He was portrayed by actor Nick Wechsler in the television series.- Fictional character...
eventually become close allies to the core characters towards the end of the show's first season. However, they remain at odds with one another throughout the book series. Adam Rodríguez
Adam Rodriguez
Adam Michael Rodríguez is an American actor and director. He is best known for his long running role as Eric Delko on CSI: Miami.-Life and career:...
's character of Jesse Ramirez, who eventually marries Isabel on the TV show, is also a completely original character for the show and does not appear in the books at all.