Roswell (1999–2002)

Living among the citizens of the infamous New Mexico city of Roswell are some who are not there by choice. They are there to follow a destiny given to them by the members of their dying ... See full summary »

Stars:

Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr, Katherine Heigl

1 win & 20 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Shiri Appleby	...	Liz Parker (61 episodes, 1999-2002)
Jason Behr	...	Max Evans (61 episodes, 1999-2002)
Katherine Heigl	...	Isabel Evans (61 episodes, 1999-2002)
Majandra Delfino	...	Maria DeLuca (61 episodes, 1999-2002)
Brendan Fehr	...	Michael Guerin (61 episodes, 1999-2002)
Nick Wechsler	...	Kyle Valenti (61 episodes, 1999-2002)
William Sadler	...	Sheriff Jim Valenti (61 episodes, 1999-2002)
Colin Hanks	...	Alex Whitman (44 episodes, 1999-2001)
Emilie de Ravin	...	Tess Harding (28 episodes, 2000-2002)

Storyline

Living among the citizens of the infamous New Mexico city of Roswell are some who are not there by choice. They are there to follow a destiny given to them by the members of their dying race, a race that they are someday destined to save. This is the background behind the WB series "Roswell". Max Evans, Isabel Evans and Michael Guerin are teenage humans with extraordinary gifts - gifts that are "not-of-this-earth". They are human/alien hybrids, sent here to complete their destiny. Their counterparts have already perished in a war of attrition, thus one day, they will return to their home planet and save their race. Before a fateful day in 1999, the teens hid their gifts. The event that forever changed their lives was when Max healed Liz Parker (a classmate) after she was fatally shot in the stomach in a dispute between two customers at the restaurant where she waitresses. A close relationship then develops between Max and Liz. Central to the first season were the relationships between...

---

Plot Keywords:

roswell | alien | teen | new mexico | suspense | 

---

Taglines:

There's truth to every rumor

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Roswell High

Filming Locations:

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

20th Century Fox Television, Jason Katims Productions, Regency Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min 60 min (61 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the third season episode "Secrets and Lies," after doing terribly on an audition for Star Trek: Enterprise, Max's agent tells him that "There's still 'Buffy'," a reference to Jason Behr's guest appearance as Ford in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Also, Julie Benz, Who plays Agent Kathleen Tapolsky, played Darla on Buffy and Keith Szarabajka, who played Dan Lubetkin in "To Serve and Protect" and "We are Family" went on to play Daniel Holtz in eleven episodes of _"Angel" (1999)_ (gv).

---

Goofs

Max and Isabel's Jeep is an automatic (they often drive away with both hands on the steering wheel), but the audio makes the Jeep sound like a standard stick.

---

Quotes

Isabel: Happy birthday, Isabel. I'm 18 today, Mother. October 25th. At least that's the day we've always celebrated as my birthday. But you're the only one who really knows the real day. I guess that's why I came to the place, the only place I've ever seen you. I hold on to that day, but you disappeared, and the picture of you is already fading, and it's all I had. I was so happy because you were beautiful and warm, and I even thought I looked like you. But it wasn't you. Not really. God, I don't know ...
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

Starting with the third season opening credits, while most of the actors' names appear normally, those of the three playing the aliens (Jason Behr, Katherine Heigl and Brendan Fehr) appear first in alien script, then morph into English, representing their rebirth from a previous alien life on Earth.

---

Connections

Referenced in Life Unexpected: Music Faced (2010)

---

Soundtracks

"I Shall Believe"
Sheryl Crow

User Reviews

Ok, so I was wrong, zap me!

I once heard that when "Bonnie and Clyde" was first released, the reviewer for Newsweek savaged the film. Then, a week later, he saw it again and wrote a new review saying it was one of the landmark films of its era.

So, ok, I can be wrong, too. I was a Roswell fan from the start, but feared they were heading off in a very wrong direction in year two of this show, concentrating too much on sci-fi and action at the expense of what made the show great in the first place, characterization.

It turns out, none of my dire predictions have come true. The show has featured more sci fi action and a lot less about life in high school. But both of those moves have proved well advised and neither has hurt the show's quality.

Roswell continues to be a show about characterization. We have actually seen the characters taken to new places in this second season and I salute the writers/producers, directors and the cast for being able to do this.

Special praise should also go to the show's young actors and actresses. This season the talented Katherine Heigl, who plays Isabel, has been given some break out episodes and she has not wasted a single "moment." Her performance in the most recent episode, playing a duel role of both a good and bad version of Isabel, was absolutely brilliant. She may have lifted a little of her "bad girl" mannerisms from Angelina Jolie, but she's not a bad person to steal from since she has rather perfected the tough girl personna.

And of course, Shiri Appleby continues to astound, delivering some almost heart breaking performances as the girl dumping the guy she loves for his own good.

But again, hats off to the writers and producers for coming up with some very strong story lines, and even some cleaver tricks, like the "Summer of '47," episode and the current two-part episode featuring the four "evil" alien duplicates. Giving talented young actors the chance to play different roles on the same show is a master stroke which keeps it interesting.

Well done one and all!