UM...you bet me to it! I was just going to post that!

Ahh...not so much!

BS! BS! BS! BS!

Exclusive Scoop on Alias' Big Finish!

The countdown to Alias' hotly anticipated series finale officially got under way last week when new mum Jennifer Garner returned to the set to begin work on the show's last 10 or so episodes. And although ABC has yet to announce when (or where) the spy drama will complete its run (what's up with that?), there's every reason to believe that the 5-year-old series will go out the same way it came in: with a huge bang and a ton of hype. Not one to diminish expectations, executive producer Jeff Pinkner declares, "We want every episode from here to the end to top the one before it." OK, if ever there's a statement that demands a few follow-up Qs, it's that one. So, let's get to it

Ausiello: What are some of the big returns you have planned?
Pinkner: Lena Olin's coming back for the 99th episode, which is our second one back.

Ausiello: Really? Just for the 99th?
Pinkner: Well, no, she's actually going to be back for a couple.

Ausiello: Will she be in the 100th?
Pinkner: No, but Espinosa (Gina Torres) will be.

Ausiello: And Bradley Cooper (Will), too, right?
Pinkner: Yes.

Ausiello: How is he reintroduced?
Pinkner: Sydney's baby is born in the 99th, and for the 100th, we jump a month [ahead] and she's taking time off from work. [Will] is the thing that pulls her back into the field while she's on maternity leave. The bad guys realize that the best way to hurt Sydney is through her friends.

Ausiello: Will the 100th be a self-contained episode or part of this season's arc?
Pinkner: Both. The 100th episode is absolutely an episode that somebody who, even if they only checked in on the show a couple of times, can appreciate. But it also continues the story that we've been telling all season.

Ausiello: What's the basic plot?
Pinkner: The title is "There's Only One Sydney Bristow," and it's very much a love letter to her, and also to Jennifer for all the amazing things she has done and brought to the show. One of the themes running through the show is Sydney's concern that, because she's been in these people's lives, their lives have been much harder than they would have otherwise been. Will never would have been abducted or tortured by evil people [had he] not come to know Syd. And she's very much struggling with the life that she's bringing her baby into. The message of the episode is that these people are far better off for having known her and the world's a far better place with her being a part of it.

Ausiello: Bradley is just in this one episode?
Pinkner: Yes, but that's less out of our desire to have him and more because he's off to Broadway to be in a play [with Julia Roberts].

Ausiello: How many episodes is Michael Vartan (Vaughn) returning for?
Pinkner: I think he's going to come back for five, if not six.

Ausiello: What can you tell me about that?
Pinkner: As we've said from the beginning, the rumors of [Vaughn's] death were nothing more than rumors. In this world, don't take anything at face value. We'll know by the end of the 99th episode exactly where he is and if he's alive or not.

Ausiello: J.J. Abrams told me at the Golden Globes that there's a chance he might write and direct the series finale. Where do things stand with that?
Pinkner: We've been talking about it. Hopefully, he will. And the only reason [that would prevent him from doing so] would be Mission Impossible 3 concerns and duties. It's possible he will direct it; it's possible he will write or cowrite it. He will certainly be weighing in.

Ausiello: Do you know what the final scene of the final episode will be?
Pinkner: We do. We know at least the back half of the episode. We know the windup of the series. We know what's going to happen to most of the characters.

Ausiello: Who else is returning?
Pinkner: The plan is to have David Anders back. Mia Maestro will be back for several more. It's possible that we haven't seen the end of Francie.

Ausiello: How are you going to do that?
Pinkner: Oh, we have our ways. (Laughs) It actually ties in to the design of the season in an odd way. We don't know if she'll be available, but we have a story we want to tell with her.

Ausiello: What about Terry O'Quinn?
Pinkner: I don't think so, only because he's such an integral part of Lost. We wrote an episode for him to come back last year and he was just about to board a plane, and it just became impossible. He's too big a part of that show.

Ausiello: Anything else you can tease?
Pinkner: There's a big restructuring of our world in the 101st episode. And Devlin will make a return. We find out more about the Profit 5 conspiracy in the next couple of episodes, and then we start to take them down. And as I've said before, this season, as much as it's about Sydney dealing with losing Vaughn and questions of motherhood, it's also about Sloane's struggle between Rimbaldi and this question of faith and his love for his daughter.

Ausiello: Last question. What are you hearing about when/where Alias will return?
Pinkner: My understanding is we will not be on Thursday nights. But no final decision — or at least no official announcement — has been made yet.

From: TV Guide

The only joy I see myself having is if I hear that MV is back for the remaining 10 episodes. THEN...I will rejoice.

More bad news. Has there been ANY good news lately?

JJ will be too busy promoting Train Wreck II(Mission Impossible III), so he will not be around for the finale. *sigh* I knew he wouldn't.

So, the finale will suck, like the rest of the season. My hopes... are just gone. Not that I had high hopes or anything anyways...

Question: This interminable waiting game that ABC is playing regarding the fate of Alias is not to be had! What can we, the fans, do about it? Anything? — Jen

Ausiello: ABC confirmed late Tuesday that Alias is returning in just seven short weeks on Wednesdays at 8 pm. There are eight episodes remaining — reduced from 13. Here's how they're being scheduled:

April 19, 8-10 pm/ET: Two-hour episode. Syd's baby is born and Vaughn's fate is revealed. Michael Vartan, Lena Olin and Greg Grunberg return.
April 26, 8-9 pm: The 100th episode. Bradley Cooper returns.
May 3, 8-9 pm: Currently in production. Devlin returns.
May 10, 8-9 pm: TBD
May 17, 8-9 pm: TBD
May 24, 8-10 pm: Two-hour finale.

He isn't; his return was pushed back. In the episode where Anna appears, she fakes being Sydney and we learn that Vaughn is nearly all healed. Or should be anyways.

But anyways, who knows how many of the remaining episodes he'll be in.

ABC Schedules 'Alias' Endgame

'What About Brian' delayed, 'Hope & Faith' moving
February 28 2006

Jennifer Garner on 'Alias'LOS ANGELES --
The countdown to the end of "Alias" can now officially begin.

ABC said Tuesday (Feb. 28) that the high-octane spy drama, which has been on hiatus to allow for star Jennifer Garner's maternity leave and to make room for "Dancing with the Stars," will begin its final run of episodes with a two-hour show at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, April 19. That's a change from earlier in the season, when the show aired on Thursdays.

The network also announced a few more schedule changes, including a delay in the premiere of "What About Brian," the return of "Hope & Faith" and "Invasion" and the scheduling of its miniseries "The Ten Commandments."

"Alias," which last aired in December, was originally scheduled to return in March, after "Dancing with the Stars" ended its season. As ABC rolled out its midesason schedule, though, the show was left hanging.

The later return date also likely means that the series will have fewer than 22 episodes for its final season. ABC does, however, promise that the final episodes will reveal the final stages of the Rambaldi prophecy and feature the return of Bradley Cooper as Will Tippin and Gina Torres as Anna Espinosa -- not to mention the reappearance of the presumed-dead Vaughn (Michael Vartan) and the birth of his and Sydney's (Garner) baby.

"Alias" will take the place of comedies "George Lopez" and "Freddie" on the Wednesday schedule; those shows will end their seasons a little early. "Invasion," which will get a four-week break for "The Evidence" starting March 22, will also return on April 19.

The network's update of "The Ten Commandments," starring Dougray Scott (NBC's "Heist") as Moses, will air April 10 and 11 -- a few days before Easter and the start of Passover. The miniseries also features "Lost" star Naveen Andrews, "Alias'" Mia Maestro and Omar Sharif ("Doctor Zhivago").

With "The Ten Commandments" scheduled for Easter week, ABC has moved the debut of "What About Brian" back two weeks. It was originally scheduled to premiere Sunday, April 2 and move to its regular Monday home the next night. Rather than pre-empt it for the miniseries, the network decided to hold back; "Brian" will now premiere Sunday, April 16 and take over the 10 p.m. Monday spot on the 17th.

Finally, "Hope & Faith" will make the move to Tuesday nights starting March 21. It will replace "Rodney" at 8:30 p.m.

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