The story of a daytime college grad student that fights terrorism at night, is it believable or not? Melanie Burkes delves into the mystery of Alias.

Knowing that this column was to focus on one of the hot new shows of the season, there was one show that came to mind immediately. It has been hyped in newspapers, in magazines, on television, and on the internet. In fact, I have even heard radio ads about the show - something that I don't hear too often. What show is it that I speak of? Well, Alias of course - one of the new "IT" shows of the season.

First, what is Alias about? Jennifer Garner stars as Sydney Bristow, a graduate student by day, and a covert antiterrorism agent by night. Sydney was recruited, while still in college, into SD-6, an elite division of the CIA and toils alongside her partner, Agent Dixon (Merrin Dungey) and under her boss, Arrin Sloan (Ron Rifkin). However, in the premiere episode, Sydney finds out all is not what it seems. After divulging her secret life to her fiancée, he is murdered and Sydney learns from her estranged father (Victor Garber) that she has actually been working for the terrorists instead of against them. Determined to get her life back, Sydney signs up with the CIA to work as a double agent and begins a tenuous alliance with her father in order to bring down SD-6.

Sound familiar? That should be no surprise - there is no question that Alias is very similar to other sexy-girl-spy predecessors: namely Run Lola Run and La Femme Nikita. However, show creator J.J. Abrams, who is the man behind Felicity, acknowledges this. Abrams explains that Alias came about when he was sitting around and talking about how it would be cool if Felicity was recruited by the CIA and had to go on international missions to kickass. But, she wouldn't be able to tell her boyfriend about it. That is how Alias was born. Abrams has commented that Alias does hold some similarities to Run Lola Run for the vulnerability that both young characters exhibit. However, he has stated that he sees this as a compliment instead of a slight. He has noted he hopes that in the future other shows will be described as Alias with a twist of something else.

So now that we know what Alias is about, what has created all the hype? Let's go back to last spring when it all began. I started hearing about Alias before I even knew that it was a television series. Alias was on the television, in little corners on the internet, it was on the side of buses and it was pictured at bus stops. It was everywhere. In fact, ABC has made a media onslaught with its advertising campaign that has been incomparable with any other show of the new season. ABC marketing executives have stated that they hoped to have reached more than 90 percent of all television viewers with the word about the new series at least eight times. That's a whole lotta ads. Perhaps some of this persistence is in the hopes of creating a loyal fan base that in some instances has kept a show on the air, even after its cancellation (i.e., La Femme Nikita). Some of it must be working - a fan site for the show that was launched in July is already in full force.

Another nifty marketing ploy was airing the first show commercial free. That's pretty monumental. While I appreciated the full one hour and nine minutes of continuity, that meant no bathroom breaks, no quick snacks, and no conferences with my friends on the phone during commercial breaks. Not to mention all the money that it cost ABC to allow one of its touchstone shows for the fall 2001 season to be sponsored by just one advertiser (it was Nokia in case you were wondering - now do you get all the cell phones being used in the episode?). Now that's optimism. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the look of the show. There are explosions, lasers, special effects, slashing camera shots, and quick editing. The show looks more like a movie than a television series. It is clear that we have come a long way from The A-Team.

With all that said, was the show any good? Well . . . yeah . . . it was. When something has been hyped up as much as Alias has, you expect disappointment. Interestingly enough, I wasn't disappointed, I was entertained. Jennifer Garner exhibits that rare combination of sweet innocence (the dimples) and ballsy vitality, such that we can believe her as the intellectual grad student and the bad ass agent. The plot itself is farfetched and fanciful, but you get a feeling that Abrams knows that, and he doesn't take the show too seriously. Sure Sydney is constantly fighting or running for her life, but Abrams manages to slip in a joke here and there, just to ease the tension.

Will this be the new hit for the fall season? Well, it's too soon to know - only the Nielsen Ratings will be able to show us this over time. Should it be the new fall season hit? Well . . . yeah, I think so. It's got me hooked.

Melanie Burkes is a twenty something corporate attorney in Washington, D.C. Much to the chagrin of her parents and all of the banks holding her student loans, Melanie plans on quitting her job as a lawyer as soon as possible, and shall strike out for the wealth of riches that awaits her in the broadcast journalism field. In her spare time, Melanie likes to read current literature, prepare meals for her friends, and plots the overthrow of her current employer.

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