Roswell landed on The WB in October 1999 with a premise that should not have worked. A New Mexico town famous for a 1947 UFO sighting, a trio of teenagers hiding superhuman powers, and a waitress who gets shot in the first episode and brought back by the boy who loves her. Jason Katims developed, produced and co-wrote the series, and he built it around a bond that threatens to expose a secret universe. The show ran three seasons and 61 episodes, and it is better than its reputation as a teen soap with a saucer problem.
Trailer, via firestarter8779.
Max Evans Saves Liz Parker
The pilot sets the terms fast. Max Evans, played by Jason Behr, saves Liz Parker, played by Shiri Appleby, after she is shot. He is an alien. She is a high-school student. The bond they form is the engine of the whole series, and it is also the thing that puts Max, his sister Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr) in danger.
The show knows what it has in that trio. Max is the careful one. Isabel wants a normal life. Michael wants answers and hot sauce, and he is the one most likely to get everyone caught. Around them: Maria DeLuca (Majandra Delfino), Liz’s best friend; Kyle Valenti (Nick Wechsler); his father, Sheriff Jim Valenti (William Sadler), who spends the early run hunting the aliens; and later Jesse Ramirez (Adam Rodriguez).
A Run Split Between The WB and UPN
Roswell’s run was broken across two networks. The WB aired the series from October 6, 1999 to May 21, 2001. UPN carried it from October 9, 2001 to May 14, 2002. Sixty-one episodes in total, over three seasons.
| Network | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|
| The WB | October 6, 1999 | May 21, 2001 |
| UPN | October 9, 2001 | May 14, 2002 |
A reimagining, Roswell, New Mexico, ran four seasons on the CW from 2019 to 2022. The original is based on the Roswell High young adult book series by Melinda Metz, edited by Laura J. Burns, who later became a staff writer on the television series.
What the Show Gets Right
Here is the part worth defending. That lineage shows. The show takes teenage interiority seriously — the cliques, the angst, the sense that a secret will destroy you — and it treats the alien mythology as a real stake rather than a costume.
The cast carries it. Behr plays Max with a stillness that keeps the romance from tipping into syrup. Heigl gives Isabel a want that is not about the plot. Fehr’s Michael is the show’s live wire. Sadler, as the sheriff, is the adult the series needs.
The premise is also genuinely strange in a way network teen drama rarely allowed. Superhuman powers, a gene pool, a yen for hot sauce — the show commits to its own oddity.
Where the Middle Seasons Sag
The WB-to-UPN move in 2001 put the show on a new network for its final season. The show’s strongest elements, as this paper sees them:
- The Max and Liz bond, which gives every episode its pulse.
- Sheriff Valenti’s arc, which we would put first among the supporting stories.
- Michael and Maria, the pairing that supplies most of the humor.
- Isabel’s search for a normal life, underused until late.
- The alien mythology, strong in season one and uneven after.
The show never solves its biggest problem: it is a science-fiction series that keeps getting pulled back into being a high-school drama, and the pull is usually downward.
What Roswell Is Worth
Roswell is a good show with a great first season and a case of the slows after it. The 61 episodes contain a real romance, a real mythology and a cast that mostly earns the material. They also contain a lot of wheel-spinning.
What matters most is the bond between Max and Liz. Everything else — the powers, the sheriff, the hot sauce — is scaffolding around that. When the show remembers it, Roswell works. When it forgets, it drifts.
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