The infamous Super Bowl reboot-20 years later
TV Guide Magazine|January 16-29, 2023
The episode changed the thriller's roller-coaster trajectory, plus revealed the real Sydney Bristow-in sexy lingerie!
CHRISTOPHER WALLENBERG
The infamous Super Bowl reboot-20 years later

WHEN ALIAS TOUCHED down on ABC in 2001, the J.J. Abrams-created series dazzled viewers and critics as a butt-kicking breath of fresh air. Starring Jennifer Garner as spy Sydney Bristow, the action-packed drama boasted not only a female central character but also mythology-heavy storytelling. The show's heart-stopping cliffhangers and hairpin turns left viewers picking their jaws up off the floor. And no hourlong installment prompted more reaches for defibrillators than "Phase One," broadcast the night of 2003's Super Bowl XXXVII-a victory by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Oakland Raiders. The episode earned Alias its best ratings ever.

A hard-to-fathom 20 years old this month, that episode sees heroine Sydney defeating longtime CIA enemy target the Alliance of Twelve, the sprawling organized crime syndicate she'd been trying to take down...ever since she learned in the series pilot that she was working for the Alliance and not the CIA.

That's right: A double agent had been born on day one.

A Bold Grab for Viewers

"I remember reading the 'Phase One' script with extra interest because I knew it was potentially a game-changer for us," Michael Vartan, who played Sydney's CIA handler and love interest Michael Vaughn, tells TV GUIDE MAGAZINE. "It was going to be the big Super Bowl episode that [could] put us over the top in terms of ratings." To that end, Season 2's 13th episode brazenly rebooted Alias, with the goal of transforming a cult fave with a rabid fanbase into a bona fide hit. It was a lot to expect of a cool little counterintelligence drama, but the script did its job.

This story is from the January 16-29, 2023 edition of TV Guide Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the January 16-29, 2023 edition of TV Guide Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM TV GUIDE MAGAZINEView All
THE MASKED SINGER
TV Guide Magazine

THE MASKED SINGER

It’s no shock that the over-the-top competition featuring mystery celebrities in masks and elaborate costumes would go all out for Halloween.

time-read
1 min  |
October 16 - November 5, 2023 (Triple issue)
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
TV Guide Magazine

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

FIRST SHOWN LIVE on TV as part of Ford Star Jubilee in 1955, then filmed by Robert Altman in 1988, Herman Wouk’s courtroom classic (adapted from his 1951 novel) is of special interest in its latest version as the final film directed by Oscar winner William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist).

time-read
1 min  |
October 16 - November 5, 2023 (Triple issue)
Lessons in Chemistry
TV Guide Magazine

Lessons in Chemistry

PART JULIA CHILD, part Marie Curie, with the movie-star glow of a Kim Novak, brilliant chemist Elizabeth Zott (the luminous Brie Larson) is ahead of her 1950s times.

time-read
1 min  |
October 16 - November 5, 2023 (Triple issue)
POST-STRIKE UPDATE
TV Guide Magazine

POST-STRIKE UPDATE

THE JOKES FLEW fast and furious on Monday, October 2, from late-night hosts back at work after the 148-day writers’ strike had come to an end.

time-read
1 min  |
October 16 - November 5, 2023 (Triple issue)
QUIZ MASTER! THE REAL AMY SCHNEIDER STORY
TV Guide Magazine

QUIZ MASTER! THE REAL AMY SCHNEIDER STORY

AFTER HER APPEARANCES in 40 Jeopardy! episodes, Tournament of Champions and Jeopardy! Masters, fans may think they know Amy Schneider.

time-read
1 min  |
October 16 - November 5, 2023 (Triple issue)
FRASIER IS IN THE BUILDING!
TV Guide Magazine

FRASIER IS IN THE BUILDING!

Kelsey Grammer's famous psychiatrist moves back to Boston to hang out with a whole new TV family. (But there's still a bar!)

time-read
4 mins  |
October 16 - November 5, 2023 (Triple issue)
DAVID MCCALLUM
TV Guide Magazine

DAVID MCCALLUM

WHEN MARK HARMON first met David McCallum in 2003 while filming the backdoor pilot for NCIS (which aired on JAG), he gushed, “I can’t imagine I’m shaking the hand of Illya Kuryakin.”

time-read
2 mins  |
October 16 - November 5, 2023 (Triple issue)
Harry Wild
TV Guide Magazine

Harry Wild

We're just wild about Harry...and so are viewers. They've turned this Dublin-set series-about a rambunctious retired literature professor (Jane Seymour) who solves mysteries-into a success, and its star couldn't be happier.

time-read
1 min  |
September 25 - October 15, 2023
Bosch: Legacy
TV Guide Magazine

Bosch: Legacy

In Bosch: Legacy’s first season finale, private eye Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) was enjoying success after saving a mogul’s young heir from an assassin and solving a murder.

time-read
1 min  |
September 25 - October 15, 2023
Upload
TV Guide Magazine

Upload

The sly sci-fi comedy about murdered tech bro Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell), whose consciousness was uploaded to a luxurious virtual-afterlife resort called Lakeview, is back after a year and a half for Season 3, and things are getting trickier than remembering your passwords!

time-read
1 min  |
September 25 - October 15, 2023