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And this is where my issue comes in with the unlikely prospect of an Alias return to the small screen. Several times in its run, Abrams and his team reset the show in either a self or network mandated effort to simplify things. They give an admirable effort of tying the many iterations of the story together to form one cohesive whole, but it’s this constant reinvention that so disillusioned fans and critics, leading to its unfair-in my opinion-reputation as a show that ultimately fails to deliver upon its promise.

We are in the midst of a revolution in our national relationship with television. Whether it’s because of the rise of the cable networks as sources of quality, the advent of TV on DVD, or the increasing use of sites like hulu.com, television is growing more splintered and fractured than ever before. With Lost’s heralded finale scoring only 13 million viewers, the idea of the big television event, or the huge hit show is becoming a thing of the past. Specialized programming is the future of the industry. A great example of this is Chuck, a lighter entry in the spy genre. Though, by no means a solid success, positive reviews and a loyal fan following have allowed Chuck to survive, if not thrive, for the past three years. In the past, with the numbers it has, Chuck would have been on the chopping block after its initial 13-episode order.

The benefit of this new direction is that networks don’t really need to dumb their programming down. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place on the tube for simpler fare, but it also doesn’t mean that shows like Alias need to lighten their load. It was apparent early on that the masses were never going to embrace Alias. There were fans and critics, however, who would follow every turn, analyze every twist, and join Sydney on every adventure. These are the viewers who ABC should target and market to.

So why, in this brave new televised world, is the network even considering bringing back a tainted product in an even more tainted way? If the cult of Alias even still exists four years after the last episode aired, then aren’t they the ones ABC should be catering to? Dropping Rambaldi or the twisting narrative isn’t going to bring new viewers into the fold, not for a show that has the reputation for having dropped in quality. For that matter, fans don’t want to see a shell of the show’s former glory.

The bread and butter of the Alias franchise is its fans. If that audience is too small, then ABC should just quit while it’s ahead. If that audience isn’t too small, then don’t chip away at it by delivering a watered down product, further damaging the reputation of a once heralded program. If Alias is to make a triumphant return, then it should do so, Rambaldi and all.

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