Alias

Alias was a popular science fiction (sci-fi) TV series and the Alias season lasted for five years.. Created by J. J. Abrams, it starred Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a CIA agent, who was usually seen wearing colourful disguises while undercover in some part of the world.

While the major plotline of the series was the search for and recovery of artifacts created by Milo Rambaldi, a fictional Leonardo da Vinci-like inventor and Nostradamus-like prophet, a strong thread of family ties kept the viewers glued. The usage of technologies pushed the series into the sci-fi slot, but it stayed rooted in relationships. The first season focussed on the strained father-daughter relationship and Sydney’s idealisation of her supposedly dead mother. The second season saw her come to terms with issues surrounding her mother. The third and fourth seasons introduced issues around spouses and extended family. The fifth season saw Sydney settling into marriage and matrimony.

Although Alias was never considered a major ’hit’, it began during a time when the ABC television network was in decline, after the 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' debacle. Broadcast from September 2001 to May 2006, Alias garnered critical buzz, a cult following and decent viewing numbers in the advertiser-friendly age 18-49 demographic. The Alias DVD still continue to be a popular choice.

In fact, based on the series, the creators of the show also came out with a video game Alias in 2004 for the PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox.