Posted in: Current News, CW, Editor's Picks TV News, Movies, TV, YouTube | Tagged: cable, colin hanks, immigration, katherine heigl, Melinda Metz, roswell, sci-fi, science fiction, Shiri Appleby, streaming, television, the cw, The WB, tv, UPN
The CW's 'Roswell' Reboot To Address Immigration Issues
The CW is returning to an all new Roswell, as the network plans to reboot their brief-yet-popular 1999 science fiction/adventure series. Still intended to be based on the Roswell High book series from Melinda Metz, Carina Adly MacKenzie will pen the series; and executive produce with Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank (Amblin Television), Lawrence Bender and Kevin Kelly Brown (an executive producer on the original series).
As the series overview shows, the new Roswell will directly address the issue of immigration on two levels: the metaphorical sci-fi theme of "aliens-as-immigrants" that was present in the original series; and the very real issues surrounding the immigration debate and the impact it has on the children of undocumented immigrants:
The new, one-hour drama series follows the daughter of undocumented immigrants who reluctantly returns to her tourist-trap hometown of Roswell, New Mexico. There she discovers a shocking truth about her teenage crush who is now a police officer: he's an alien who has kept his unearthly abilities hidden his entire life. She protects his secret as the two reconnect and begin to investigate his origins, but when a violent attack and long-standing government cover-up point to a greater alien presence on Earth, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose him and destroy their deepening romance.
Roswell's first two seasons originally aired on The WB (which would eventually be rebranded The CW) from 1999-2001, with its third and final season airing on UPN. The series would serve as a boost to the acting careers of cast members Shiri Appleby (UnREAL), Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) and Colin Hanks (Fargo). The Roswell "universe" was also expanded upon between 2001-2003 through a series of novels published by Pocket Books and Simon Spotlight Entertainment.
Amblin Television (Amazing Stories) and Bender Brown Productions (Seven Seconds, Flesh and Bone) will produce in association with Warner Bros. Television.