I watched the show Roswell faithfully. Why did it change networks?
—Billie K., Tennessee
Pure and simple business decisions led to the network change from the WB to UPN this season. But the history of that otherworldly series is anything but simple. The story began with a series of 10 teen books about Roswell High, where some of the students have strange powers. They are orphaned aliens, descended from the famously rumored UFO crash in Roswell, N.M., in 1947. The books, written by Melinda Metz, led to the development of a television show by Jason Katims (My So Called Life) and David Nutter (The X-Files) and executive produced by Jonathan Frakes, who played Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Originally planned for the Fox network, the series was instead picked up by the WB. It had critical acclaim but soft ratings and was due for cancellation. But while the ratings weren't monstrous, the fan support was. UPN, which had just made the deal to pick up the WB's popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer, picked up Roswell also.
