It's only been five years since ABC canceled the Jennifer Garner star-making vehicle 'Alias,' and yet insider sources claim ABC is ready to reboot 'Alias' as a possible replacement for 'Lost.' Really, are they serious?

Sure, there's a connection between the two shows in that J.J. Abrams created (or co-created) both series, but currently J.J. is busy with a new fall 2010 show on NBC called 'Undercover,' so he may not be ready to jump into a new 'Alias' at this time.

Hopefully, this is a premature idea by ABC that won't leave the launching pad because it's both premature and wrongheaded. Here's three reasons why:

1. That cast will not be duplicated, especially Jennifer Garner: One of the main reasons for the success of 'Alias' was the emergence of Jennifer Garner. She was a hot, new commodity, and there's nothing quite as exciting as a brand new star blasting onto the scene. Jennifer Garner was both gorgeous to look at and watch in action, but she was also a wonderful actress who brought depth to the character of Sydney Bristow.

'Alias' also had an amazing supporting cast, including Bradley Cooper and Michael Vartan, both of whom are leading men now, as well as Victor Garber and Ron Rifkin, who gave the show an air of authority that gave Abrams' fanciful mythology heft and importance. All things considered, ABC will not get that kind of cast again. Lightning doesn't strike twice and the new 'Alias' cast won't measure up to the original.

2. Too many shows have imitated it since: 'Alias' was an original. Oh, yes, there had been shows like it before, like 'La Femme Nikita' or 'The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,' but nothing quite the same. 'Alias' came across as a fresh take on espionage for television. However, since it premiered in 2001, there have been other shows that are 'Alias'-like. 'Chuck,' for example, follows a normal guy who gets recruited into the spy game. 'Nikita' is coming back as a reboot, too, as much influenced by the Luc Besson film as Abrams' 'Alias.'

And J.J.'s new NBC show, 'Undercovers,' really could be a sequel to 'Alias,' if you picked up the story of married spies Sydney and Michael semi-retired and lured back into active service. When I saw the trailer to 'Undercovers,' 'Alias' came to mind.

3. We need fresh shows, not reboots: The networks and production companies really owe it to the public to stop resurrecting the past and create new programming. It's one thing to give 'Hawaii Five-O' a reboot. That show's been off the air for four decades.

But even if you can buy a new version of that show, it's a lot harder to envision why 'Alias' should be remade five years after it went off the air. Can't the creative folks in show business come up with new programs without leaning on the past so extensively?

Another problem with reboots is that the same issues that fell the original series can occur again. With 'Alias,' the Rambaldi mythology, the time shifts, the multiple personas of the principals ... it all became too much. There's no guarantee that a new 'Alias' wouldn't come up with problems just as gnarly.