V Goes to ABC
May 21, 2009 by Cynthia
With the rare exceptions such as Star Trek and The Day the Earth Stood Still, scifi TV shows and movies have taught us that all aliens have one purpose – to take over the Earth. But now The Visitors have arrived and they want to be our friends. They want to share their advanced technology with us. They want to give us the cure for cancer and all they want in return is a little water.
Yeah, right.
Stock the bomb shelters and get those bullshit detectors out of storage because come January 2010, The Visitors will have landed. It’s “V”, the reimagining of the 1980’s scifi series about pretty alien people with a very dark secret.
I got to watch a little bit of the series and now I’m even more excited to see this new show.
V has several things going for it right out of the gate. First, there’s name recognition. Even if you weren’t around to see the first incarnation, you’ve probably heard vague rumblings about it in the scifi community. Second, the plot is even more relevant today than it was back then. With the bad economy, the war, terrorism – aren’t we all struggling to find a little ray of hope out there? And then there’s the cast. Smart, I tell you.
V is loaded with familiar scifi faces that will have people tuning in just to see their favorites. Firefly’s Morena Baccarin is perfectly cast as the engaging leader of the alien advance guard. Alan Tudyk (Firefly and Dollhouse) plays an FBI agent partnered with Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell. Mitchell is the show’s anchor and she handles it well.
For the fangirls, you’ve got the puppy-dog angst of Logan Huffman. He’s got a thing for a young alien girl played by Smallville’s Laura Vandervoort. The 4400’s Joel Gretsch plays Father Landry, a man left to deal with an ever increasing panicked congregation as people look to religion for answers after the invasion. A young priest isn’t usually the kind of character that has fans running to fic, but I think it’s going to happen when you see this guy on screen. There’s something about him that just makes me want to write pages and pages and I’ve only seen a few minutes of him on screen.
Scott Wolf is also in the series playing a news anchor and somewhere in there you’ll find a very grownup Barry from Land of the Giants, aka Stefan Arngrim.
Man, I wish we didn’t have to wait until midseason for this one. It looks exciting and new and perfect for Fox or SCI FI Channel. The question is, can something this unique last on a network like ABC. I hope so.
Here’s a clip of V, coming to ABC next year. (Photo copyright: ABC)
Elizabeth Mitchell is my current favorite TV actress, and I would watch “V” just because she is a part of it. I do hope the “LOST” authorities give Juliet’s story line a proper ending, though. If that means she’ll be appearing on both shows simultaneously, I’m willing to deal with that
I agree Kristine. I’ll watch it just because of Liz, I don’t like the series. I’m tired of alien’s stuff, but her character seems cool and she’s a terrific actress, so that’s why I’ll watch it anyway.
BUT I don’t want they kill Juliet on LOST. The finale was too shocking and mean. They can’t let her die, it’s so heartless. No character has been treated like Juliet, it’s not fair at all. She deserves an happy ending!She’s such a good person.
DO NOT KILL JULIET BURKE!
Umm, in the 1980s there was a weak economy war and terrorism. Humans never learn. Hell if I was an alien why risk the exposure? I’d just wait until the the humans extinct themselves then take over. Anyway it looks to be a great series.
The clips I’ve seen so far of the new “V” are pretty awesome, and they seem to be in keeping with original miniseries creator Kenny Johnson’s vision. I can’t wait!
If there is no room for excellent Sci-Fi TV shows like FireFly or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, then there probably will be no room for V either.
It probably will be canceled within two seasons.
Why should I even bother… as soon as I find a good TV show, it gets canceled.
Then again, we are not talking about Fox… so there may be hope.
Some of the networks have a better idea of how to promote shows like V, so there may be hope for this one after all.
Like all shows on any TV channel this show will be dropped if we are not faithful to watch it.
The TRUTH is if Grandma setting in a rocking chair knitting could get millions to watch she would be on every channel.
If we nick pick every story to death in the end we will not have the shows to watch.
I will be watching this show every week and hope millions more will do like wise.
Such bad acting all around, even from Elizabeth Mitchell. Especially as a mother. That ridiculous clapping part was simply inexcusable. The entire dialogue during every part from start to finish seems forced awkwardly and painfully from each actor as if they too cannot suspend their disbelief. The writers need to change what they are doing or be replaced if this remake is not to thoroughly suck just like:Battlestar Galactica(most of all),i am legend, or “the wiz”. Everything about this pilot was half-assed and generic. The only good thing to watch was Elizabeth Mitchell. This is simply not something intelligent people can enjoyably immerse themselves in. This pilot was quite possibly one of the worst ever, and that says a lot.
Isn’t the “terrorism a new angle on the 2009 V series?