V on ABC November 3, 2009

Apparently the network is screwing this up already:

http://io9.com/5396219/v-is-not-doomed-and-you-should-still-watch?skyline=true&s=i

However, the producer of the Shield now being in charge gives me some hope.

I thought it was pretty alright. What other space/alien based show do we have on the air now? Stargate Universe (and Caprica coming in a couple of months). IMHO, the pilot last night for V is leagues above what we've seen from SGU so far.

"Watch this because it's the only sci-fi" is a pretty weak reason to invest in a series.

The show was, much like everything else these days, technically and visually stunning. It was pretty weak storywise, though, especially in revealing the alien's true intentions and appearance via the "Basil Exposition" character at the meeting a mere 30 minutes into the show. Two of the biggest shocks in the original V were Diana swallowing a guinea pig and the tearing away of a visitor's disquise during a fight. This new V has little to no mystery and no dramatic momentum. ABC was wise to only produce 4 episodes at a time.

GKarsEye said:

"Watch this because it's the only sci-fi" is a pretty weak reason to invest in a series.

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True, but, we have good actors and good special effects, and a pilot episode is rarely a true measure of a series, so, tat's enough, IMHO to give a little time.

B5_Obsessed said:

The show was, much like everything else these days, technically and visually stunning. It was pretty weak storywise, though, especially in revealing the alien's true intentions and appearance via the "Basil Exposition" character at the meeting a mere 30 minutes into the show. Two of the biggest shocks in the original V were Diana swallowing a guinea pig and the tearing away of a visitor's disquise during a fight. This new V has little to no mystery and no dramatic momentum. ABC was wise to only produce 4 episodes at a time.

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I expected this, but you cant blame the networks for it. Its the A.D.D. suffering viewers that are the cause of this. Yes, in a 45min pilot pretty much the two hours of the miniseries were compressed, it was obvious, but to be honest, I'm not sure if I am for this, or against it.

For one thing, what mystery? Its a REMAKE. We all know they are lizards under there and are going to cause problems. So why spend 3-4 episodes building things up to get to what we already know?

So yes, they sped through things to get to the core of what has to happen first in this new V series. The real question is where to they take things from here? It can't just be about resistance, or paralleling the Nazi's. I'm assuming it will have much more modern undertones. So hopefully those behind the show (at least those behind it now after all the pre-release changes) take things in a good direction.

Yes, it was accelerated for a pilot, but I don't think it cost us anything. Just saved a lot of V fans from going "oh! I know what comes next!" and lets them get on with the real story.

Recoil said:

B5_Obsessed said:

The show was, much like everything else these days, technically and visually stunning. It was pretty weak storywise, though, especially in revealing the alien's true intentions and appearance via the "Basil Exposition" character at the meeting a mere 30 minutes into the show. Two of the biggest shocks in the original V were Diana swallowing a guinea pig and the tearing away of a visitor's disquise during a fight. This new V has little to no mystery and no dramatic momentum. ABC was wise to only produce 4 episodes at a time.

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I expected this, but you cant blame the networks for it. Its the A.D.D. suffering viewers that are the cause of this. Yes, in a 45min pilot pretty much the two hours of the miniseries were compressed, it was obvious, but to be honest, I'm not sure if I am for this, or against it.

For one thing, what mystery? Its a REMAKE. We all know they are lizards under there and are going to cause problems. So why spend 3-4 episodes building things up to get to what we already know?

So yes, they sped through things to get to the core of what has to happen first in this new V series. The real question is where to they take things from here? It can't just be about resistance, or paralleling the Nazi's. I'm assuming it will have much more modern undertones. So hopefully those behind the show (at least those behind it now after all the pre-release changes) take things in a good direction.

Yes, it was accelerated for a pilot, but I don't think it cost us anything. Just saved a lot of V fans from going "oh! I know what comes next!" and lets them get on with the real story.

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Yea, that's what I've been thinking, when reading some complaints about the speed of the reveals. Since even non-fans of the originals probably even know about the lizards through osmosis, it gets you through the set up quickly, so they can find their own legs quicker

Well they didn't necessarily have to make them lizards or whatever, they could do something really different, like BSG.

Yes, I'm commenting on a show I haven't watched. Internet!

I thought it was great.

GKarsEye said:

Well they didn't necessarily have to make them lizards or whatever, they could do something really different, like BSG.

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That would've likely caused ABC even more grief, die hard fans of the original have already been complaining about the fact that the Visitors are being referred to as V's ("V is supposed to be for Victory, not for Visitors. How can ABC mess up something so basic") and also for the fact that Morena Baccarain's Anna is played more subtle and dangerous and not the female version of "The cackling mustache twirling Villian" like Jane Badler's over the top cheezy Diana. Frankly, I think Morena Baccarain's Anna's subtlety is one improvement in the show over the original.

GKarsEye said:

Yes, I'm commenting on a show I haven't watched. Internet!

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LOL

Sindatur said:

That would've likely caused ABC even more grief, die hard fans of the original have already been complaining about the fact that the Visitors are being referred to as V's ("V is supposed to be for Victory, not for Visitors. How can ABC mess up something so basic") and also for the fact that Morena Baccarain's Anna is played more subtle and dangerous and not the female version of "The cackling mustache twirling Villian" like Jane Badler's over the top cheezy Diana. Frankly, I think Morena Baccarain's Anna's subtlety is one improvement in the show over the original.

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Don't jump to conclusions there. First off, yes appearances after the pilot as they are calling the Vistors "V"s for short. And they even had the online video of the kids spray-painting "V" on a fence to support the Visitors, whereas in the original it was done in protest after things started turning bad and was said it stood for "Victory"

I'm betting that at some point in the series V will stand for Victory...they just choose not to reveal EVERYTHING in the Pilot Episode.

Also, I agree, I prefer Morena's Ana very much over Badler's Diana. Her style and approach are far superior and Im not just saying that because I think she may be the hottest woman alive IMO (always been a huge fan). Not only does she seem much more subtle and dark, but even her eyes are hollow and creepy --- almost like a great white shark. Its funny because in Firefly her eyes were warm and caring. Pretty dramatic change for a small detail like that. At least that's my impression of her character thus far.

Recoil said:

Sindatur said:

That would've likely caused ABC even more grief, die hard fans of the original have already been complaining about the fact that the Visitors are being referred to as V's ("V is supposed to be for Victory, not for Visitors. How can ABC mess up something so basic") and also for the fact that Morena Baccarain's Anna is played more subtle and dangerous and not the female version of "The cackling mustache twirling Villian" like Jane Badler's over the top cheezy Diana. Frankly, I think Morena Baccarain's Anna's subtlety is one improvement in the show over the original.

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Don't jump to conclusions there. First off, yes appearances after the pilot as they are calling the Vistors "V"s for short. And they even had the online video of the kids spray-painting "V" on a fence to support the Visitors, whereas in the original it was done in protest after things started turning bad and was said it stood for "Victory"

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Oh, no...you took my post wrong, that's not my complaint, that's a popular complaint amongst the Die Hard fans "beating up on the remake". I totally agree with you, and in actuality in the original Series, though they didn't refer to them as "Vs" V stood for Visitors first, and then the red "V" became the resistance logo for Victory when the old Jewish guy taught the kids not to just disfigure the Visitor posters, but, to make it mean something with a "V" for victory

Part of the fun of the original series was the "cheesiness," especially Diana. This is not a criticism of the new one, just saying that this doesn't necessarily make one "better" than the other. Of course it depends on how one defines "better." Original V, like original Battlestar, were fun silly entertainment with healthy doses of cheesy. New ones are taking the basic concepts and not only modernizing them, but cinematizing them. And BSG ended up making it "serious," and maybe V will, too. I guess we'll see how that goes.

So apparently they're just gonna show 4 episodes and then wait until like every other show and sports league are in hiatus or something ridiculous like that, so at the end of the 4 ep run I'll let y'all figure out if this show is worth it before I grace it w/ my viewership on hulu.

GKarsEye said:

Part of the fun of the original series was the "cheesiness," especially Diana.

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I'm going to disagree with you here on a bit of a nitpick. If you were to watch the original "V" miniseries today, you would certainly see some of the great storytelling and parallels that Kenneth Johnson did, and why it was such a bit hit. You would also look at it and recognize some of the "cheesiness" of it as well, as you describe. But thats if you look at it today.

Transport yourself back 20 years to when "V" first came out. 1983. Smack dab in the middle of the cheesiest decade EVER. The thing is...when everyone was in the 80s and growing up then, we didn't see the cheesiness for what it was then...it was just how things were. Jane Badler didn't look cheesy with her hair cause everyone looked like that then.

It wasn't cheesiness that was the fun of the series...it was that it was Sci-Fi and lizards from space looking like us to use us as food. Back then Sci-Fi was all the rage and you could actually show it on TV and people would watch. People were into the PREMISE of the show, not the cheesiness. I liked it cause it had space battles and lizard people (yea, I was 9 at the time). My dad, who remembers watching Star Trek liked the Sci-Fi aspects, but he was old enough to appreciate the Nazi parallels as did many.

But back then, the cheesiness wasn't the appeal I dont think, it was just a different time. Its looking back now we see it...but then again as I said, that entire decade was cheesy.

Well I'm not saying people at the time watched 'cause it was "cheesy".... but yeah the style was different and the style was not about "subtle" and "dark," it was bold and bright and going-for-broke. I was talking about style, maybe "cheesy" is the wrong word as it implies a failure of some sort, and original V did not fail, it set out to do exactly what it meant. Diana is hot female version of the classic villain- basically she's a succubus, while the new one looks like some sort of sinister conspiracy-involved corporate executive.

One outlandish rumor I read was that one of the subtexts they were going to add into the show is that the aliens were going to act as metaphors for Obama- the well-spoken, slick messianic answer to all our prayers that is really diabolical and evil underneath and shouldn't be trusted. I'm going to chalk that up to typical internet stupidity, potentially the brainchild of either right-wing zealots trying to adapt pop culture for their nonsensical ideological extremism or pro-Obama fanboys paranoid that those right-wing zealots are corrupting the mainstream, and the typical phenomenon of idiots trying to shoehorn everything into their narrow worldview.

Don't worry, not starting a political argument, just adding one more piece of "buzz" about the show that was going around.

GKarsEye said:

Well I'm not saying people at the time watched 'cause it was "cheesy".... but yeah the style was different and the style was not about "subtle" and "dark," it was bold and bright and going-for-broke. I was talking about style, maybe "cheesy" is the wrong word as it implies a failure of some sort, and original V did not fail, it set out to do exactly what it meant. Diana is hot female version of the classic villain- basically she's a succubus, while the new one looks like some sort of sinister conspiracy-involved corporate executive.

One outlandish rumor I read was that one of the subtexts they were going to add into the show is that the aliens were going to act as metaphors for Obama- the well-spoken, slick messianic answer to all our prayers that is really diabolical and evil underneath and shouldn't be trusted. I'm going to chalk that up to typical internet stupidity, potentially the brainchild of either right-wing zealots trying to adapt pop culture for their nonsensical ideological extremism or pro-Obama fanboys paranoid that those right-wing zealots are corrupting the mainstream, and the typical phenomenon of idiots trying to shoehorn everything into their narrow worldview.

Don't worry, not starting a political argument, just adding one more piece of "buzz" about the show that was going around.

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Anna does state in her interview that she wants to provide for the medical needs of everyone, to which the reporter responds, "You're talking universal healthcare."

GKarsEye said:

Well I'm not saying people at the time watched 'cause it was "cheesy".... but yeah the style was different and the style was not about "subtle" and "dark," it was bold and bright and going-for-broke. I was talking about style, maybe "cheesy" is the wrong word as it implies a failure of some sort, and original V did not fail, it set out to do exactly what it meant. Diana is hot female version of the classic villain- basically she's a succubus, while the new one looks like some sort of sinister conspiracy-involved corporate executive.

One outlandish rumor I read was that one of the subtexts they were going to add into the show is that the aliens were going to act as metaphors for Obama- the well-spoken, slick messianic answer to all our prayers that is really diabolical and evil underneath and shouldn't be trusted. I'm going to chalk that up to typical internet stupidity, potentially the brainchild of either right-wing zealots trying to adapt pop culture for their nonsensical ideological extremism or pro-Obama fanboys paranoid that those right-wing zealots are corrupting the mainstream, and the typical phenomenon of idiots trying to shoehorn everything into their narrow worldview.

Don't worry, not starting a political argument, just adding one more piece of "buzz" about the show that was going around.

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LOL, yea, I've read that several times today. There seems to be two versions. The first one is Conspiracy minded that liberal Hollywood is promoting the Adminsitration's (And Congress') agenda of Socialism, while the other version says that it portrays the Administration's (And Congress') agenda negatively, since the ObamAliens pushing these ideals and promises are EVIL.

Good points GKE I see what you meant.

Yea that "Universal Health Care" line was memorable. So was the "start pointless wars" one at the resistance meeting. The show could be interesting if done right. They don't need to go with the Nazi parallels, there's plenty more material in the last 10 years they can go after.

I liked the pilot!

Ok, maybe it still feels a bit that it was mostly due to it being lit and open, and not dark and stuffy like BSG and SGU. After thinking about the time jumps I don't think they could've ever really done the parts where millions of people go nuts over the Visitors and have a million more meetings, sessions or such over what to do about them - while it might've been more interesting in many reasons than what's to come.

Anyways, I liked it. Definitely more good than bad things in this. I remain optimistic!

Recoil said:

Good points GKE I see what you meant.

Yea that "Universal Health Care" line was memorable. So was the "start pointless wars" one at the resistance meeting. The show could be interesting if done right. They don't need to go with the Nazi parallels, there's plenty more material in the last 10 years they can go after.

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I know I keep bringing up BSG but how funny would it be to have two sci-fi TV remakes trying tackle current events.