ABC has picked up the new V remake/reboot/re-imagined series for thirteen episodes for a midseason debut. Maybe they can partner it with Lost. If you’re not familiar with the original V, and I’ll admit to really only knowing of it, here’s the new show’s official synopsis:
Today, the world woke up to find spaceships over every major city. The Visitors claim to have come in peace, bringing gifts of medical miracles and technological breakthroughs. They promise to do no harm. They’re lying.
Most people believe the aliens have arrived just when we needed them most. We’re eager to embrace their generous offers of help, but while tracking a terrorist cell, Homeland Security agent Erica Evans stumbles upon something far more sinister. Erica discovers that the aliens have plans to infiltrate our governments and businesses, planting seeds for their plot to control mankind. Convincing anyone of the truth will be impossible because the Visitors have two powerful weapons. First, they’ve given the people faith with their reassuring presence and gifts. Second, they’ve rallied our youth. Thousands of teens, including Erica’s son, have been recruited as ‘Peace Ambassadors’ but they’re actually serving as unwitting spies. When Erica gets thrust into the resistance movement, she’ll have to balance her covert activities with her job and her role as a mother, fighting to protect her son Tyler – even as he joins forces with the enemy.
The series stars Elizabeth Mitchell (Erica Evans), Logan Huffman (Tyler Evans), Morena Baccarin (Anna, the alien leader), Scott Wolf (a journalist/reporter), Joel Gretsch (a priest), Lourdes Benedicto, Morris Chestnut and Laura Vandervoort. I can’t seem to find any info on the nature of the latter three roles. Hell, Vandervoort isn’t even in that attached photo. To further confuse things, Alan Tudyk, Dave Richmond-Peck and Christopher Shyer are also at least in the pilot, if not recurring characters or maybe regulars who just didn’t get contracts that included marketing face time. Damned if I know, television contracts are so screwy and arbitrary.
Scott Peters (The 4400) is the showrunner while Yves Simoneau (The 4400 pilot, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) directed the pilot episode. ABC’s president Stephen McPherson says he envisions the series going four seasons of 13-22 episode each. I hope the episode count will come down to creative concerns rather than financial, in either direction.
Follow on for two clips and comments.
This clip had me until the clapping. I wouldn’t be so quickly sold on the aliens with a ship hovering over my city being charitable and peaceful saviors. Real people might ease up a bit, but rejoice? I don’t think so… although, this is America, maybe that crowd thinks this is the second coming of Christ. Nonsense like that is always quick to instill the stupid into any group.
This clip doesn’t require any misgivings to enjoy. It provides a nice little hint at something darker behind Anna and the Visitors, and that’s where much of the interest will be in this series.
Hopefully Scott Peters is up to the task. I liked The 4400 well enough for the first two seasons despite its low budget and sometimes iffy acting, but it started falling apart in the third and I never bothered to finish it up. I suspect budget and casting schedules had a good amount to do with some of that though, so we’ll see. I’m tentatively optimistic.
