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Television Media

"V" Sequel Coming to NBC 574

Posted by CmdrTaco from the is-twenty-years-old-classic-yet dept.
Silas writes "According to CNN, twenty years after NBC's hit sci-fi miniseries "V" invaded the small screen, the network is bringing the aliens back with "V: The Second Generation," a three-hour TV movie from the original creator Kenneth Johnson."
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"V" Sequel Coming to NBC More

"V" Sequel Coming to NBC

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  • synopsis (Score:5, Informative)

    by frieked ( 187664 ) * on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:21AM (#6161717) Homepage Journal
    Here's a little synopsis for those not born when this came out:
    Kenneth Johnson's brilliant 1983 mini-series takes Nazi Germany to a global scale. A group of aliens calling themselves "The Visitors" have come to Earth asking for aid for what they say is a peaceful mission. It doesn't take long for some humans to discover that they're really a race of lizard creatures intent on taking our water and using humans for food. After gaining public trust, the Visitors begin to seize control by manufacturing a conspiracy involving scientists who, like the Jews a half-century before, find themselves ostracized by the public and hunted.

    • Re:synopsis (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Davak ( 526912 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:27AM (#6161777) Homepage
      Forget the synopsis... I want NBC to re-show the original series!

      My wife and I have been joking about it forever.

      I think this flash of the original would allow people to get "caught-up" on the story enough to enjoy the new story...

      Otherwise, the first third of the new series is just going to have to introduce the viewers to the concept.

      Bring back the original!

      Davak

    • Re:synopsis (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:36AM (#6161884)

      for those not born when this came out:


      How depressing is THAT ?

    • Re:synopsis recollections (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mnemotronic ( 586021 ) <mnemotronic AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @12:31PM (#6162531) Homepage Journal
      As I recall, the whole alien/nazi earthling/jewish thing was way too haavy-handed and preachy. The "V" insignia was a swastika with a few missing chunks, the uniforms were SS. They may have even had the equivalent of "hitler youth", but my brain is rebelling at trying to remember. No subtlety, too little imagination, really bad dialog, and a limp, hole-ridden plot (i.e. like "Matrix" but without the overly-long fight scenes). Please, if you're going to waste my time and beat me over the head with your same-old message, at least show me some t*t.

      • Timely and realistic (Score:3, Interesting)

        by poptones ( 653660 )
        "V" had its weaknesses but I still remember watching it every week even after it went to a series. We used to visit friends every thursday night and I still vividly recall one show starting out with a "fake news" report about motherships over washington that prompted my buddy, who was in the kitchen, to come running out exclaiming "WTF?" It was a wonderful "War of the Worlds" moment.

        Anyone notice how many "nazi" films are showing up on TV lately? Gee, you don't think that could have anything at all to do

  • V: Operation Earth Freedom (Score:5, Interesting)

    by adzoox ( 615327 ) * on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:22AM (#6161724) Journal
    I think the E!/Yahoo Entertainment [yahoo.com] bit is more informative.

    I was really interested when they had this news on Saturday. I remember that being a family event for my house.

    I did quite a bit of googling and apparently the script will be set 20 years afterwards the last movie, BUT a new ally will come to help us. Rumors on several sites that claimed to be close to Johnson said another alien race that defeated the "lizards" will come to save us. Sort of like an "operation iRaqi Freedom" effort on a planetary scale. The "new aliens" will be like a United States of the Universe that everyone is jealous of for their immense technology and "morality" - I could see how it would make a good commentary, just as the original was good commentary about WWII.

    • Re:V: Operation Earth Freedom (Score:5, Funny)

      by smartin ( 942 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:29AM (#6161785)
      Does this mean that the Lizards will sport imaginary weapons of mass distruction?
      • You made a typo and a mistake. First of all, we're not talking about weapons of mass destruction, but about weapons of mass distraction (even Paul Wolfowicz has admitted that). Second, the weapon was not in the series but it was the series itself! While we were all watching it, the aliens (who actually look like chimpanzees underneath) took over - Bush is their chief leader.

        Daniel

    • Re:V: Operation Earth Freedom (Score:5, Funny)

      by binaryDigit ( 557647 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:29AM (#6161790)
      another alien race that defeated the "lizards" will come to save us. Sort of like an "operation iRaqi Freedom" effort on a planetary scale.

      But after they "liberate" the Earth, will they have a hard time finding these so called "weapons of mass water depletion" and "bio-human McNugget processing" equipment that their leaders told the other planets in the federatoin? Will it turn out that the lizard race were simply a bunch of petty power hungry lamers who used their position to simply "live the good life" ignoring the well being of those they oppressed? Will they then speak harshly of the "bird race" that aided the lizard leaders and who themselves are suspected of harboring these water depletion devices?

      Can't wait to find out (or not).

    • Re:V: Operation Earth Freedom (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TrekkieGod ( 627867 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:35AM (#6161871) Homepage Journal
      another alien race that defeated the "lizards" will come to save us.

      Hmm...didn't humans come up with some chemical compound that would kill the lizards? I thought we had already won.

      That said, I'm really looking forward to it. I loved V...I just hope they don't spoil it.

      • Re:V: Operation Earth Freedom (Score:4, Informative)

        by UberOogie ( 464002 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:52AM (#6162058)
        That was how they ended the second (?) movie, but in the regular series, I vaguely remember they had established that the red chemical was, in fact, harmful to humans, so they had to stop using it, but they tried to keep that facts under wraps from the aliens.
      • The bacteria that killed the lizards had to have a cold cycle (winter) to reproduce. It died off in the southern regions and the lizards came back.

        I guess it never occured to the resistance to re-seed the southern regions...

    • Re:V: Operation Earth Freedom (Score:5, Funny)

      by FullyIonized ( 566537 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @12:07PM (#6162254)
      I remember that being a family event for my house.

      I remember it being a big family event at my house too. I was watching it with my mom and two brothers and we were on the final episode. I was in the back of the room, my mom was in a chair in front of me on my left, my younger brother was lying on the couch in front of me on my right, and my older brother was lifting weights in the middle of the room while watching TV (why? I don't know). Well one of the clamps holding the weights had broken because my brother over-tightened it so he took off that clamp and then took off the other so that it was balanced. You can see what's coming.

      During an extremely suspenseful moment, my older brother is standing there just holding the weights at chest level, eyes glued to the screen. The bar on the right slowly tips down to the right. My eyes are diverted from the TV screen by the weight which slides off the bar and "Bam!" right onto my younger brothers head.

      "Oh, no!", my older brother cried and tilted the bar the other way causing a weight on the left to slide off and hit my mom's leg causing her to scream in pain. My older brother and I rush to my younger brother who has this dazed look on his face and is holding his head. He doesn't realize that his hand is filling up with blood. He looks at my older brother and says, "You dork" very softly. He then realized that his hand was all wet and pandemonium ensued.

      As my family is rushing out the door to go to the hospital, I start arguing with my mom over whether I can stay and watch V. The argument didn't last long. I never did find out what happened.

      Sigh!

      I have been wanting to rent the whole series for the past 10 years to find out what I missed and if it's as enjoyable as I remember it, but it is too much of a commitment.

  • In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by K. ( 10774 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:23AM (#6161740) Homepage Journal
    ...David Icke seen foaming at the mouth and ripping biblically at his turquoise shellsuit. No film at 11 as the Bilderberg Group have confiscated it.

  • Already overdone (Score:3, Interesting)

    by crow ( 16139 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:24AM (#6161743) Homepage Journal
    The original was a lot of fun, but it killed itself with the superbaby junk. But it seems that there aren't enough original ideas out there, so everyone is looking for something to make a sequel of or more to a new medium (e.g., comic books moving to movies).
    • Yeah, the superbaby was supposed to be a way for the two races to make peace with each other but I found that whole plot line too much of a stretch.


      The strongest parts of the story (IMHO) involved the humans who helped the visitors in exchange for positions of power.

    • Re:Already overdone (Score:2, Informative)

      by 0123456 ( 636235 )
      "The original was a lot of fun, but it killed itself with the superbaby junk"

      However, as I understand it, the original creator was barely involved with the second series with the "superbaby" junk and pretty much disowned it, so there may be hope for a decent show.

  • What about the Red Dust? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fudgefactor7 ( 581449 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:24AM (#6161748)
    If you recall, we humans came up with this red dust stuff that killed the Visitors on contact...so they couldn't be on the surface of the planet--hope they answer that situation in the return.

    • Re:What about the Red Dust? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Dutchmaan ( 442553 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:34AM (#6161848) Homepage
      If you'll recall, later in the series the "red dust" didn't work as well in tropical and temperate zones leaving it only "effective" in the colder polar regions...

      So I doubt the red dust issue will even be a factor.

      I guess I'm more of a geed than I thought...

    • About the Red Dust (Score:3, Interesting)

      by razberry636 ( 601469 )
      If you recall, we humans came up with this red dust stuff that killed the Visitors on contact...so they couldn't be on the surface of the planet--hope they answer that situation in the return.
      NBC had a "V" series that ran for a short while afterward. The "red dust" only worked in temporate climates. The Visitors had to move to tropical places, like the Bahamas, in order to survive.

      Sad, huh. To be doomed to live a life in the tropics...

    • If you recall, we humans came up with this red dust stuff that killed the Visitors on contact...so they couldn't be on the surface of the planet--hope they answer that situation in the return.

      The Visitors probably will have learned how to synthesize the antidote the humans gave to the traitors.

  • Effects... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by FortKnox ( 169099 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:24AM (#6161751) Homepage Journal
    Lets just hope the effects are a little more modern than the 80s series (although it was a great miniseries back in the day!).

    Honestly, though, I think they'd do better to bring in John Doe or Firefly (hell, or even bab5) instead of redo'ing this old flick.

    • Re:Effects... Firefly (Score:4, Interesting)

      by cowsgomoo666 ( 663881 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:28AM (#6161781)
      They're thinking about making Firefly into a movie. It's a shame they axed Firefly and John Doe, they were the best shoes on TV (next to Smallville). see http://www.darkhorizons.com/news-n.htm :
      Firefly: The Movie: Prospero reports that it looks like the failed Joss Whedon sci-fi/western series "Firefly" may make a comeback on the big screen. Reports coming in indicate that during a recent Net chat, actor Adam Baldwin said "We will see a FF movie! Within 18 months!?". Its a little ambitious of course (even if it got underway now 18 months is still a little soon), but more certain news is fans of the show can pick up the whole series (incl. unaired eps) in an elaborate upcoming DVD box-set later this year. Thanks to 'VP'.
      • I can't believe you mention Firefly and John Doe in the same sentence. Firefly was good. John Doe was ridiculous. Half the "science" gibberish he was spouting wasn't even true, and his analogies made no sense at all. Not to mention the fact that he is the worst overactor since Shatner.

  • Sounds familiar... (Score:4, Funny)

    by pir8garth ( 674943 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:25AM (#6161761)
    "...came to Earth with the promise to solve the world's problems through their high technology, but after gaining control of the planet through subterfuge and media manipulation, began to methodically kill their hosts."

    Sounds suspiciously like V could have been predicting Microsoft's rise to power...I think I may go live in a cave

  • Let's see here... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Vengeance ( 46019 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:26AM (#6161763)
    Battlestar Galactica? Check
    V? Check

    Next up: Man from Atlantis

    • Re:Let's see here... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by HarveyBirdman ( 627248 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:31AM (#6161798) Journal
      All three of which are better than more Crossing Over With John (bleeping) Edwards, or Scare (bleeping) Tactics.
    • > Nextup: Man from Atlantis

      Right on! It's not like Patrick Duffy's got anything better to do.

      What about Jason of Star Academy?

      Superheroes are big - why not revive the Flash? Or Mantis? Or, better yet, Manimal!

      Maybe a revival of an even older one - Space: 1999. Hmmm, there's a problem with the title of that one, though. Maybe Space: 2099? Probably not far enough off for a Moon base, though, considering our progress of late.
      • "Manimal" and "Jason of Star Academy". But why stop there!

        Bring back "Quark"! What's been happening to the garbage scow Quark and it's captain Adam Quark all these years? What about Betty I and Betty II, Andy the Android and The Head? The people want to know!

        • Oh yeah, but which Betty was I and which was II? "You're the clone!" "No, YOU'RE the clone!" :) What an awesome show. Richard Benjamin never had it so good.

          Then there's the 90's crap - Viper, Street Hawk, etc. I sure liked that motorcycle.

          Honestly, I'll be happy if the re-up Black Sash. Hot young babes doing martial arts - what more could you ask for?

  • Plot? (Score:2, Funny)

    by phigga ( 526030 )
    According to the article, the first time around the plot was an allegory referring to the Nazi invasion.

    I just wonder if, in this sequel, the humans will be looking for some Weapons of Mass Destruction.....
    • I just wonder if, in this sequel, the humans will be looking for some Weapons of Mass Destruction.....

      IIRC, in the sequel "V-The Final Battle" humans defeated the Visitors with biological weapons.

  • I recall having seen it and being somewhat scared by the alien revealing himself in the bathroom while removing his contacts.

    But IMO the show really jumped the shark when the writer/producers started exploring the "magical child" plotline. Heh--seems as if many a show has already passed its peak with the introduction of an infant.

  • Oh man (Score:2)

    by KDan ( 90353 )
    I remember watching this when I was a kid, I loved it. I hope the new series will be as good, or even better - that would be one series I would watch :-)

    Daniel
  • A minimum level of glaring and gruff commands will be needed.

  • Bring back Molly Ringwald as the V-mom (Score:5, Funny)

    by corebreech ( 469871 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:33AM (#6161834) Journal
    And this time, let's do more than just hearing the lizard-people belch after a meal of human. I want to see somebody get eaten. I want to know what kind of wine goes best with human. Do the lizard-people have anything like the Atkins Diet? How many carbs are in a human anyways?

  • Is this the worst TV skiffy program ever? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by cabalamat2 ( 227849 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:33AM (#6161840) Homepage Journal

    The plot: Aliens come to the earth to steal our water

    This is incredibly silly: if they want water, they could simply get it from Europa, or no doubt many places in their own solar system: hydrogen and oxygen aren't exactly rare elements, and if oxygen was rare there, life wouldn't have evolved there anyway.

  • History Repeats itself (Score:4, Funny)

    by SL33Z3 ( 104748 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:34AM (#6161844)
    The series would be better if Robert England would have an identity crisis and confuse his alien role with his Fredie Kruger role. At least then you could have an interesting plot.

  • Who's with me? (Score:2, Informative)

    by teamhasnoi ( 554944 )
    Who else thought Elizabeth (Lizard Breath, ha ha) was hot? Hot in that greasy 80's sort of way...

    IIRC, the book made for excellent 14 year old boy reading...

  • I can't decide wether to see this or the new 'Jason Vs. Freddy' movie.

    The quality of entertainment coming out of Hollywood never ceases to amaze me.

    Dolemite
    ___________________
  • ...they would ignore the second miniseries and weekly series, and pick up where the first miniseries left off. A basic description I read makes it sound that way. The first series ended with the humans beaming a cry for help into deep space, and a description of the new series talks of Earth gaining an ally. Radio messages are rather slow way to communicate, but these other aliens could have had a listening post nearby...

    Actually, this has the potential to be the kickass knock down drag out fight to save

  • I was about 10 years old when the first series aired, and by today's standards it's pretty tame, but the 'alien eats a live mouse' scene is still pretty vivid in my mind. (It was also the focus of many a playground discussion. I don't remember if "radical" was the hip lingo at the time, though.) I'm hoping the new version keeps the mouse-eating around.

  • TV - Series that never happened (Score:3, Informative)

    by nhavar ( 115351 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:35AM (#6161867) Homepage
    From the way it's presented it sounds as if they are basing the new story line off of where the MINI-Series left off and excluding the TV-Series timeline. This is both good and bad. It's good because we can ditch the whole Star Child prophesy hoohah. It's bad for the people who enjoyed the TV-Series and liked the character build up and events that took place in it.

    Of course a whole new batch of hotties are going to have to be brought in since the old hotties are pushing 50. And of course the good thing is it also means costume redesigns :).

  • Did "V" rip-off "Childhood's End"? (Score:5, Informative)

    by peter303 ( 12292 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:35AM (#6161873)
    "V" (and "Independence Day") start out the same as Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End", a favorite of mine. A single huge alien ship suddenly appears above each of Earth's major cities. The aliens stay hidden for a while because they are repulsive reptiles. Then the stories diverge. Childhood's aliens are merely subcontractors for another more powerful race with apocalytic intentions. "V" degenerates into a cops-and-robbers action series.
    • Childhood's aliens are merely subcontractors for another more powerful race with apocalytic intentions

      I suppose you could call it apocalyptic... but I wouldn't really.

      And while it's been a long time since I read CE, I don't think they were reptilian.

      Saying more gives away far too much to anyone who hasn't read it... and it's a very worthwhile read.

    • Childhood's aliens are merely subcontractors for another more powerful race with apocalytic intentions

      Actually I think the wonderful and majestic Childhood's End was one of the early modern-form Singularity eschataological-themed science fiction books.

      Current technological eschatology extensively uses the fictional device of runaway information technology leading to computerised transcendence. In Childhood's End, the theme was that all advanced dominant planetary species throughout the galaxy (except t

  • British miners strike (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pork_spies ( 659663 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:36AM (#6161880)
    In the UK "V" was shown at the same time as a national miners strike. Britain's mining communities quickly warmed to the theme - for them the UK was in the grip of an evil alien she-monster and they went arount scrawling red 'V's everywhere
  • Or perhaps the Visitors will start chowing down on lemurs or perhaps a pygmy marmoset. In any case, while the original was entertaining enough when I was much younger, my tolerance for forced allegory has waned in recent years. But as long as there isn't any more "star children", perhaps there's hope for it.

  • V2? (Score:2, Funny)

    by FrankieBoy ( 452356 )
    Will this version fix all the bugs from the V1 version like the bad acting, lousy effects and shallow characters?
  • As a kid, the scene where the baby with the forked tongue scared the crap out of me.

    I recently saw that episode again with my wife and could not stop laughing at how funny the little doll looked when that little plastic tongue popped out and wiggled back and forth.

    I can't wait to check this out.

  • The only good thing about V was that the year it was first shown, ITV had decided not to bother showing the Olympics, and showed this instead in direct opposition.
    At the time there were three TV channels, and two of which were showing the olympics, it was the only safe refuge for anyone who really didn't give a shit about gold medals!

  • 20 years ago? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Washizu ( 220337 ) <bengarvey@comca[ ]net ['st.' in gap]> on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:46AM (#6161976) Homepage
    "V" came out 20 years ago? Man, I was only four years old, but I remember someone scratching the fake skin off a lizard alien.

  • For instance, we now all know that when we see aliens, we are just seeing the Matrix assimilate some rogue program . . . takes all the fun out of it.

  • Wow V.. now I feel old (Score:5, Insightful)

    by malice95 ( 40013 ) <Michael.Cunningham.USANO@SPAMgmail.com> on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:52AM (#6162063)
    Dam has it been 20 yrs? I remember that series like it just aired last year.. I was 12 when it hit the little screen. I remeber the Eating live mice bit and all the lasers... This rag tag humans were just so ingenious compared to the dim witted aliens. Oh.. and the glasses so you could figure out who was a visitor and who wasnt. I remeber on of the big fast food chains gave those out.. Red colored glasses I think.

    Malice
    • Oh.. and the glasses so you could figure out who was a visitor and who wasnt.

      I think that was from the movie 'They Live', not 'V'. 'They Live' (a John Carpenter film) was a much better alien invasion movie IMHO.
  • Here mousey-mousey, lovely tasty mousey... :)

  • Never trust your memory (Score:3, Insightful)

    by wbattestilli ( 218782 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:56AM (#6162101)
    I, being born in 1975, was a kid when this came out. I have found that lots of things that came out when I was a kid were actually really bad. I loved V. If I see it again or see V: Part II, it will probably ruin it for me.

    I plan to just enjoy the memory.

  • Oh, my lunch! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by codefool ( 189025 ) <ghester@NosPaM.codefool.org> on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @12:00PM (#6162158) Homepage Journal
    Lordy, just when I didn't think television couldn't get any worse...

    Okay, V was an 'okay' show - just okay. I have a fundamental problem with their story premise that I just can't muster enough suspension of disbelief [everything2.com] to swallow.

    They come to Earth for two reasons:

    1. Water
    2. Food
    So they're saying this alien race can build these huge inter-stellar vehicles but we can't figure out how to generate water and farm food animals? That somehow its easier to mind f*** an entire planet and dress up like humans than just flat out invade? What kind of lazy writing is that?

    Kinda reminds me of the pong gag on the Simpson's halloween special a few years back. "All species who have mastered inter-galactic travel raise their tentacles."

  • As the subject says, I hope they don't make it a lame 20-something show as seems to be the trend when doing follow-ons.

    If they handle it like the Alien Nation movies, then I'll be happy, since those stayed true to what had been setup in the series.

    -David

  • Worst Thomas Pynchon Adaptation Ever! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tax Boy ( 75507 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @12:27PM (#6162486)
    I mean really. WTF with all the aliens?

  • the humans are terrorists! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Frymaster ( 171343 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @12:28PM (#6162500) Homepage Journal
    what the hell are they thinking? v glorifies terrorism! witness:
    1. the humans don't wear uniforms - they are "unclassified combatants"
    2. they wear the visitors' uniforms in combat situations
    3. they win in the first series by using biological weapons of mass destruction
    given the current political atmosphere in the united states i find it amazing that anyone could dare glorify the efforts of extremist human terrorists.

    now, everyone together: "no blood for water!"

  • So... (Score:5, Funny)

    by sirgoran ( 221190 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @12:41PM (#6162654) Homepage Journal
    Does this mean I can relive all of my Jane Badler fantasies I had as a kid?

    Watching her slowly eat that mouse, just wishing that some part of me were...

    Sorry, I'll be right back.

    -Goran

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