The Sci-Fi Cast

The first television serial that grabbed my attention was V. If you’re unfamiliar, I’ll explain the plot’s basics. Aliens arrive on Earth in enormous ships and convince humankind of their altruistic intentions. Of course, they’re really reptilian bad guys who want to replenish their planet’s exhausted natural resources by robbing Earth of her own.

Also, they eat gerbils.

V was replete with 80′s cheese and typical sci-fi conventions and plot twists (who can forget the V baby?). When we first heard of the pending remake, we were cautious. Could it possibly be good?

I know you can’t judge a project by a 90 second trailer (The Phantom Menace is proof of that), but these clips have gotten us excited. Above we see the ships arrive and human kind’s terrified response. Here’s what V has going for it:

1. The Aliens are sexy. Morena Baccarin plays Anna, the alien leader. I’ll be quite happy to stare at her for 40 minutes a week. Not to mention Lisa on the New York mother ship, played by Laura Vandervoort.
2. It’s not on Fox or SciFi. Fox has a hair trigger when it comes to under-performing TV shows (not to mention a very broad definition of “under-performing”), and SciFi’s scheduling is managed by a monkey. I feel that ABC will give it a shot it wouldn’t enjoy elsewhere.
3. The special effects look good. That brief scene of the shuttle taking off from a landing pad looks great. BSG set a standard for FX on TV. It seems ABC is answering the call.
4. Religion is front-and-center. BSG demonstrated that heavy-handed religious themes in a prime-time television show, when done right, are compelling. The clip above suggests that we’ll find a similar tactic in V.

We’re still not 100% convinced that this is going to be good, but we’re certainly encouraged. Let the invasion begin! Watch another clip after the break.

For more of our thoughts on the popularity of sci-fi “reboots,” check out Episode #31.