I've just finished watching the new "V" series, and in a nutshell, my feelings about it mirrored my feelings about the new Hitchhiker's Guide movie in comparison to the original BBC television miniseries.
In other words, it sucked.
The pilot was only an hour, as opposed to say, two hours, or four hours spaced over two days. So basically everything was ridiculously rushed to the point that I had no idea what was happening at any given time. There were also times that I thought I was watching NCIS instead of a sci-fi show (even though there's, like, huge alien spaceships hovering over the Earth). And don't even get me started about the annoying-as-hell teenager quotient.
The reactions of people to the alien ships was to say the least unbelievable, and then three weeks later we find that any Joe Shmoe can just hop on a shuttle and go tour the alien ships. What? I think there was a turn in attitude about the Visitors being good to them being evil during a commercial break...I don't really know...it went by so damn fast. Out of nowhere we get a clandestine group of people spouting about the Visitors really being lizard men. Wow, not only was I not surprised (because, you know, I already saw the miniseries this piece of crap was based on), but this reveal was treated as just a throwaway as opposed to the real shock this information presented in the original.
There were many more problems with this pilot, but I won't spoil anything more yet. I will say that I didn't go into this show with an open mind. I think the original miniseries was fantastic, and I felt this new show would be stupid, and that network television just cannot remake old successful shows (remember the new Knight Rider?). After seeing it, my feelings haven't changed.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I think I'll watch this, as I remember watching the original when I was a wee bairn.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Call me crazy but I enjoyed it. Then again, I never saw the original miniseries. *shrug*
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
This is part 1 of the miniseries. Watch it, and you'll see why it's so much better than what you saw.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I honestly never thought much of the original series, so I can't say I'm terribly interested in the new one.
To be fair though, I only have vague memories of creepy nutters running around in red/orange jumpsuits and brass bands playing the Star Wars theme.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
I'm also in the "I don't remember this show too well" bandwagon, although I found the pilot to be okay. Considering Star Trek & BSG are no longer on the air, I've found myself lowering my too high and completely arbitrary standards.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Amen to that. Although I didn't like the shortness of Alan Tudyk's character... I had hoped he'd be in the show longer...
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I was disappointed as well. Super rushed.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
This could be one of these things that was originally two hours and spread out more and paced better but the suits wanted it shortened to an hour...
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
They stopped calling them "Visitors" and started calling them "V's" WAY too quickly in my opinion. It almost seemed like they crammed four or five episodes into one here. Like starting us out focused on one of the personal stories and then branching out from there would have made the attachment more organic. I didn't really feel involved with any of these characters and was put off by the teen stuff.
Posted by Wes (Member # 212) on :
I enjoyed the pace. Maybe its because I'm watching the slow-as-molasses Stargate Universe, this is a good mix-up. Everything you needed to know about the plot was covered, it set things up nicely without dragging. I will definitely be watching next week.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Just had a look at it, about on par with what I remember of the original. The quicker pace is a mercy as I thought the old version took forever to get to the point. Aside from that it seamed to lack a sense of depth or mystery. Right from the off the visitors are sinister and we know they're up to no good and you can clearly see what's coming next. It's only really saved by the quality of the cast which (aside from being mostly known genre faces) do very well with some very wishy washy material.
Despite what I just said about the pace, I wonder how it would have gone had they played out the "alien sleeper cells" mystery as the primary plot thread and not even having the ships arrive until say the end of the first season at the latest with the evil lizard revelation saved for midway through the second season. That might have given it a more epic, sweeping story. Starting with all the card on the table from the off seams to leave the show with not many interesting places to go, unless they have something very sneaky in store, like the V's really ARE the good guys and there's something bigger going on.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
^Now THAT would make for a good show.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
So, anyone watch this week's episode?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: unless they have something very sneaky in store, like the V's really ARE the good guys and there's something bigger going on.
Yes- Giant evil spacefareing mice are on the way to destroy a world that makes an inferior mousetrap. Only our new reptilian allies can repel the real invasion...
I could see a Red Dwarf type of comedy from that. Cat could be a general!
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :