The Story of the Battle for V: The Original Miniseries, The Final Battle & The Doomed TV Series
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
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V (or V: The Original Miniseries) is a two-part American science-fiction television miniseries, written and directed by Kenneth Johnson that first aired in 1983.
It was followed in 1984 by V: The Final Battle and a short-lived weekly TV series, neither of which Kenneth Johnson was involved with.
What happened as the battle for V was fought over these decades with the reboot and the Second Generation novel hitting at the same time and telling 2 different stories?
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Kenneth Johnson is the nicest guy. A number of years ago I wrote out by email to him just to tell him thanks for V, it meant a lot to me as a kid and made me wary of authoritarianism creeping up. We ended up corresponding a bit and took my address. To my surprise, he mailed me out a signed picture of him on set at his own expense and effort. He didn't have to do this, I'm from the UK, so it's doubly amazing. I cherish it to this day.
Wow, nice 👍
Damn! Tré cool..!
He is wonderful. When I was in college, he did a remote interview for me and sent me microcassette tapes, answering my questions about film and TV production. (I know this wasn't the type of interview my Communications Professor expected me to do, but I was so excited Mr. Johnson did that for me, and to take the time from his schedule). I still have the little cassette tapes.
You have to wonder why he seemed to get "black" listed after 'V'???
Cool
This was definitely “must see TV” at the time. I was so freaked out when the lizard skin was revealed. One of the coolest things I ever saw on TV as a kid !
We reenacted exegesis at recess
Yea same here. Remember when that leader (the blonde lady) was running around that UFO ship. The 80s had that grit that series are missing today.
Hopefully they’ll retain that gritty dark atmosphere in this upcoming movie. I think it’ll be a 3 parter. I’m so happy about this!
I was in grade school when the original V miniseries came out in the 80's. I remember one of my teachers mentioned that we were going to have a visitor come into our class to talk to us about something. All the kids who has seen the show started freaking out. She couldn't figure out why we were going nuts about the "visitor" coming by. 😂
:D :D :D
LOL 😋
Hilarious!!
"...& then they spraypainted a "\/" on him,
& tried to rip off his face!"
@@favoritemustard3542 LMAO 😂👍😂👍!!!!
The novel of the original miniseries just titled "V" was written by A. (Ann) C. Crispin (may she rest in peace) and was an excellent book. She was a great writer and a nice person.
Man, this show was huge when it was on. Loved it.
Totes. In my elementary school it was the 'Slender Man' of it's day. Fantastic miniseries, can't say so much for the TV show.
I wasn't around when it first aired but my dad put it on DVD for me. It was awesome.
It was shown an episode a night for 5 nights, here in the UK. Loved it.
@@MastemaJack Me I have seen them as a Unversity student in cinema. On the big screen even better as on TV
Still is
God I loved this mini-series so much. I remember everyone in my class wanted to play V in the yard during recess. Nobody wanted to be a Visitor but everyone wanted to be Mike Donovan. LOL
I wanted to be Diana so I can rid earth of you humans lol 😂
@@ravenna9969 Diana, is best girl! ♥️
I wanted to be Ham!
You are in the play now..,
Turned out 6 year old me wasn't ready for this series, between eating the guinea pig and faces getting ripped off, I think I had nightmares for a good week or two. Shame none of the versions were able to really complete their story.
Yeah, I absolutely love the concept, especially the sequel novel where the second group of aliens shows up. Earth becoming a the pawn of powerful colonialist aliens is a fantastic idea for a space opera. Like a sci-fi French & Indian War with the Earth as India.
@@jasonblalock4429 there were novels and comics for this. I wish I could track these down
Five year old me very much remembers the baby alien lizard thing being born during that one episode of V. That scene freaked me the hell out so bad, I didn't sleep that night... all I could think about was that damn alien baby's ugly baby face. That was nightmare fuel for five year old me. LMAO. As an adult, I now think the scene is hilarious, but as a five year old kid that crap was trauma inducing. LMAO. This is the scene I'm referring to: WARNING: do not eat while watching this. LMAO. Also, some mild spoilers... but you won't be thinking about that when the damn ugly alien lizard baby literally pops out and is born: ua-cam.com/video/cCWTgjPKaHE/v-deo.html
Yeah man … I was like 8 and when they started eating the mice and stuff it freaked me out too !!
I wasn't even born when this show first aired, but in my early teens I discovered the miniseries as a vhs set at my local Movie Renta....that was when I fell in love with the V. And to this day Abraham (Leonardo Cimino (God rest his soul)) was talking about his youth in Nazi camps, and give the lecture of freedom...then paints the red V...still sends shivers down my spine and makes me all weepy.
"Dynasty with lizard makeup and laser guns" sounds like a great way to reboot Dynasty, or have the crossover we never knew we wanted.
You sir speak for us all ! 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾😁
@@DrexelRivers Gotta work it into the Current CW Dynasty show
I remember when my now wife was watching Port Charles (a spin off of General Hospital,) and a Vampire storyline, with vampire slayer, showed up. Soap operas are nuts.
Yeah, line kind of makes me want to dig up the show and see how it holds up in terms of ironic/camp appeal.
@@jfridy John de Lancie left Days of Our Lives (he was on at the same time as the actress that played Harmony on V) via a time machine. I joke that Q is that same character.
I was absolutely fanatical about this show as a kid, and it's still damn good! The original 2 mini series were an event like nothing else we'd seen on TV. The weekly series is truly terrible if you watch it now, but, yes I still loved it at the time. Ah! 80s gold!
I wish they could have continued the series. It could have gotten better. I really love Michael Ironside"s character and his friend.
I remember that. I must have been 7yrs old and my older brothers and friends were all watching this like it was a historical event happening
Sounds like they had the same problem as when the original Battlestar Galactica went to series - rushed scripts and slashed budgets.
I’m actually planning on re-watching it with my chic (V: the miniseries ) over next weekend. Oh the memories.
Every time I think you guys have covered all the shows from the 80s, TG steps-up and delivers something I totally forgot about. Awesome! The Toy Galaxy Research & Development Dept. needs a raise. 👍
I'm anxiously waiting for that trippy Spartacus show with the nutty Space Pirates and the City of Gold with the awesome mechanical condor show that aired on Nickelodeon.
You ain’t a real ScIence Fiction or 80’s fan if you forgot about “V”, SON!
The kids' next day "watercooler" talk was no joke. I was 9 when the original mini-series aired and you could not walk a foot in the playground without hearing kids talking about That Scene. It was awesome.
LOL, FACTS!! It just had all of our attention. He's also right about the Diana guinea pig scene too. It was as terrifying as it was baffling. Even though we found out shortly afterwards that they were reptilian, which gave some context to the rodent eating. But initially it was a just a few horrified, freaky-ass moments of WTF is going on here!!
Michael Ironside Kicked Ass in V!! Reptile baby was terrifying!!
Michael Ironside kicks ass at everything.
@@richardgadberry8398 even when he got shoehorned in Seaquest DSV
"Now that's a waste of good luggage"
A little bit of trivia. Apparently the Reptile Baby prop kept making the rounds at NBC as a source of practical jokes. It was used to prank the cast of ER.
@@richardgadberry8398 goodnight, hotshot.
12 year old me LOVED V.
Here in the UK we didn’t get the Original Miniseries until The Final Battle was made.
We got them both, an episode each evening from Monday to Friday, one week in 1984.
I recorded it on VHS and replayed it for YEARS !
Thank you for this upload!!!
I’ve been a fan of V since it originally aired.
I even had Michael “Ham” Ironsides sign my VHS box set in high school. I was going out with his niece.
The random good-guy role from a young Robert Englund right around as Freddy was about to scare this shit out of us.
I met him at a convention in Exeter, Devonshire, a few years back. Heck of a nice guy -- enthusiastic to talk to fans and just super-friendly.
Funny, years ago on the Tonight Show, he said he still gets more fan mail and questions about his "Willie the Benign Alien" than he did about Freddy!
When this aired originally I was a very young boy WELL before the age of "noticing" girls, but I remember that Diana made me feel something that I didn't really know what it was or how to express it.
Needless to say all these years later and I still have a "type" that is inspired by Jane Badler. Brunette, piercing eyes, strong will, and 100% lizard-person inside.
High five!
Jane Badler was smoking hot in this show. She's aged quite well too.
Same.
SAME!!! I was 9...I was still eating dirt...but whenever Diana was on the screen with that mane of curly black hair, those eyes!!! Yeah...she awoke something in me alright!
I was about 8 when this came out. I always had a thing for blondes when I was a kid, and I had a crush on Faye Grant who played Julie. Her, and Kira from The Dark Crystal.
V is so much more relevant now than it ever was at this point.
V was awesome. Too bad the reboot suffered from “Nothing ever happens” sci-fi craze of the 2000’s.
How is it more relevant now?
Or did it just feel good to say that?
@@michaelmcdonald8452 People creating conspiracy theories targeting vaccine doctors and climate scientists.
People wanting to live under fascism because they may or may not have a cure to a disease is so unrealistic to me.
@@alucard624 That has been debunked. You are spreading dangerous misinformation that denies science, just like Trump.
3rd grade. V was playground LEGEND for those that were allowed to watch it!
I was 9 when this came out and it was THE THING to watch at my Primary school. Some kids weren’t allowed and parents got worried but my mother felt sci-fi was educational so my 8-year-old brother and I watched eagerly. We were scared but loved it. To this day it remains a fond memory.
V has always been one of my favorite things that ever aired on TV
I remember the series playing every year on TVA every Halloween for several years. During that time Radio Canada also played the original Star War movies during the holidays. Good times.
dude very nice covering V. its hard to find the whole thing in one spot.
A friend of mine once said three words to me: jack, sparrow and method. I have no idea what it means, but it might be relevant to your problem.
I remember re-watching 'V' on VHS back in the 90s with a buddy of mine when we were in our early 20's. We got to the bit with Daniel getting a drink slung in his face and my friend kept replaying Daniels spluttering gasp on repeat. Don't know why but it cracked us both up! Laughed ourselves sick!! Great times and a great show!
Who is Daniel?
As I was born in '74, I believe I was one of those "9 year olds at the bus stop" talking about this as Dan mentioned...
I was born in '73 and I remember the show and the talk at school about it amongst my age group. It was a big deal back then.
74 as well, this show was a phenomenon back then.
1975 here and I was scared but fascinated at the same time
Same for me. My buddies n I loved this show!!
74 as well. Loved this show as a kid. It was an event. Wasn’t crazy about the supernatural ending but still loved it. I remember the epic crushing disappointment with the TV series that followed.
I love V! My favorite scene is where Abraham Bernstein showed the teenagers what true resistance is. "For victory! You understand? Go show your friends!"
We watched it when I was a kid! We loved it! We didn’t miss a single movie or episode. It was truly a TV event.
I wish V had a proper ending. Both the original and the reboot.
The reboot had a great ending - that schmuck Tyler got eaten!
@ yes… because he was a horny Simp. Not realizing what’s gonna happen.
but WEATHER BALLOONS THO...
“It’s not a movie, it’s a documentary” Roddy Piper
He was quite right. Chewin bubble gum and kicking ass.
They live anybody it's another relevant film in today's society
You guys talking about "They Live" are mistaken. Roddy famously referenced while being interviewed a Canadian film "The Bronswik Affair" which had people being mind controlled by their TVs and it was evident that he thought it was real.
@@BatCaveOz Yes, but the way Piper’s quote has been advertised is far more delicious not to mention profitable. You’re right though. Just another subject that deserves a great video by Dan the man. Did they make a “They Live” toy line?
The Dulce Papers , Montauk Project
1983 Media: fascism can't happen here.
2021 Media: the government isn't fascist enough.
Anyways, V is awesome.
2024, Trump: "Conversion? What, why? Bro!"
One of my favorite YT channels talking about one of my favorite shows growing up! Awesome day lol.
A few years after the series, an old friend adopted a strikingly beautiful Siamese cat. "Her name is Diana", she said. Aahhh, after the Lady Diana? "NO!! DIANA from V!! I never laughed so hard in my life---and yes there was some resemblance! The cat, just like Diana, was stunning.
I was literally trying to explain this series to someone earlier today 😃
Why
It’s a great series and one that I wish could get the respect it deserves.
@@thepoeticbutcher3370 did you just quote yourself?
LOVED this as a youngster and damn, that reveal blew my mind back then. So glad you did this video!
I was also freaked out by V as a kid, but I could rarely catch the show. I was actually terrified by the partial reveal of the lizard face. Great Stuff!
I was in my early teens when V first appeared on screen. It was (and still is) the most profoundly affecting tv series of my life. So much so that when, for reasons I won't go into here, I needed a new last name, I chose Donovan and have been known as such since 1987.
Thanks for putting out another great video on my Mom's Birthday, Dan! My Mom and I watched the entire miniseries faithfully every Sunday when it first debuted. That year for Halloween, she made me a complete Visitor costume! Thanks for bringing back some great memories!
I remember V and The Final Battle as (from my young perspective) as some of the best TV I'd ever watched... and then the TV series came along and it was the most depressing experience of a TV show I'd ever seen. Characters who'd been developed from the two miniseries were summarily killed off or vanished never to be seen again, while other characters came back as their own twin brothers... it was ridiculous and I hated it. Even to this day I find it hard to believe how casually the studio wrecked what had been their hottest property.
R.I.P Dominique Dunne. Hers was a tragic tale, murdered by an evil abusive boyfriend.
Who also didnt get as much of a punishment as he should have during his trial
She could have been saved, but her co-Star was a coward who ran away when he showed up.
@@jasonelliott7977 Or it could've ended as a double murder. Don't play armchair hero.
@@adrianjas284 the actor has even admitted to cowardice.
This show scared the hell out of me and gave me nightmares when I was a kid... I freaking love it as a grownup.
I was in Jr. High when this hit the airwaves, and a bunch of us were raving over lunch about Diana's Guinea Pig swallowing and the fight between Donovan and the Visitor soldier that revealed their reptilian faces. For a lot of us, it was absolutely event-television. It's a shame "The Final Battle" and the subsequent series dropped the ball so hard, but I guess that's what happens when you essentially chase off the creator and decide to cheap out.
Lessons not learned...
@@shininginshadows Warner Bros nor Universal learned anything since then despite the near billions they lost butting in their filmmakers visions
As a NYer I'm glad to hear someone else say Jr High School instead of middle school. I was also in JHS when the mini series first came out, and one of the question was, what's a mini series? Will it be back next year? Is it a mini movie? It's not a tv series?
I was actually a freshman in high school in Los Angeles CA area at the time when V came out in 1983. I probably seen it at least 80 times, I will actually continue to watch it again.
It's sci fi. It's horror. It's Michael Ironside as a good guy?
Whaaaa?
Hahahahaha
@@thepoeticbutcher3370 Hells yeah. Great heavy. Loved him in Total Recall too.
I was a young V obsessed kid frm the 80's starting at about 6 years old at the very beginning. God bless my mum for letting me watch it with her. While other kids were busy playnig Han Solo or Luke Skywalker, I was playing Mike Donovan. I'm still obsessed with the original shows now, not going to lie.
Still one of my favourite shows ever. I rewatch it every couple of years but the final 6 episodes get worse with each viewing. I'm so desperate for V merchandise that I bought a (gulp) funko pop of a visitor!
I met robert Englund at a con and asked him the plot for the cancelled episode 20 and he lit up. It was an amazing moment.
Hell yes!!
What was the plot going to be?
@@clarkkent4734 even though it doesn't match the online script for episode 20, he said him and Elizabeth became closer and they started to see things from the visitors perspective and they joined them. Pretty big character shift!
@@DeckyStrikesBack What!? They joined the visitors? What the hell! Unless the visitors were changing their outlook and plans, I don't see how that would happen. Now I need to try and get a chance to talk with Robert Englund. Thanks for replying!
I watched it in the mid-80, so around 6-7, in France, and has good memories of it
It's ok bros, everyone's a scalie for Diana.
@@BigDaddyJinx Me singing Britney Spears Three….
V came out shortly after I started puberty. Watching Diana in those tight spandex were the closest thing there was to "adult films" where I lived. She occupied the spank banks for a lot of farm boys back then.
@@joshshields5921 Ha!
I had a friend in town who had Scinemax... downstairs.
U an Okie?
Dirty Diana. She was a sultry vixen that drove us gen x boys crazy
This was such an event when I was growing up in the 80's. You had to tune in the next day to see what would happen. Man when they revealed that the visitors were lizards it was so shocking and amazing. Loved those two mini series, the actual show not too much. This was NBC at it's best they had Knight Rider, The A-Team, Family Ties. Man, Childhood memories...
Subscribed because of this video. When I was a kid, local TV station would play the two miniseries over 5 consecutive nights every year.
The first miniseries was intense political allegory that holds up even today. The second mini was not as good, hampered as it was by the need for a happy ending, but it was still plenty entertaining. The TV series...that was a train wreck. For me, the exact moment V jumped the shark was in the TV series when they re-used the spaceship-horse chase scene from the miniseries to save money. I was only about 12, but even then I knew the series was in trouble.
I was about the same age, and yeah, that was a bad sign, especially since they used that sequence in all the advertising and in the title sequence; it was an amazingly recognizable scene.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks the TV series is where we finally started to get to see the Visitor culture. I'd have handled more seasons.
You know it’s based on It Couldn’t Happen Here, right?
This is awesome to see! Toy Galaxy ,thank you so much! Loved 'V' the miniseries, when it was on air and in reruns. The messaging of the television movie and follow up miniseries brought the real intensity of an authoritarian take over in action for us all to ponder. Thanks again Dan and Producer Greg
(:
I was literally thinking about this show like yesterday and they're taking about it today. That's hilarious!
Same!
I was scared to death as a small child by the image of that lady eating the guinea pig. I started screaming and my mom made my grandad turn the TV off. I've always wondered what I was watching that scared me so much. Thanks, UA-cam algorithm, for sending me down a wormhole of Toy Galaxy's channel. Who knew that clicking on a random video about Voltron would lead me to uncover the genesis of my suppressed childhood trauma?
I was on holiday in Paignton, Devon with my parents and brother when this aired over here, the whole hotel just stopped when I came on and I mean literally everybody was watching it.
The anti nazi message was loud and clear even to a kid of 10 years, amazing stuff.....
"V for victory...Go tell your friends!"
Ahh... the English Riviera!
Tor Bay, or not Tor Bay,
_there is no question!_
Outstanding! I hope it only added to your enjoyment of Torbay!
Sincerely,
A Torquinian
As someone who just recently watched the original mini-series, it was surprising how very relevant it still is.
Much more so now than when it came out.
I wish they would put all of the series on streaming platforms in HD.
yeah they need to put the entire thing in one spot, or in one box set, or something.
They should stream it on Peacock. Both the classic and the 2009 reboot.
@@PNWAffliction it is on DVD and it's pretty cheap but it's not all in one box set only the series is
@@borinightmare that's too much like giving the people what they want
Agreed. I remember watching the mini-series with my parents like it was an event but have few memories of it. Would love to watch again as an adult.
Watched “V” growing up in the 80s & have all of the episodes & movies on DVD!
Such a great series ... well for the time ... The theme still echoes in my head.
Great theme
I am rewatching the 2000s show now and this is like the only video on youtube I could find about it lol
The original series was awesome as a kid,I remember being blown away watching it, and shocked every time they ate a spider or white mouse.
Yeah those practical effects are still awesome.
I originally watched "V" when it aired. I was 8 when the Original Miniseries aired. Back then it was scary to me because they were aliens with scary faces that tore off and wanted to eat humans. I recently gave the entire show a rewatch and the show takes on a whole new light. It's definitely a thinly veiled warning letter. Just subscribed btw. Keep up the good work!
I was about 4 or 5 years old, and it didn’t scare me. I totally loved it! I was already watching Star Trek, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Buck Rogers, etc. The early ‘80s was a golden age for sci-fi.
V taught me alot about uprising to authority. The marching band playing the imperial march was quite foretelling
It’s the Star Wars main theme, not the Imperial March
This show was pretty cool. The scene where they unhinge their jaws and swallow the guinea pig was creepy as heck.
I never dared to watch this as a kid. The TV promos scared the shit out of me. Looking at this now I can see I was really missing out on a fantastic show.
When re-watching the weekly series, the supporting cast obviously jump ship at the first opportunity. Most notably Micheal Ironside, he's gone a few episodes after they stick Ham Tyler in a Santa costume.🤣
Damn, this story is so relevant today!
"...when it's 38 years old, just like the original V is now." And just like *I* am?! Dammit, Dan...
What amazing timing, I just upgraded my DVDs of the original miniseries with the Blurays a week ago. Like I knew this was coming...
I loved this show when it came out, was ten years old and my first hard crush was Diana, she was stunning, it was also a good family time when everyone got together in the living room around the old 20inch that was stuffed inside a huge wooden cabinet, ah the good old days when things were so much simpler, id give almost anything to go back to the 80s
I was five years old when V came out and it was the scariest thing I have ever saw. I was traumatized when they tore their faces off.
Jesus christ Qanon is going to get sued for copyright infringement
I watched this again during the great lockdown last year, and I loved it
1983 I was 5 years old and V, lizard faces and Diana'a frightening guinea pig eating scene traumatized me for years😬😱
V was never doomed... There was already a V part II, I have no doubt we will see a V part III and could be the pinnacle..
The Sheath underwear looks exactly like the clothing the Lizard Monsters wore.
OMG THEY LIVE AMONG US
Yet another thumbs up for Greg. I wish I could share the gleeful laugh I had when I had to listen to the entirety of Dan’s little scientist rant at quarter speed just so I could properly catch the quick 2 or 3 frames with the full paragraph “punchline.”
Thanks Greg. You rock.
But seriously, short bursts of Dan at quarter speed are genius fun. I recommend that scientist rant. It was a good one.
And I, too, shared the exact experience related at the end there. I got to watch it (my mom was the one always cowering behind blankets), and yeah, it was super creepy at that age (I was ten).
I still remember how freaky the twin child birth scene was. I knew it looked fake at the time, but it was still so disturbing.
But you gotta admit the way the other one died was just kind of sad. Oops spoiler alert
This show had a big impact on my childhood.
Thank you so much for this review and all of the other awesome content!
As excited as NBC claimed to have been about the weekly series, it seemed they wanted it buried quickly and painfully: besides having the crap budget (the show had to rely on hand-to-hand combat most of the time, such as fist fights and the sword challenge, because the laser blast effects from the original miniseries ate too much money), it was put up against "Dallas", the Friday night ratings juggernaut for the longest time. Network brass seemed shocked and stunned when they had to cancel the series.
They put it up against Dallas? No wonder it failed…
The first few episodes were not so bad but after that... the Visitor's voice suddenly sounded normal, major characters left without a trace, and then the typical long lost twin brother appeared. I really liked Diana's white uniform.
From what I’ve read, they did find a cheaper way to make the laser blast special effect.
...the tv weekly series was crap. They should have just made another mini-series. You could tell their was a difference in budget
Thanks for featuring this TV series, I almost forgot about it. I've added the DVDs to my rental list. Great video as usual.
Imagine having a story today where the journalist is the hero and trusted, lol.
Before it was a term, I realized as a kid that "V" jumped the shark when they had the Starchild as their deus ex machina to save the day. That's when they gave up on complex storytelling.
I've always loved this show/mythos. And, yes, the scene with Diana unhinging her jaw freaked me right the hell out. Still does. I never got all the way through the new version they made a few years ago. They had changed so much from the original it didn't feel worthy of the name. And there's no replacing Michael Ironside.
Still got some of the episodes recorded on VHS, including the Final Battle. I was very young when I first watched this and I was absolutely scared whenever the unmasking happened. These days I consider the miniseries + Final Battle a great series.
such an awesome show, thanks guys for that
Man I loved this show when I was a kid. Beastmaster versus mice eating lizards....I'm in!
My dad named me after Michael Ironside's character 'Ham Tyler'. Kinda makes sense, since I love sci-fi and everything from the 80's 👽
Nice to meet you Ham.
The lizard tongue baby in "V: The Final Battle" scared the absolute shit out of me as a kid.
Watching the DVD of all three right now. The modern version was such a disappointment, though it was great to see both Jane Badler and Marc Singer amongst the cast.
It felt like they were trying to do the same thing they did with Battlestar Galactica but with a different audience and I don't think it worked it's a shame because had it worked we would have finally at least maybe had an ending this time.
Instead it's just history repeating itself.
Morena Baccarin's Anna was easily the highlight of the New V. Just as Jane Badler's Diana was in the original.
V is Sinclair Lewis's dystopian political novel ''It Can't Happen Here'' combined with Damon Knight's short story "To Serve Man".
This was my all time favorite Sci Fi show. Way ahead of it's time. Too bad the series it didn't get he budget it deserved.
I liked director Kenneth Johnson's commentary track on the original series DVD: he said to one of the executives that he couldn't find anything he could cut to make the first night's show fit. He said after watching the whole thing with him, that executive said, (paraphrasing from memory) "I can't either. You know what? The news is going to be fifteen minutes late tonight."
That sure was a 1980s thing.
I saw V at an early age and to say it impacted me would be an understatement. The scene where the hybrid twins were born traumatized me. On the other hand, the scene where Faye Grant´s character was converted/ brainwashed woke up my sexuality. Good show for its time. I hope it has a proper return.
I'm with you 100% on the Faye Grant conversion scenes... That body suit she's in definitely had an effect on my young brain chemistry
That seems really weird that you'd get turned on by watching a fellow human be tortured.
I was glued to the TV for all the miniseries and regular series episodes. Loved them and I think the show still holds up 40 years later. 40 years…wow…
I remember how popular this show was in Mexico, well at least the city we were living at. It was disappointing how it left on a cliffhanger.
I was a kid who watched V later (as I was born in 1983) with my mother. My mom and I would watch all sorts of Sci Fi together and I do remember being freaked out with the "face off" effects and my goodness... that guinea pig... my mom told me it lived and I didn't believe her!
I'm sad that UA-cam doesn't have the outtake from ER where Noah Wiley's character delivers the Baby from V. IIRC, the director worked on the series and still had the original prop.
I think I found it. It should be around 1:00: ua-cam.com/video/bADSHhn1wqM/v-deo.html
That. Is. Awesome!!!!!
@@carrieanneatreides6240 High praise from House Atreides :D
I met Anthony Edwards who was Dr. Greene on the series and asked him about the baby. He said that they were working at the end of an 18 hour shooting day during that scene. Everyone was exhausted and completely irritated and sleep deprived, so to lessen the tension in the room the next day the V baby prop was substituted for the infant prop and even Tony was surprised when he pulled it out.
From “Love’s Labor Lost,” the best episode of ER. Anthony Edwards is a revelation in that episode.
I remember watching this on my grandma's old black and white tv while on a visit. I loved it! My friends and I would pour Elmer's glue on our hands and arms, then peel it off when it was dry, pretending to be Visitors. I don't think any of us wanted to risk gluing our faces - which was uncharacteristically restrained for us.
Thanks for covering V, guys!
The original series was such a massive hit at our elementary school. Our entire class loved it. It's amazing that you could take a series with both Morena Baccarin and Laura Vandervort leading it, and have it be that bad. I couldn't make it past the 3rd episode.
Writing is everything. Also, I think the new series suffered from not wanting to lean too hard into political commentary, which is the entire point of the original. Without the anti-fascism / Nazi-parallels, all you've got is a crappy To Serve Man remake.