Personal blog - and temporary home page until new website is finished - of writer, editor and graphic artist Christopher Mills


Thursday, September 10, 2009

V Rebooted



I am actually a fan of the 80's television miniseries and weekly series V. That said, I also feel that aside from the first miniseries directed by Kenneth Johnson, which still holds up pretty well today, the subsequent installments never lived up to their potential. A small budget, the need to recycle effects footage, and the general "kistch factor" (for lack of a better term) of early-80s TV, all undermined the premise and its potential. That's not to say it wasn't fun, though, which is why I have the DVDs.

So, while I usually dread "reimaginings" and "reboots" of my old favorites, I am actually looking forward to this season's new version of V, and hope that it works.

5 comments:

Craig Zablo said...

I wasn't a fan of the original series, but I will check this out. Looks like fun!

Martin Powell said...

Hm. I liked the original show quite a bit.

You know, since remakes, re-imaginings, and reality-based programs seem to be the current staple of the airwaves, I'm more glad than ever that I haven't watched TV in over five years.

Merely my opinion, and perhaps it's my loss as well, but there's a lot more interesting things for me to spend my time and attention on.

Maybe it's just me...

Christopher Mills said...

Well, there's always been remakes and re-imaginings -- and sequels and imitations -- so, aside from the so-called "reality" shows, it's pretty much business as usual. Some are good, most are bad...

I haven't watched broadcast or cable TV since I moved back to Maine six or so years ago. I do rent/buy some current/recent shows on DVD -- BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, BURN NOTICE, LOST -- and I enjoy them. But most of what I watch is older stuff, also on DVD.

When something in a genre I'm interested in, like V or GALACTICA or the new DOCTOR WHO and its spin-offs, comes along though, it's not too much of a hardship to wait for the DVDs and rent them through Netflix. If I really enjoy them, I'll buy 'em later, if not -- well, obviously, I don't.

We recently rented the first season of DOLLHOUSE and liked it a lot, and we'll probably buy it eventually. On the other hand, we've also rented other shows that were okay, but nothing we're going to want to watch again. But we gave them a try.

Andy said...

I like the original "V". Of course, I was a teenager at the time and also thought that "The A-Team" was high art. That being said, if any show would benefit from the more layered storytelling of today it may just be "V".
However, the older I get the less I actually care about watching TV. I'll take my minimal series watching ("Mad Men", Galactica, "Doctor Who") over mass consumption of crap any day.

Charles Gramlich said...

I liked V quite a lot and will definitely give this new bit a try.