11.04.09 By: Mike Moody
Never underestimate the appeal of a good alien invasion yarn. Last night's premiere of ABC's V remake scored a whopping 13.9 million viewers and a 5.0 preliminary rating for adults 18-49. That's good enough to make it the top rated new series premiere of the fall, even besting that seemingly unstoppable NCIS spinoff. It looks like ABC might be rethinking its decision to split V into four episode blocks aired three months apart – I know I would. V gave ABC its best Tuesday night premiere since 2003, and the highest debut for any network since 2005 among the 18-49 demo. Plus, the series had the best demo rating for an 8 p.m. premiere since Lost kicked off in 2004.
This is an amazing start for a promising – if not perfect – new take on a classic sci-fi franchise. Let's just hope the Heroes syndrome doesn't set in here anytime soon.
[Via: The Live Feed]
Filed under: News/Reactions, Fan Shows
SciFiLoverat 11-05-2009
If the first episode was anything to go by, this incarnation of V is going to be nothing short of lame.
I really liked the original, and this is nothing like it, nor is it an even slightly worthy ‘reimagining’ as was BSG. I found the initial episode rushed, trying to cram the whole driving force of the original miniseries into 1 45 min story.
I know the original had longer episodes, but this was way too fast, going from arrival to resistance in 1 shot..
There was no time to get used to any of the characters before it is revealed that 2 of them are lizardy aliens.. Big deal, don't care..
The writers should have used the first few episodes to build up some kind of viewer tension, hinted at the aliens maybe being bad, then gradually revealing more of the insidious plot.
As it is, when the episode finished, I had no “yay, go resistance” feelings, just total apathy..
As for the “V’s” references, oh god... If anyone had watched the original, V wasn’t a cute nickname for Visitors, it was for Victory..