Blog #24 V The Original Miniseries & V: The Final Battle TV Series Review

V The Original Miniseries Aired 1983 on NBC

V the Final Battle Aired 1984 on NBC

Starring

Marc Singer played Mike Donovan. Mr. Singer also starred in Beastmaster 1982, his big hit.

Robert Englund played William (Willie), the sweet, befuddled alien. Mr. Englund also starred in Galaxy of Terror 1981, produced by Roger Corman, and played Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series of films starting in 1984.

Jane Badler played Diana. In three episodes, she returned to the reboot V 2011 in her original role. She is considered the breakout star of the series.

Michael Ironside played Ham Tyler, the mercenary. Mr. Ironside also appeared in the film X-Men: First Class 2011, playing the Captain of the 7th Fleet, voiced the role of Ultra Magnus in season 3 in 2013 of the Transformers Prime Beast Hunters television series, a flight instructor in Top Gun 1986, as a conscience-free mutant assassin in Watchers 1988, Richter, the murderous henchman in Total Recall 1990, the Resistance General Hugh Ashdown in Terminator Salvation, 2003, and guest starred in season 3 episode 20 “Twilight of the Idols” of Andromeda 2003.

Michael Durrell played Robert Maxwell, the father of the daughter who had the first alien/human tryst. His character and anthropologist were stigmatized and hunted along with every other scientist. He also played the firm’s Agency Head before the main character Albert Brooks’s death in Defending Your Life.

Written and Directed by Kenneth Johnson. Mr. Johnson also wrote, produced and directed Six Million Dollar Man 1975-76, Bionic Woman 1976-78, The Incredible Hulk 1977-82, Short Circuit 2 1988, Alien Nation 1989-97, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century 1999, Series V 2009-2011.

Theme Music by Joe Harnell. Mr. Harnell also received an Emmy nomination for Alien Nation and V in 1983

Synopsis

Kenneth Johnson pitched the story V as a story of a Nazi-like takeover of the United States. Through development, network executives felt the audience wouldn’t believe this could happen in the United States, and with the popularity of Star Wars required Mr. Johnson to change the story. V became a tale of a fascist takeover by ‘peaceful’ aliens and the resistance that eventually defeats them.

Ratings

The original series V was the second-most popular program of the week. Rotten Tomato scored 58% on the Tomatometer, and the Audience rated the series 93%. At that time, 40% of the television audience watched it. Like the first miniseries, V: The Final Battle was successful for NBC, with Rotten Tomato scoring 69% on the Tomatometer and 100% rating by the Audience.

Crazy Credits

The series had a dedication- To the heroism of the Resistance Fighters —past, present, and future— this work is respectfully dedicated,” which I thought was great.

Positives

This series had a well-written script, good sound, and special effects (especially for the time), and it still holds up.

The series was done with two weeks of preparation but on a large budget for television. At this time, in the 80s, there was much competition with miniseries on other channels. NBC was on the low in the game. The strategy for V worked; the original series was a hit, with Jane Badler as the breakout star. Unfortunately, NBC didn’t want to keep the higher budget for the second installment, The Final Battle. Mr. Johnson had to work with significantly less money. Considering the response, I think it worked fine, but the first V had to precede the Final Battle for it to work. From a fan’s point of view, I would have enjoyed a more spectacular production for that second miniseries.

The critical reviews of these two series usually have high praise for the first V, and not so much for the second V: The Final Battle. The reviewers didn’t like the overdone, sappy scenes in The Final Battle of characters communing with each other and having ‘meaningful” dialogue and epiphanies. I enjoyed it all, but I need you to know I like corny. The first series was much more concerned with the dawning of the danger the visitors (aliens) brought and how the resistance was formed. I agree it was well done, but I loved the satisfying payback in the second series, The Final Battle. The final scene was schlocky, but I loved it! I’m bad.

And the eating, the glorious, gross eating.

Negatives

Unfortunately, the studio’s cut in the production budget with the second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, left much poorly done. The studio even pushed Mr. Johnson so far in the quest for control that he quit. They even tried to get his name off the credits. That whole ‘behind the curtain’ stuff with producers, studios, and networks canceling popular stuff gets me. If I can find information on this phenomenon and see how it affected me, I would like to write a blog about it.

If you look at the ratings, the audience agrees with me. That’s validation enough; though I like critique, overall enjoyment doesn’t seem to register for critics.