ABC’s “V”: Ready for a commitment, or “flirty TV”?
It’s been years since I’ve watched a first-run network television show, but last night I made an exception for ABC’s revision of the 1980’s classic “V”.
The original “V” began as a 1983 four-hour mini-series exploring the methods of a fascist power gaining control of a free society. In this case, a species of advanced space aliens arriving on Earth promising friendship and an exchange of resources and technology, but manipulating our culture behind the scenes to take over for their own appalling purposes. Its cliffhanger ending and ratings success led to an equally successful six-hour sequel, “V: The Final Battle”, and soon after a weekly series which failed quickly. I’m one of many who remember fondly the best aspects of the “V” experience as an artful blend of science fiction action/adventure with intriguing socio-political commentary.
This new version of “V” made an immediate impression with its spectacular effects and lavish production, and given my own political sympathies I relished the none-too-subtle slaps at the culture of Obama-nation. The introductory hour passed quickly, but when it was over I began questioning the storytelling style. How much of my enjoyment of last night’s episode was derived vicariously from my memories of the first “V”? If not for that first incarnation, would I have grasped the implications of the events I was seeing? After this hour, would I have a sense of the characters involved, or where all of this blue-hued quick-cutting action was leading?
I fear that the new “V” will be another example of the trend in television drama — a “Twin Peaks”-esqe curiosity replacing coherence, the piling on of mysteries upon mysteries week after week until we begin to wonder if anyone behind this knows where they’re going, the sense that if we miss one week’s episode we’ll be forever…”Lost”?
I mourn the decline and fall of the anthology series — “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, “Suspense Theater”, “The Outer Limits”, “The Twilight Zone” and all the other examples of cinematic short stories. There was a mix of freedom for the writer to tell a tight story, together with the constraint to tell that story within 23 or 50 minutes, but the audience had absolute freedom. Perhaps the quality varied from week to week, but if one episode missed its target a complete restart was only a week away.
I’ll give the new “V” — beloved for the sake of its forefathers — another two weeks. If it looks like it will be the kind of show designed to spur next morning debates around the proverbial water cooler, I’ll have to find a more satisfying way to spend an hour a week. Endless flirting and a lack of commitment are rightly seen as annoying in human relationships, and I find it tedious in drama as well. “V” may yet work as an indictment of our gullibility, if it doesn’t become itself an example of it.
I love serial shows like Lost. They’re like reading a good novel.
I do agree, however, that it’s a shame that we don’t have shows on like The Twilight Zone, anymore.
With so many channels now, there is certainly room for every kind: serial shows, self-contained episode shows, and anthology type shows.
gypsyscarlett
November 8, 2009 at 7:58 am
Hi gypsy,
Back when I was a member on Absolute Write, I asked these questions in the Movies & TV forum: of the three basic types of shows (anthologies, serials or self-contained stories with recurring characters and environments), which would you most prefer to watch, and as a writer which would you most like to write? I was surprised when modern serials were my respondent’s unanimous preference. I speculated I might have gotten different results if I’d asked the Scriptwriters or Short Story forums!
I was inspired by a “Star Trek” forum debate I had witnessed, where several people claimed the episodic nature of the original Trek made that series more likely to find success among casual viewers and in later syndication, while the big story arcs of later Treks demanded weekly devotion. During “Deep Space Nine”’s original run, I became a casualty of my local station’s habit of constant rescheduling of the show at the height of the Dominion War arc, and I ended up losing interest in the show when I couldn’t follow the episodes I did catch.
Maybe it’s not as important in an era of Tivo and DVD box sets. I don’t have a problem with the complexity or depth possible in stories told over several hours or weeks, but I’ve just never been able to get behind the convergence of the mini-series format with the American-style “run it as long as we get ratings” weekly series. One of two things typically happens — the show gets canceled mid-story or the narrative breaks down under the twin pressures of its own complexity and the demands of weekly production.
Edward Trumbo
November 9, 2009 at 6:36 am