TVSquad

I didn't watch the first season of Saving Grace, but over the weekend, I had an opportunity to screen the second season premiere, titled 'Have a Seat, Earl.' The show is gritty and heartbreaking, and it's shooting to the top of my Must-Watch List.

First of all, let's get this out of the way: I want Holly Hunter's body. The girl just turned 50 in March, and her body is as fit and toned as a 20-year-old triathlete. Only better, because she's got all the wisdom of a 50-year-old soul.

OK, on to the story. I won't give a blow-by-blow of the episode, which premieres July 14, 10/9c on TNT, but I will talk about key plot-points, so if you're averse to spoilers, you'd best quit reading here. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Aint It Cool posted an interview with Kenneth Johnson, the creator and writer of the V television mini-series from 1983. He has recently released a sequel book called V: The Second Generation (available on Amazon here).

The most interesting facts to come out of the conversation with Johnson is that in his novel he ignores the sequel mini-series V: The Final Battle and the short-lived V television series that came afterward.

I remember watching and being terrified as a kid from the original V mini-series (think of the Nazi takeover of Germany, except with aliens). Johnson left NBC before the sequel came around and, to make an understatement, the sequel strayed from his vision. The book more represents what his original vision of the continued V story would be like. It takes place twenty or so years after the original.

When someone remakes a TV show or a movie, they often go more serious or darker. Is it because producers and directors feel they have to go "serious" to justify a remake? Do we live in more cynical times? Do the producers feel that they can't make a quality show that also happens to be light?

Kenneth Johnson, the creator of the original Bionic Woman series in the '70s (a spinoff of The Six Million Dollar Man), tells the L.A. Times that he's worried about the remake. I guess I would, too, if an NBC exec called my show "kind of cheesy." Although Johnson has been impressed with the work of producer David Eick on Battlestar Galactica, he's not so sure they're doing the right thing with the remake of his show.

That's "V" as in the letter "V," not the Roman numeral for "five." Otherwise, I guess the sequel would be "VI."

Now, the original V aired when I was about seven, so I never watched much of the original miniseries, or the TV series that followed. It's not like I couldn't have watched it as a seven year old, but I was kind of a wuss when I was a kid and those scary lizard people were too much for me. If any of you would like to go back in time and heckle me as a seven year old, feel free to do that. Seriously, that kid needs some toughening up.

So anyway, TV Filter hepped me to information about a possible miniseries sequel to the original series, helmed by original writer and director Kenneth Johnson. Right now it seems they're trying to secure the finances needed to do the series, but before that happens you'll be able to purchase the novel based on Johnson's screenplay by early 2007. According to the IMDb trivia page for V - The Second Generation, several original cast members have signed on to the project, including Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund. This is IMDb, so I don't necessarily trust the information completely, but if all of this turns out to be true, it could be a very cool thing for fans of the series.