TVSquad

The original '80s V miniseries is ingrained in my memory. In fact, when I was pregnant, I would get the inevitable question: do you want a boy or a girl? My pat answer was, "As long as it's not a lizard baby, we'll be happy."

If you watched V, you know my reference, and it was fun when the askers got it too.

Beyond lizard babies, lovable aliens who went on to play Freddie Kreuger (Robert Englund) and heroines imported from The Greatest American Hero (Faye Grant) -- I swear, I remember all of this; I didn't even look it up! -- V was so unique and addicting that if you haven't seen it, I suggest getting that DVD release tout de suite.

Have you ever read TV Squad and said to yourself, "Hey, I wish there was a speedy, five minute podcast about this site hosted by someone with a mildly annoying South Jersey accent?" If you have, there are two things you should know: 1) your prayers have been answered and 2) you're a dangerously deranged person. Seriously, you should talk to someone before your problems get out of hand.

But before you do that, you should go ahead and download our brand new weekly podcast, TV5. Every Friday I'll be bringing you a five minute rundown of five of our most interesting stories. Why five? Because we here at TV Squad like prime numbers and TV34301 seemed like overkill. Enjoy!

(Music provided courtesy of Kevin MacLeod.)

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.

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.