TVSquad

(S01E01) We were promised a modern re-imagining of the classic '80s V mini-series, and that's exactly what we got. Gone were the allusions to World War II Nazism and the treatment of Jews in Europe. Instead, we're offered allusions to the war we've been fighting for eight years now.

I wasn't sure how they could modify the storylines from the series I remembered to accurately find parallels to our war on terrorism, and the terrorist movements themselves, but they did. And they did it all while staying true to the struggles and fears that's kept the original series fresh in our minds for 26 years now.

Even better, I watched this with my 10-year old son who's never seen the original, and he was absolutely riveted. Everything I loved about V back then is here, and there's so much more to get excited about. I always thought V should be an ongoing series, and even though we eventually got one, I think this time they've finally got it right.

The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column. To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them at asktvsquad@gmail.com.

This week, I answer questions about Flash Forward, Eureka, NCIS, The Philanthropist, and V.

When I first started exploring this project, there were a few shows that I knew were going to be important to hit. This is the first of those. Firefly was Joss Whedon's sci-fi western series. The show mustered disappointing ratings in its short eleven-episode run on FOX.

Since then it's gone on to near mythic cult status. There was such an outcry of support from its loyalists, the Browncoats, over its cancellation that the producers made a feature film sequel. That movie, Serenity, answered a lot of questions about the future fate of the cast. Unfortunately, like the television series, it couldn't find quite enough people to show up and tune in to warrant a sequel. Nevertheless, the few morsels of Firefly we did get are enough to prove that this is one of the most innovative and enjoyable series ever to hit the airwaves.

I'm almost to the end of Firefly, my Jane After Dark readers' choice for this week. I really love this series, from the quirky characters to the general theme of a band of renegades burgling their way through the universe.

But even though it's set 500 years in the future, Firefly isn't your typical sci-fi space series that includes all manner of aliens and weird creatures. They're on a spaceship, and yet they rob trains. How cool is that?! It's like Alias Smith and Jones meets Babylon 5.

As with the other Whedon shows I've watched – Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel – the stories are fun and deep and fanciful (yes, I said fanciful), but it's the characters and their interactions that make the shows.

In the yearly scramble to pick up pilots, renew old shows, and dispose of last season's weaker offerings, ABC is shorting 80s sci-fi favorite V.

The original 1983 miniseries featured a race of stealthy, guinea pig swallowing lizards from the stars taking over the world with fascist strategies reminiscent of the rise of Nazi Germany. The following year's TV series dumbed it down a bit and became a weekly battle between freedom fighters and creepy aliens.

You can catch the upfront trailer for V here. It looks a bit like ABC is being invaded by Independence Day -- though Independence Day looked like it was being invaded by the original V. Fortunately, these new invaders bring Firefly's Morena Baccarin (right) along for the trip as their spin doctor.

A lot, surprisingly. Unfortunately, ABC's V remake won't take place in a universe packed with space cowboys who curse in Chinese, but it will star two Firefly alums, Alan Tudyk (Wash) and Morena Baccarin (Inara). Plus, the V pilot will feature digital effects by Zoic, the effects house that worked on Firefly.

Like most Whedon fans, I think the best things about Firefly were the characters, the dialogue, and the inventive stories. But the digital effects were just as amazing, especially for TV. They might not have been blockbuster movie good, but the ships and space chases always looked elegant and really specific to the show's quirky style and themes. That's what good visual effects are all about. Lets hope Zoic can create the same kind of magic for V, which is awaiting pickup by ABC.

It looks like the remake of the television min-series V has cast its new evil alien leader, apparently named Anna. Former space-hooker Morena Baccarin (okay, she only played a space-hooker on the TV series Firefly) will be playing that particular role. She even bares a passing resemblance to Jane Badler, who originally played a similar role (when the character name was Diana) back in the 1980's.

Baccarin was great on Firefly. I loved the interplay between her and Nathan Fillion as Captain Reynolds. This just gives her something else to talk about when she goes around the sci fi convention circuit.

The Hollywood Reporter article also mentions a some other casting in the coming season, including Tony Hale (formerly of Arrested Development) in a new series called Cop House and Eliza Coupe an ABC remake of the British series No Heroics. So, of the three, Tony Hale is the only one not appearing in a remake. Good for him!

(S01E04) This week we finally got the big clash between Nathaniel and Jonas that has been coming since Jonas left Stanford to return to St. Jude. Unfortunately, it is still such a one-sided relationship that there wasn't a lot to the clash. It came down to Nathaniel jerking Jonas around while Jonas had no recourse other than to beg and plead.

The decision that Nathaniel was struggling with regarding the fetal uterine transplant was interesting. Certainly the dangers and risks of experimental surgery are nothing new to him, as evidenced by the Neubacher heart for baby Maya. It's a tricky bit of business though when the guy who blew up his marriage by cheating on his wife, and then cheats on his new girlfriend with the ex-wife, starts pulling out the morality card.

(S01E03) The folks over at St. Jude's aren't doing a lot to assuage my concerns about the show becoming too repetitive. Three episodes is still too early to say this is how it is going to be, but I'm starting to worry. The stories and conflicts that were put in play from the first episode seem to be getting little play as we focus on the cases of the week. These aren't bad stories, but I'm far more interested in the main characters that we see each week.

While that is something to keep an eye on, we did get two interesting cases to look at this week. First, heart transplant patient Andrew Wyles (K'sun Ray). As they talked about how Andrew's treatment wasn't working whenever he left the hospital I thought it could go one of two ways. Either he was making himself sick, or it was Munchausen by proxy and his grandmother was doing it. I was leaning toward the grandmother until we actually met her. She didn't come across as the type to be behind it, which made it clear that Andrew was a very troubled boy.

(S01E01) I was curious to get a look at this show as soon as I heard about it. If you were even the most casual fan of Everwood, the premise had to sound some bells. Treat Williams as a brilliant surgeon who struggles to juggle all of the balls in his personal life. That's a thumbnail sketch, but it's one that fits both Nathaniel Grant and Andy Brown very well.

While Saved garnered quite a few good reviews, and some respectable ratings, it's no The Closer. And apparently the press and numbers weren't enough to convince TNT that there should be a second season of the Tom Everett Scott drama. Instead, the network is looking to bring two different pilots to series.

Holly Hunter stars in Grace as an Oklahoma City police detective who is visited by an angel and given a chance to redeem her life. It also stars Tom Irwin (Related), and Laura San Giacomo (Just Shoot Me). I'll watch anything with Holly Hunter, or Laura San Giacomo, in it at least once, so I plan to tune in when this show takes off. But based just on the tag line, my expectations are low.

Also on the schedule is Heartland. This one stars Treat Williams as the brilliant surgeon, Nathaniel Grant. His dedication to his work causes problems with his health and his relationships. Now, if you are thinking, "Hey, that sounds a whole lot like Everwood." then you and I are on the same page. The show even stars Gage Golightly as his daughter Thea, who doesn't seem so far removed from Delia. Still, Treat Williams is always worth a look. And it has the bonus of Morena Baccarin (Firefly) as well. The show is currently planned to follow The Closer.

I posted on Friday about the craziness that was the Flanvention. After it was canceled at the last minute, fans sprung into action and organized their own little shindig. And based on reports about what happened, it sounds like it was a pretty amazing substitute for the originally planned affair.

It turns out that not only did most of the scheduled guests turn up for the impromptu gathering, but they managed to get even more people from the whedonverse in the mix as well. Fans made their way to Claire Kramer's restaurant, La Cantina, where the guest list included Nathan Fillion, Ron Glass, Morena Baccarin (pictured), Michael Fairman, Mark Sheppard, Jonathan Woodward, Yan Feldman, Christina Hendricks, Claire Kramer, James Leary, Camden Toy, Michael Muhney, and Greg Edmonson. That's an impressive list.

Of course, while a good time was had, it's not the end of the story. The strange dealings of event planer Booster Entertainment continue. The website that mysteriously disappeared with the announcement of the cancellation has popped up again. Kind of, they are getting hammered by people looking for answers, so it's very slow when it does load. At this point the big questions everyone is asking are: Where did the money go? And where are the refunds? It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

The preview for this weeks Blade teased a kiss between Krista (Jill Wagner) and Chase (Jessica Gower). In celebration of that possibility, I thought now would be a good time to touch on other girl-girl kisses in our television history. Sometimes they are to make a statement. Sometimes they are a ploy to grab ratings. And every once in a while, it's just a natural part of the story. Here are the five that come to mind first for me.

Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Sharon (Mariel Hemingway) - Roseanne
This was an important moment in television. At the time, there was no L-Word, and two girls kissing was still a very controversial thing. Roseanne has her faults, to be sure, but standing up to the network to get this episode on the air is something to be proud of.

Ally (Calista Flockhart) and Ling (Lucy Liu) - Ally McBeal
This one strikes me as somewhat the opposite of the Roseanne kiss. There was much less statement, and much more ratings grabbing sensationalism in this lip-lock. In that regard, it worked very well. Of course, the gang over at Ally McBeal had plenty of practice. Along with Ling, Ally also kissed Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith) and Elaine (Jane Krokowski). But if I have to pick one, it's Ling every time. And yes, I was an Ally McBeal fan.

Add another science fiction show refugee to the ever-growing sanctuary known as Stargate SG-1. Morena Baccarin, who portrayed Inara Serra in the short-lived Fox series Firefly and the subsequent movie Serenity, will be joining the Sci-Fi Channel series for a number episodes this upcoming season (which begins on July 14th).

Baccarin will play Adria, the evil daughter of Vala Mal Doran (Claudia Black, who becomes a regular on the series for the 10th season). According to an interview at The Scifi World, Morena really enjoyed playing the truly evil Adria and she tried to balance that cruelity with a likeability. She also reveals that she had quite a bit of trouble finding her way around the set due to contact lenses that she wore for her character.

Stargate SG-1, which premiered on Showtime back in 1997 and moved to the Sci-Fi Channel after five seasons, is currently in the record books as the longest-running, scripted, made-for-cable television series broadcast in the United States. It has become a home for wayward science fiction stars lately, especially last season when Claudia Black and Ben Browder, formerly from the series Farscape, joined the cast.

The news service over at Sci Fi channel has an interview with Loni Peristere, visual-effects supervisor for Serenity, who reveals how to find the easter egg on the DVD. Here's how:

• In the main menu, highlight 'Play'
• Press left on your remote
• A marker on the right side of the menu will highlight
• Press enter

[Via Pop Candy]