V (The Original Miniseries)
Encyclopedia
V is a two-part science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 television miniseries, written and directed by Kenneth Johnson. First shown in 1983, it initiated the science fiction franchise concerning aliens known as "The Visitors
Visitors (V TV series)
The Visitors are a fictional invading alien race from the V science fiction franchise. The "Visitors" are reptilian humanoids who disguise themselves to look human but prefer to eat live prey, such as mice. In the 1983 and 1984 miniseries, but not the 1984 TV series, the disguised Visitors can be...

" trying to gain control of Earth.

Plot summary

A race of aliens arrive on Earth in a fleet of 50 huge, saucer-shaped motherships, which hover over major cities across the world. They reveal themselves on the roof of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 building in New York City, appearing human but requiring special glasses to protect their eyes and having a distinctive resonance
Resonance
In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at a greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies...

 to their voices. Referred to as the Visitors, they reach out in friendship, ostensibly seeking the help of humans to obtain chemicals and minerals needed to aid their ailing world. In return, the Visitors promise to share their advanced technology with humanity. The governments of Earth accept the arrangement, and the Visitors, commanded by their leader John and his deputy Diana, begin to gain considerable influence with human authorities.

Strange events begin to occur and scientists become objects of increasing media hostility. They experience government restrictions on their activities and movements. Others, particularly those keen on examining the Visitors more closely, begin to disappear or are discredited. Noted scientists confess to subversive activities; some of them exhibit other unusual behaviors, such as suddenly demonstrating an opposite hand preference
Handedness
Handedness is a human attribute defined by unequal distribution of fine motor skills between the left and right hands. An individual who is more dexterous with the right hand is called right-handed and one who is more skilled with the left is said to be left-handed...

 to the one they were known to have.

Television journalist cameraman Michael Donovan covertly boards one of the Visitors' motherships and discovers that beneath their human-like facade (they wear a thin, synthetic skin and human-like contact lenses in public), the aliens are actually carnivorous reptilian humanoid
Reptilian humanoid
Reptilian humanoids comprise a common motif in mythology, folklore, science fiction, fantasy, conspiracy theories, ufology, and cryptozoology.-Male:...

s preferring to eat live food such as rodents and birds. Donovan records some of his findings on videotape and escapes from the mothership with the evidence, but just as the exposé is about to air on television, the broadcast is interrupted by the Visitors who have taken control of the media. Their announcement makes Donovan a fugitive
Fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...

, pursued by both the police and the Visitors.

Scientists around the world continue to be persecuted, both to discredit them (as the part of the human population most likely to discover the Visitors' secrets) and to distract the rest of the population with a scapegoat
Scapegoat
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...

 to whom they could attribute their fears. Key human individuals are subjected to Diana's special mind control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...

 process called "conversion", which turned them into the Visitors' pawns, leaving only subtle behavioral clues to this manipulation. Others become subjects of Diana's horrifying biological experiments.

Some humans (including Mike Donovan's mother, Eleanor Dupres) willingly collaborate
Collaborationism
Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...

 with the Visitors, seduced by their power. Daniel Bernstein, a grandson of a Jewish Holocaust survivor, joins the Visitor Youth and reveals the location of a scientist family to the alien cause. One teenager, Robin Maxwell, the daughter of a well-known scientist who went into hiding, has intercourse with a male Visitor named Brian, who impregnates her as one of Diana's "medical experiments".

A resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...

 is formed, determined to expose and oppose the Visitors. The Los Angeles cell leader is Julie Parrish. Donovan later joins the group and, again sneaking aboard a mothership, he learns from a Visitor named Martin that the story about the Visitors needing waste chemicals is a cover for a darker mission. The true purpose of the Visitors' arrival on Earth was to conquer and subdue the planet, steal all of the Earth's water, and harvest
Harvest
Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...

 the human race as food, leaving only a few as slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 and cannon fodder
Cannon fodder
Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to deliberately fight against hopeless odds in an effort to achieve a strategic goal...

 for the Visitors' wars with other alien races. Martin is one of many dissidents among the Visitors (later known as the Fifth Column
Fifth Column (V TV series)
The Fifth Column is a subgroup of alien Visitors in the 1980s science fiction franchise V. They are depicted as Visitors who oppose the current leadership and plot to rebel against them-Original series:...

) who oppose their leader's plans and would rather co-exist peacefully with the humans. Martin befriends Donovan and promises to aid the Resistance, and gives Donovan access to one of their sky-fighter ships, which he quickly learns how to pilot. He escapes from the mothership along with Robin and another prisoner named Sancho, who'd aided Robin's family in their flight out of occupied Los Angeles.

The Resistance strike their first blows against the Visitors, procuring laboratory equipment and modern military weapons from National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...

 armories to carry on the fight. The symbol of the resistance is a blood-red letter V (for victory), spray-painted over posters promoting Visitor friendship among humans. The symbol was inspired by Daniel Bernstein's grandfather Abraham, a Holocaust survivor.

The mini-series ends with the Visitors now virtually controlling the Earth, and Julie and Elias sending a transmission into space to ask other alien races for help in defeating the Visitors.

Origins

Inspired by Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of...

 anti-fascist novel It Can't Happen Here
It Can't Happen Here
It Can't Happen Here is a semi-satirical American political novel by Sinclair Lewis published in 1935 by Doubleday, Doran. It describes the rise of a populist politician who calls his movement "patriotic" and creates his own militia and takes unconstitutional power after winning election —...

(1935), director–producer Kenneth Johnson wrote an adaptation titled Storm Warnings, in 1982. The script was presented to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 for production as a television mini-series, but the NBC executives rejected the initial version, claiming it was too "cerebral" for the average American viewer. To make the script more marketable, the American fascists were re-cast as man-eating extraterrestrials, taking the story into the realm of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 to capitalize on the popularity of science-fiction franchises such as Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

. V, which cost $13 million ($ today) to make, premiered on May 1, 1983.

Influences

Aside from It Can't Happen Here
It Can't Happen Here
It Can't Happen Here is a semi-satirical American political novel by Sinclair Lewis published in 1935 by Doubleday, Doran. It describes the rise of a populist politician who calls his movement "patriotic" and creates his own militia and takes unconstitutional power after winning election —...

, several scenes from the original TV pilot resemble the Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...

 play The Private Life of the Master Race. A short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Damon Knight
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...

 entitled To Serve Man
To Serve Man
"To Serve Man" is a science fiction short story written by Damon Knight. It first appeared in the November 1950 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction and has been reprinted a number of times, including in Frontiers in Space , Far Out and The Best of Damon Knight...

(later adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...

) had a similar theme suggesting that deceptively friendly aliens were secretly cultivating humans as food.

The story became a Nazi allegory, right down to the Swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

-like emblem used by the Visitors and their SS-like uniforms. There is a youth auxiliary movement called the "Friends of the Visitors" with obvious similarities to the Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...

, and Visitor broadcasts mimic Nazi-era propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

. The show's portrayal of human interaction with the Visitors bears a striking resemblance to stories from Occupied Europe during World War II with some citizens choosing collaboration
Quisling
Quisling is a term used in reference to fascist and collaborationist political parties and military and paramilitary forces in occupied Allied countries which collaborated with Axis occupiers in World War II, as well as for their members and other collaborators.- Etymology :The term was coined by...

 and others choosing to join underground resistance movements.

Where the Nazis persecuted primarily Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

, the Visitors were instead depicted to persecute scientists, their families, and anyone associating with them. They also distribute propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

 in an effort to hide their true identity. Some of the main characters in the initial series were from a Jewish family and the grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, frequently commented on the events of the past again unfolding. Once they are in a position to do so, the Visitors later declare martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...

 to control the scientists (and resistance fighters) as well.

Legacy

The two-part miniseries ran for 200 minutes; the first part was the second most-popular program of the week with a 25.4 rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...

 or 40 share, and more than 40 million viewers. The second part also did very well, with a 39 share. Its success spawned a sequel, V: The Final Battle, which was meant to conclude the story. In spite of the apparent conclusion, this itself was then followed by a weekly television series, V: The Series, from 1984 to 1985 that continued the story a year after The Final Battle. Johnson left V during The Final Battle due to disagreements with NBC over how the story should progress.

In November 2005, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

named V one of the ten best miniseries on DVD. The article noted, "As a parable about it-can-happen-here fascism, V was far from subtle, but it carved a place for lavish and intelligent sci-fi on TV. Its impact can still be felt in projects like Taken and The 4400
The 4400
The 4400 is a science fiction TV series produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in association with Sky Television, Renegade 83, and American Zoetrope for USA Network. The show was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria, and it stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie...

." In December 2008, Entertainment Weekly put V on its list "The Sci-Fi 25: The Genre's Best Since 1982", and called Visitor leader Diana's devouring a guinea pig "one of the best TV reveals ever."

A reimagining
V (2009 TV series)
V is an American science fiction television series that ran for two seasons on ABC, from November 3, 2009 to March 15, 2011. A remake of the 1983 miniseries created by Kenneth Johnson, the new series chronicles the arrival on Earth of a technologically advanced alien species which ostensibly comes...

 of V premiered on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 on November 3, 2009. Though Johnson is not involved and the new series features all new characters, executive producer Scott Peters
Scott Peters (writer)
Scott Peters is a Canadian television producer, television director and screenwriter, most probably known for his involvement in writing, co-creating and producing for the science fiction television series The 4400. He is also the head writer of the 2009 sci-fi series V, a remake of the 1980s...

 says that it will nod to the most iconic moments from the original franchise and may potentially include actors from the original in different roles (to date, Jane Badler
Jane Badler
Jane Badler is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Diana, the chief antagonist in NBC's science fiction TV series, V, between 1983-85. Badler also appeared in ABC's "reimagined" version of V in 2011, again playing an alien named Diana, who this time is the mother of...

 and Marc Singer
Marc Singer
Marc Singer is a Canadian-born American actor best known for his roles in the Beastmaster film series and as Mike Donovan in the original 1980s TV series V.-Personal life:...

 have appeared). As of 2009, Johnson has also said he is still moving ahead with his plans for a big screen remake of his original V mini-series though no further progress has been made.

Cast

Humans
Character Actor
Mike Donovan Marc Singer
Marc Singer
Marc Singer is a Canadian-born American actor best known for his roles in the Beastmaster film series and as Mike Donovan in the original 1980s TV series V.-Personal life:...

Juliet Parrish Faye Grant
Faye Grant
Faye Grant is an American film, television and theatre actress.-Career:Her first television role was on the TV series The Greatest American Hero as "Rhonda Blake"...

Robert Maxwell Michael Durrell
Michael Durrell
Michael Durrell is an American actor.He began his career in the role of attorney Peter Wexler on CBS in the soap opera The Guiding Light. In 1969 he appeared on stage in "Cock-A-Doodle-Dandy" at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City...

Daniel Bernstein David Packer
David Packer
David Packer is an American actor. He was born in Passaic, New Jersey.His first starring role was as the human traitor Daniel Bernstein in the 1983 NBC miniseries V. He reprised the role in the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle....

Eleanor Dupres Neva Patterson
Neva Patterson
Neva Louise Patterson was an American character actress.Born on a farm near Nevada in Story County in central Iowa, she and her parents moved to New York City in 1938. She made her Broadway debut in 1947's The Druid Circle. In 1952, she played "Helen Sherman" in The Seven Year Itch...

Robin Maxwell Blair Tefkin
Blair Tefkin
Blair Tefkin is an American actress and singer-songwriter.She may be best known for her role as Robin Maxwell on the 1983 science fiction miniseries V, the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle, and V: The Series...

Elias Taylor Michael Wright
Lynn Bernstein Bonnie Bartlett
Bonnie Bartlett
Bonnie Bartlett is an American television and film actress. Her career spans over 50 years, with her first major role being on a 1950s daytime drama, Love of Life. She is best known for her role as Ellen Craig on the medical drama series St. Elsewhere. She and her husband, actor William Daniels,...

Abraham Bernstein Leonardo Cimino
Leonardo Cimino
Leonardo Cimino born 1918, is an Italian film and television and stage actor who in 1937 appeared in the original stage production of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock...

Dr. Ben Taylor Richard Lawson
Caleb Taylor Jason Bernard
Jason Bernard
Jason Bernard was an American actor who starred in movies and on television.-Career:Bernard was born in Chicago, Illinois...

Kristine Walsh Jenny Sullivan
Jenny Sullivan
For the Welsh author see Jennifer Sullivan.Jenny Sullivan is an American actress who has starred in films and on television. She has starred in some made for TV movies, her best known role is in the 1983 NBC hit miniseries V as the reporter Kristine Walsh. In 1984, she reprised her role as...

Harmony Moore Diane Civita
Diane Cary
Diane Cary is an American actress who has been featured in several TV shows. This includes a recurring role on the short-lived Misfits of Science, where she was credited as Diane Civita....

Josh Brooks Tommy Petersen
Tommy Petersen
Tommy Petersen is an actor who is best known for his role as the young Zack Mayo in the 1982 hit romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman. He starred in the 1983 hit NBC miniseries V as Josh Brooks.-Filmography:*The Cherokee Trail...

Sean Donovan Eric Johnston
Ham Tyler Michael Ironside
Michael Ironside
Michael Ironside is a Canadian-born actor. He has also worked as a voice actor, producer, film director, and screenwriter in movie and television series in various Canadian and American productions. He is best known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, though he has also portrayed...


Visitors
Character Actor
Diana Jane Badler
Jane Badler
Jane Badler is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Diana, the chief antagonist in NBC's science fiction TV series, V, between 1983-85. Badler also appeared in ABC's "reimagined" version of V in 2011, again playing an alien named Diana, who this time is the mother of...

John Richard Herd
Richard Herd
Richard Herd, Jr. is an American actor in television and film. He is well known in the science fiction community for his role in the 1983 NBC miniseries V and the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle, as John, the Visitors' Supreme Commander...

Steven Andrew Prine
Andrew Prine
Andrew Lewis Prine is an American film, stage, and television actor.-Early life and career:Prine was born in Jennings, Florida. After graduation from Andrew Jackson High School in Miami, Prine made his acting debut three years later in an episode of CBS U.S. Steel Hour...

Martin Frank Ashmore
Frank Ashmore
Frank Ashmore is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as "Martin" in the 1983 NBC miniseries V and its 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle. He reprised his role in the pilot episode of V: The Series but was killed off by the end of the episode...

Willie Robert Englund
Robert Englund
Robert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...

Brian Peter Nelson
Barbara Jenny Neumann
Visitor Captain Stack Pierce
Stack Pierce
Stack Pierce is an actor who prior to becoming an actor was once a boxer and then later on a pro baseball player -Acting career:His acting career mainly began in the early 1970s with film roles in Night Call Nurses , Fred Williamson's film Hammer and Cool Breeze as well as many acting roles in...



Releases

The miniseries was first released as V: The Original Miniseries on VHS during the mid-1990s, and later on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in 2001.

Novelization

A.C. Crispin wrote a 402-page V novelization in 1984 for Pinnacle Books that combined both the original miniseries and The Final Battle. Following the release of V: The Second Generation in 2008, Tor Books
Tor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...

re-released the original miniseries' section of Crispin's book, with a new epilogue by Johnson that tied the events of the first miniseries with Second Generation.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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