Alien lizards are coming back: Enough with the remakes already!
By fred | October 11, 2008
It’s funny, because not too long ago I seem to remember writers were on strike, so here I was assuming that in TV land we had a bunch of writers, and that one of the key to be a successful writer was to have some imagination. Since you have to make up new stories and characters all the time, one would think imagination is a must, right?
But apparently we are in a period of time where imagination is seriously lacking, or is it just that nowadays networks are always asking whether a new project is a remake or an original, and in case of the later are simply not interested, no matter what.
Because after the successes of Bionic Woman or Knight Rider on NBC, or 90210 on The CW, after introducing American versions of Kath & Kim, Eleventh Hour or Life On Mars, after the upcoming remakes of The Streets Of San Fransisco or Hawaii Five-O, now here we go again : ABC is developing a new adaptation of the famous 1980’s series V.
Co-creator and executive producer of The 4400 Scott Peters wasn’t looking for making another sci-fi series, but when approached by WB (producing the project) Peters said he couldn’t pass on the offer. “Whenever I mention V to anybody, they still have a lot of good memories about the original movie and series. Everybody has that imagery of their uniforms, or the visitor eating a hamster. It’s a science fiction icon and too good to pass up.”
Okay, so let me disagree with him right there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like that original series, I remember watching it and really liking it, and yes I still have great memories of it, I do have that imagery in my head and I do love it, yes V is a science fiction icon and people still love it to this day, but that never meant we want to see a new version of it, with a techno remix in the soundtrack, some shinny new visual effects and uniforms that can have the aliens shift shapes or whatever.
Sure, thinking back of Knight Rider and the times we were watching it brought fun memories to mind, and it was fun to think about it and maybe on occasion where there’s nothing to do and nothing else on you could end up, half sleep in front of your TV, watching an old episode of liking it. Go ahead and admit it, it’s okay.
But did anyone really wanted to see a “new & improved” version of the show ? with a lead as charismatic as a potato and a car that’s utterly boring, can turn into anything you need or even create objects out of thin air ? Did anyone really wanted to see a show without the humor or the tone of the original show, just a vague idea of what it was about and a huge load of crap to sell cars ?
I’m not saying this remake will be as bad as what NBC would do with the project, but not everything has to be a remake, and not every series from 30 years ago needs to be redone. Peters said that he wanted to use the imagery of the original series, meaning we’ll keep the lizards idea and the name V because that sells.
Other than that, where the original series was an allegory for the Holocaust and the Nazis, this new version won’t be so much about that, but simply about what happens when masses blindly follow their leaders with unconditional/unquestioned faith. Maybe I’m wrong, here, but I’m thinking you could do a show like that and about such issues, without it having to be an actual remake ?
The new series will still open with an enormous army of spaceships hovering over all of the world’s major cities, and have aliens claim to have come in peace to help Earth, while their motives are nefarious. And as in the original series, several storylines will unfold simultaneously. And yes, of course, I loved the original and I’m curious to see what this one will look like, I admit it. But I can’t help but wishing that networks would opened up to new ideas and fresh new series, instead of trying to get the 1980’s schedule back on the air…
Am I wrong here ? Do you want more remakes of old series ? Which ones should be next, The A-Team ? Airwolf ? And back on lizards, are you excited about this new version of V ?
