Reimagined V Returning to Series TV

The manipulative lizard aliens from V, the best miniseries ever to spawn a boring and lackluster television series, are on their way back to Earth: ABC has greenlit a pilot for a reboot of the 1980's alien/human Holocaust allegory.

The series is being adapted by Scott Peters, who co-created and executive-produced the low-visibility but well-regarded cable series The 4400. Peters has labored largely in sci-fi, directing episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Jericho and writing for a numbers of supernatural-themed series including the reincarnated Outer Limits.

Peters has indicated he does not want to replicate the old show, except inasmuch as "the new V will still focus on what happens when the masses have blind faith in their leaders."

"Whenever I mention V to anybody, they still have a lot of good memories about the original movie and series," Peters told Variety. "It's a science fiction icon and too good to pass up."

Like the original, show centers on insidious alien visitors who say they've come to help the Earth, and how their arrival causes different responses and tension among various ordinary humans. The revamped series focuses on Erica Evans, a Homeland Security agent with an aimless son who's got problems. When the aliens arrive, her son is drawn toward them – causing tension within the family.

In another aspect of the V story that's reminiscent of how Battlestar Galactica came back to the air, original series creator Kenneth Johnson (also the man behind such sci-fi staples as The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, and Alien Nation) is not involved in the reboot even though he's been trying unsuccessfully to revive the series for some time. (Johnson recently released his sequel as a novel, V: The Second Generation [compare prices].)

Will this be a full-blown Galactica-style reboot, or something more pallid? Peters's track record, at least, lends some confidence to the project. More to come.