PRESS TOUR JOURNAL: 'V' returns -- sooner than expected

PASADENA, Calif. -- It's no secret that I was a huge fan of the original "V" as a middle-schooler, but I was wary of the ABC remake (debuting Nov. 3). Kenneth Johnson, creator of the franchise, is not involved, which worried me. Also, for every "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Battlestar Galactica," there are plenty of sci-fi reinvention flops (the most recent "Flash Gordon" on Sci Fi among them).

So it was a relief to see the pilot late last month and realize in that first episode at least, the new "V" is on the right creative track, making some tweaks to the mythology but introducing plenty of characters that echo Donovan, Juliet and Diana from the original.

Originally announced as a mid-season show, ABC announced today "V" will now premiere Nov. 3, taking over the 8 p.m. Tuesday time slot after "Shark Tank" finishes its run.

In the new "V," the Visitors are refered to as "Vs" but they still come in 29 flying saucers that hover over cities around the world (29 motherships in this version). For viewers who know "Independence Day," this is not a rip-off of "ID4;" "V" got there first and I'm sure an older sci-fi movie or show preceded "V".

Key characters, from ABC's press notes, include:

-- FBI Counter Terrorist Agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), who discovers a secret hidden beneath the skin of every V.

-- Her teenage son, Tyler (Logan Huffman), looks to the the Vs as his ticket to something big and hopeful.

-- Chad Decker (Scott Wolf), a career-hungry news anchor, gets an exclusive interview with...

-- Anna (Morena Baccarin), the leader of the Vs. (She's the analogue to Diana in the old show.)

-- Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) is a priest questioning his faith in the wake of the Visitors' arrival.

-- Ryan Nichols (Morris Chestnut) is faced with his own life-altering decision when the Vs show up.

Other series regulars: Carnegie Mellon University grad Lourdes Benedicto as Ryan's fiancée, Valerie; and Laura Vandervoort plays Lisa, an alluring Visitor who sets her sights on Tyler.

Executive producers Scott Peters and Jeffrey Bell said they will consider having actors from the original appear in the new "V" as different characters, a la Richard Hatch on the new "Battlestar Galactica," who played a different character from what he played in the 1970s original. Peters said Jane Badler, who played lead evil lizard lady Diana in the original, has already been in touch with producers to express her interest in being involved in the new show.

Peters paid homage to Johnson saying, "None of us would be here without Ken Johnson. ... It's an honor to be able to take the story forward."

But there will nods to touchstones from the original, including the Visitors' fondness for eating rats and bunnies.

"That's one of the things everyone mentions," Bell said. "We would be morons if we didn't find a way to pay homage to it."

Producers said this new "V" will be less of a military show, compared to the original. The characters will remain in their day-to-day jobs through the first two seasons.

It's also conceived as a show for a post-9/11 world where the enemy is not Nazis, the allegory in the original, but something more akin to a terrorist threat.

"The fear at the time [of the original] was facsim and communism," Bell said. "We are [now] a country very much fractured and struggling with all these issues."

Peters said when he conceived the new "V" he was more interested in the idea of blind devotion, whether it's to a political issue, a religious issue or a relationship issue. Bell said as much as the show will traffic in ideas, it will concentrate on the effect of the Visitors' arrival on a personal level: What does a mom do? What does a priest do?

The original "V" began with two miniseries and then devolved into "Dallas" in space as a weekly series that lasted just one year. Producers of the new "V" have a plan for the first 13 episodes, which will reveal the intent of the Visitors by the season finale.

"We have our own agenda" for the Visitors' agenda, Bell said. "It would not be the same because, again, that's been done."

"The original was conceived as a miniseries and was built that way," Peters said. "We're built for longer."