ABC's V Returns Tuesday, January 4!

I have high hopes for a great season two of V, the ABC remake of the old 80s cult hit. I really enjoyed season 1, and though it didn't have the impact of Lost or 24, the network must've seen something in it to give the show a renewal. I'm not confident that V will become buzzworthy enough to get to season three. I know how these things usually go. But I'll be there, every episode. Especially since Jane Badler--the evil Diana from the original--will be joining the show as a different (but surely still evil) Diana!  I can't wait.  And the promo is very, very compelling. . .

ABC's V Returns January 4

At the risk of invoking The Greenlee Curse yet again, here's a reminder to anyone who enjoyed V on ABC last season (there are dozens of you after all). I was a huge fan of the original two mini-series, and even of the short-lived NBC series that followed. Were it not for that series, we likely wouldn't have gotten to see Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger in all of those Nightmare on Elm Street movies. So take that for what you will.

As for the new season of V, we may not have a reprise of Englund's "good guy" alien visitor, but there are some returning favorites. Jane Badler, the original alien baddie, returns as the new baddie's momma, and she retains the name Diana. Also, later in the season (or at the end of the series, take your pick), Marc Singer returns, in a different character from his original good guy, Mike Donovan. It may be futile, but I'll be watching every episode.

Fall TV Season: V (I Can't Wait!)

Image from EW

I got excited for the remake of Bionic Woman, and was let down. I watched with zero expectations when they remade Knight Rider, and had that zero met. I got really excited about the Terminator series, and was rewarded with one-and-a-half seasons of great TV, only to have it yanked away.

So you would think that when I heard that V, the classic science fiction TV mini-series/series from the eighties, was coming back to television, I'd be wary. And I am. But I'm also excited. V and V: The Final Battle were two of the most enjoyable events in sci-fi TV for me when they originally aired. The follow-up series only lasted a year, probably due to low budgets and the dreary story-telling of dramas of that era.

But the underlying storyline of all of them was compelling, and could be dynamite if done correctly. V started with a fleet of huge motherships arriving from outer space (ripped off later in Independence Day), containing a contingent of aliens promising help for all that ailed the human race. They were greeted warmly by the populace, and seemed on the surface to be all that they said. "The Visitors are our Friends," was their propaganda message, and it hid their true motives: to enslave and/or eat us all! Oh, and to steal our water.

Top that off with the fact that they were lizards under their (unconvincing in retrospect) human skins, and ate live rodents whole, and you got a whole 'nother level of creepy. The cast was great, with the evil Diana (Jane Badler), the good alien Willie (Robert Englund), the leaders of the resistance Mike (Marc Singer) and Juliette (Faye Grant). While modern special effects can fix the flaws of the 80s series, I don't know if they'll be able to match the cast. But I'll be watching, that I'm sure of.

Sarah Palin Looks Like?

The selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate has brought out the "separated at birth" blogging. I'm a sucker for that stuff, always thinking, hey, doesn't she look like. . .?

First there's Ms. Palin and Tina Fey.


While I could certainly see Tina Fey playing Palin on Saturday Night Live, the resemblance isn't very strong.

Next up, Ms. Palin and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally)




I like this image, and even like the idea of a socially oblivious, boozing, pill-popping VP hopeful even better. But it still didn't quite hit the separated at birth sweet spot. So, I came up with one of my own:


Sarah Palin and Married With Children's Amanda "Marcy D'arcy" Bearse!





Other Separated at Birth Posts:

Featured Blog: Totally Looks Like (Cindy McCain and Borg Queen from Star Trek)
Cindy McCain Plagiarizes Recipes? (Cindy McCain and Jane Badler, Diana of V)
Separated at Birth: John McCain & Lon Chaney, Sr.
Horrible Monster or Presidential Candidate? (Fred Thompson and Movie Monsters)
Separated at Birth: Obscure Celebrity Edition
Sean Hannity & Lou Costello Separated at Birth

Cindy McCain Plagiarizes Recipes?

Cindy McCain, and her superior, Diana

I have an explanation for this ordinarily reprehensible behavior that will save everybody a little time. Some people say that Cindy McCain is actually a "Visitor," as seen in the 80s (ahem) docu-dramas, V, and V: the Final Battle. This doesn't make her a bad person, you understand. Remember Willie? He was a good guy. But then Willie did later become Freddy Kruger. . .uh, I digress. Back to my point. As a Visitor, Mrs. McCain has a diet of live rodents, and thus has no recipes of her own to print! Mystery solved.

[Excerpt]

Ooops, Cindy McCain's recipe for recipe plagiarism

Aren't you dying to know the favorite homemade dish of the next possible president?

So to save time, they put all this stuff on the website. But now the McCain campaign has been outted by TMZ.com and the Huffington Post for serial plagiarizing of Cindy McCain's alleged favorite recipes. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times